Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Clinton's Colorful Chest Piece (at the NYC Tattoo Convention)

At the NYC Tattoo Convention earlier this month, one of my favorite pieces belonged to Clinton, who was kind enough to remove his shirt and share his work:

This was done by Jen Carmean from Monarch Tattoo in Newfoundland, New Jersey.

Clinton explained how this piece came to fruition:

"...The black part of my shoulders, I got ten years ago and then, about a year and a half ago, we did just the shoulder, expanded off of it, and then, in the past two months we did the whole chest part ... the shoulders were three sittings, about ten or twelve hours and then I think the middle came out to about another twelve hours ... it kinda represents my art ... people are always like, oh get your own art tattooed on you, but I pick my art apart and I couldn't do that, so it's kinda like what I'm into artwise but [Jen's] vision of it. I said 'Jen, I like patterns and eyes and wings' ... this was her interpretation of what I wanted."

You can check out Clinton's instagram here.

Thanks to Clinton for sharing his chest piece with us here on Tattoosday!

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Annie Rocks a Cowgirl Tattoo, with a Vegan Twist

Last week on Wall Street, I passed a woman with several tattoos and I stopped to ask her about them.

She introduced herself as Annie and was kind enough to share this spectacular thigh tattoo:

This is the work of Amanda Wachob, who at the time, about four years ago, was still working out of DareDevil Tattoo in Manhattan.

Annie explained that "this is actually a Gil Elvgren pin-up. I've changed it up a little bit. She was like on this barrel-horse thing... and the rooster was not there, so I just had [Amanda] put her on a fence and put the chicken in"

Why the added chicken? Annie elaborated:

"I was raised in Texas, and I used to raise chickens ... slaughtering them and everything and I've since become a vegan and ... it's sort of like, this is the person who I was, and I'm still this person ...a coming around full circle thing. I used to always hang out with chickens, but exploit them, slaughter them, eat them. Now I like to hang out with chickens and let them live their lives as individuals [with] freedom, and it looks the same ... I got this as I was transitioning into veganism, coming to terms with my past of slaughtering [chickens] and feeling pretty badly about it now and looking at it from a different perspective, being an animal rights activist."

Annie does vegan education, "trying to make the world better," and is affiliated with Evolve for Animals. Check out their website here if you would like more information.

Thanks so much to Annie for sharing her work with us on Tattoosday!

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Shakespeare in the Park with Mark

Earlier this month, I was at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park to see The Tempest.

Before the show, I ran into Mark, who had some phenomenal work, like this, on his right arm:

Mark is from San Diego and he got this work about eight years ago, and it's held up quite nicely.
The structure at the bottom of the tattoo is the Ocean Beach Pier.

He didn't remember the artist's name, but recalled he was visiting the US from Darklite Tattoo, located in Albany, Western Australia.

Mark also has this incredible mermaid tattoo, on his left arm, inked by the great Chris O'Donnell:

Thanks to Mark for sharing his awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Ella's Ink Represents Life and Death

Earlier this month, I met Ella Caution at the NYC Tattoo Convention. She shared this tattoo from her arm:

This Day of the Dead-inspired design was tattooed by Josh Damaso from NYC Kulture on St. Mark's Place in Manhattan.

Ella gave me a brief explanation of the symbolism in the tattoo, saying it has representations of time, life, and death. Past and present are inherent in the piece, and the tentacles in the crown are symbolic of evolution.

Ella is a designer and model. Check out her Etsy site here.

Thanks to Ella for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, June 26, 2015

Shauna Osborn's First Tattoo (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Our next Tattooed Poet of the Week is Shauna Osborn, who sent us this image:

Now, I know readers have been spoiled of late with some exceptional work, but this one has an interesting origin, as Shauna explains:

"This tat may not look like much, but it has a great back story. I’d wanted a tattoo since I was a little kid—I envied my grandpa’s large Navy tats he’d gotten while in the service. Most of my family was square against it, especially since I was female, so I figured it’d be a while after I moved out before I’d get the chance to ink up. I turned eighteen in the spring of ’98, moved out, and started college.

One Saturday a couple months into my first semester, my dad came by the dorms unexpectedly and told me we were going on a road trip. He didn’t tell me what we were doing, or why, just said it was a surprise.

We drove south several hours toward Texas until we hit Wichita Falls. Dad pulled up to Altered Images and said he was getting us both our first tattoos. Tattoo shops were still illegal in Oklahoma at that time, so he’d brought us to the closest shop he’d heard good things about from some coworkers.

He got a bicep tat of the Chevy logo with American flag detailing. Because I wasn't prepared with the designs I'd drawn up I had to go with a piece of flash. I chose this one as an representation of my past and hopes for the future. Allie, an apprenticing female artist, fixed me up with this one and gave my baby sister a temporary tattoo of Timon, Nathan Lane’s character in the Lion King."

Shauna sent us the following poem, which first appeared in Poesis Review #6:

Doppelgänger

My nocturnal self has left--

lost her somewhere in Oakland

to the blacktop covered roads.

She feared the desert heat

after the coldness of the city.

Feared it’d melt her resolution,

drown out her loudest screech--

replace the hard, coal-pressed hate

that serves as her grounding center

with a dripping puddle of snot.

While I wander the white & painted sand,

she frolics through asphalt & smog,

roams among drag queens & junkies

that ride the waves of Puget Sound--

making love to dreadlocked poet beggars

stealing rides on cable cars &

slicing the leash off every dog she sees

with her dad’s rusty pocketknife.

Scott saw her late last week, flagged her down

from alternate subway platforms, screaming & jumping

like someone slain in the spirit

but the only response he received was a dramatic

turn, her long braided dreads brushing the subway

floor, as she bent in full curtsey

& then a slow-blown kiss

as she walked away.

~ ~ ~

Shauna Osborn is an artist, wordsmith, and community organizer. Recently, she became Artist in Residence for the 2015 A Room of Her Own Foundation’s Writing Retreat. She is working on a series of indigenous comic books and a book length choreopoem. Her creative work is included in As/Us, Adrienne, Cultural Weekly, Hueso Loco, Poets’ Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, Spiral Orb, Mas Tequila Review, Yellow Medicine Review, and Upstreet. You can find her online at shaunamosborn.wordpress.com.

Thanks to Shauna for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Grace's Medusa

One of the great things about tattoo conventions is that you get to see a lot of amazing back pieces. For example, check out Grace's tattoo:

Grace told me that this was done in four sittings by Grant Lubbock at Red Baron Ink in New York City's East Village.

This was originally a cover-up and she loves this Medusa tattoo. She proudly asserted, "I like the fact that anybody that talks shit behind my back turns to stone."

Thanks to Grace for sharing her awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Jackie's Van Helsing Tattoo (NYC Tattoo Convention)

I met Jackie outside of the Da Vinci Tattoo booth at the New York City Tattoo Convention earlier this month and she shared this awesome work on her arm:

Jackie credited this work to an artist from China named Po Po, who did the work at the Saint James location of Tattoo Lou's on Long Island, New York.

Jackie explained that the work is inspired from the film Van Helsing.

Thanks to Jackie for sharing her work with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Mike's Back Full of Skulls

This past weekend, I was at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade and I received permission from Mike, one of the spectators on the boardwalk, to take a picture of his back piece:

He credited this back full of skulls to Jen Lohrey Carmean, who works out of Monarch Tattoo in Newfoundland, New Jersey.

Thanks to Mike for sharing his cool back tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!

Monday, June 22, 2015

Kathryn's Phoenix Dazzles (at the NYC Tattoo Convention)

Last weekend at the New York City Tattoo Convention, I met Kathryn, who was kind enough to share this incredible phoenix running down the entire side of her right leg:

This spectacular work was done by Rich Fie (Instagram @richfie) at R & D Tattooing in Queens, new York.

Thanks to Kathryn for sharing her beautiful phoenix with us here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Jennifer's Seashell, In Memory of Her Father

I have known Jennifer for almost thirty years and was intrigued when, earlier this year, she shared a picture of a new tattoo on social media.

Of course, I had to ask what this tattoo was all about:

When she explained, I knew it would be an appropriate thing to share on Father's Day.

Jennifer explained that she got this tattoo on March 15, on the first anniversary of her father's death:

"I got this tattoo for my Dad, who passed away a year ago. It's not my first, but it is my first in a readily visible spot, on the inside of my left ankle. Dad was left handed, but when he was a kid, they didn't teach kids how to write left handed, so he had to work with his right. I thought it fitting for him to be on the left. He loved the beach and the ocean and scuba diving and had an extensive shell collection. With this conch shell, in blue ink, which was his favorite color, I can have a bit of the beach with me wherever I am. We scattered his ashes at sea, per his wishes. The ocean will always make me think of him."

She added, "amongst his things was the poem 'Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep' by Mary Elizabeth Frye:"

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.

She got the seashell in Black Heart Tattoo in San Francisco from artist Heather Bailey.

Thanks to Jennifer for sharing her lovely and poignant tattoo with us here on Father's Day.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Michele Battiste's "Poorly Done Sun" (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Our next Tattooed Poet of the Week is Michele Battiste, who acknowledges that her tattoo is not that great. Sometimes, however, it's not about the tattoo itself, but the process. See for yourself:

Michele explains:

"I have a poorly done sun on my right shoulder that I got in the small seaside town of Lovalette, NJ (near Wildwood) in 1992 when I was 20 years old. I went with my older brother who was a bouncer. He got high right before his tattoo (steal-your-face) and proceeded to turn a ghastly white before he almost fainted. I still tease him about that. Later, when someone handed me a card with a line drawing of a cat on it in NYC, I wanted to get it as my second tattoo. I kept the card in my wallet and kept putting off the tattoo. Then one day shopping in a department store, I found a really garish pair of jeans, looked at the label and saw my cat. It was the logo for Baby Phat. I almost became a walking advertisement. I'm still deciding on my second tattoo. I've always loved the idea of Man Ray's Ingre's Violin."

Michele sent us the following poem:

Impending

for A. A.

When the storm moves away, as I do.

When the storm touching.

When the hand is leading.

When the hand the light.

When the eye takes what it wants.

When the eye and not touching.

The hand between slats of a chair back.

The eye releases the light.

When the storm shakes the portico

this thigh that thigh are the same.

(The storm

is a bloodthirsty thing.)

When the mouth, without effort, claims.

When the storm approaches

touching the light and not touching

the light are the same thing.

~ ~ ~

Michele Battiste is the author of Uprising (2014) and Ink for an Odd Cartography (2009), both published by Black Lawrence Press. She was a finalist for the 2013 National Poetry Series and is the author of five chapbooks, the most recent of which is Left: Letters to Strangers (Grey Book Press, 2014). She received a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant to conduct research in Budapest for Uprising, and was awarded a Blue Mountain Center Residency to complete the first draft. Her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Anti-, The Awl, Women’s Studies Quarterly, and Mid-American Review, among others. Michele has taught poetry writing workshops for Wichita State University (WSU), the Prison Arts Program in Hutchinson, KS, Gotham Writers' Workshops, and the national writing program Teen Ink. She has received grants and awards from WSU, the New York Foundation for the Arts, AWP, the Center for the American West, and the NY State Senate. She lives in Colorado where she raises funds for organizations undoing corporate evil.

Thanks to Michele Battiste for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, June 19, 2015

Larry's Back (at the NYC Tattoo Convention)

Last weekend at the NYC Tattoo Convention, I met Larry, the owner of Bklyn Ink Works, a shop down in south Brooklyn in the Bensonhurst/Dyker Heights area.

Larry was proudly standing outside of his booth whenever I saw him at the show, talking to people and proudly showing off the work of Andrey, one of the Brooklyn Ink Works tattooers, which he wears proudly.
Here's his back:

This religious-themed black and grey work is pretty impressive.

Check out Bklyn Ink Works on Facebook here.

Andrey Tarasov can be found on Facebook as well and on Instagram (@sverlo1).

Thanks to Larry for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

EJ's Beetle (at the NYC Tattoo Convention)

One of the great things about the NYC Tattoo Convention this year was that it had more space, which allowed shops to have booths when previously they had no room.

I was happy to see Adam Suerte and the crew from Brooklyn Tattoo on site this year. It was great catching up with Adam, who had done such a great job with my I'm Just a Bill tattoo.

I also met EJ, the shop manager, who has this really cool beetle tattoo on the back of her arm:

This was inked by Gabriel Pantoja from Brooklyn Tattoo.

Thanks to EJ for sharing her cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Feeling Crabby at the NYC Tattoo Convention

It's a long story, so I'll cut right to the chase - here's my new tattoo, inked Saturday at the New York City Tattoo Convention:

This tattoo makes me happy, and I am grateful to the good people of Independent Tattoo in Selbyville, Delaware, especially James Delzel (@jdelzel on Instagram) and Tasha Halphen, the shop manager, who helped set it up.

Now, the question, why? Here's the scoop:

This was my eighth year visiting the convention and I've always remembered talking to the crew from Independent who have come to the show. This year James was with Matt Amey, another great artist. Tasha was there last year. But at some point, several years back, a seed was planted. Someone mentioned that they had done a crab event, tattooing crabs a la Friday the 13th flash. Selbyville is in close proximity to Ocean City, Maryland, in the one county in the state where tattooing is illegal. And, well, crabs are quite popular in Maryland. I don't remember the details of the event (or who told me about it), but that stuck with me and I've craved a crab tattoo ever since, so much that it's subsequently come up as a possibility, but never a reality, until this year.

A month or so ago, I was messaging with Tasha and the stars aligned. She mentioned the possibility to James and he was excited to do it. The rest is history.

But, why a crab?

First of all, I remember my mom had these cool oversized astrology postcards when I was growing up. I loved playing with the Cancer card, a bright colorful illustration that featured a crab.

Add to that the fact that no kid grows up in Hawai'i, as I did, without spending time chasing sand crabs on the beach. It was just a part of my childhood that always stuck with me - one that also influenced my tastes. I was never a big seafood fan, but I'm convinced my distaste for crab has more to do with my affinity for the creatures, as opposed to what my actual taste buds tell me.

The design itself was developed by James, with the following image as a starting off point:

That is Scylla Serrata, known also as the mud crab, mangrove cab and, In Hawai'i, the Samoan Crab.

Why this crab? Well, put on a 7-year old's hat, and recognize that Samoan rhymes with Cohen. As a young buy, my active imagination took my astrological sign and merged it with this rhyme, making the Samoan Crab my totem. I even formed a "Samoan Crab Club," a group of friends, all with names given by me: Samoan Dog, Samoan Mouse, and Samoan Goat, to name a few. Silly boyhood stuff.

My father remembers this Samoan Crab business and occasionally reminds me of it, but I thought that was the extent of this long-lost aspect of my childhood, until a book-signing, several years ago. One of my oldest childhood friends, who teaches at a prestigious university and has published several books on cultural affairs (an oversimplification), inscribed his first book to me, "Bill - Samoan Crab!...". He didn't sign it "Samoan Goat," but he might as well have.

Anyway, that's why Scylla Serrata was the basis for my new tattoo. I left the final design up to the artist - they always know best, and it shouldn't surprise people that a lifelike rendering of the Samoan Crab, known for its dark color, would not translate well to skin. I was totally fine with lightening up the design and adding some color that "popped."

On the way to the convention Saturday, James told me that he and Matt had seen someone walking with a crab tattoo and they saw that it was very unreadable from a distance. James told me it was fortuitous encounter, as they saw what didn't work, in that instant, and it helped guide his idea of how to complete the tattoo.

James placed the stencil higher up on the leg, as it just looked better higher up, juxtaposed with the eagle on the side of my calf.

It is off enough from the height of the opposite leg's tiger, that it is obvious we were not trying to line up the two tattoos.

James is a great tattooer - my legs tend to occasionally twitch unwittingly when getting tattooed, especially when we get into the second hour, but he just "rode it out."

James sizing up the tattoo with an Independent crab mallet (photo by Matt Amey)

So that's the story of my newest tattoo. This crab will keep me happy for many years to come, and I thank, once again, James Delzel and Independent Tattoo for all their good work and friendship over the years!

Be sure to visit them at their website here and, if you're ever looking to get inked in Ocean City, just head north to Delaware and find them in Selbyville!

Sunday, June 14, 2015

The 2015 New York City Tattoo Convention, a Brief Recap

In 2014, when the NYC Tattoo Convention moved it's event to March, it was because the traditional home of the show, the Roseland Ballroom, was slated for closure and demolition.

This year, the convention has moved to the Metropolitan Pavillion on West 18th Street. People may miss the character of Roseland, but the new space is brighter and bigger (which means more artists and booths). I headed over to day one after an early departure from work and checked the new space out.

This is one of multiple posts that will feature work I spotted at the show.

In total, I went all three days and had a great time. It was a festive mood and the bright space was abuzz with machines. I'm already looking forward to next year!

The old banners from previous years lent the new space a familiar feeling.

And of course, it's awesome to see work from Paul Booth:

And to see New York staples like Rich Fie (Instagram @RichFie) at work is always exciting.

It's also great to see the hand tattooing masters, like Shunho, from the famed Horitoshi Tattoo Family:

I interviewed many more people in years past and even got inked myself!

Stay tuned for days, nay, weeks to come, as I share the work from people I spotted at the convention.

It is a daunting task to name all the old friends and artists I spotted, spoke to, and hung out with over the three days at the show.

But a quick shout out to Marisa from Needles & Sins, Michael McCabe, Becca Roach, Adam from Th'Ink Tank in Colorado, Gunny and Kevin from Sacred Tattoo in Manhattan, Vanessa from Mindzai Creative (more on them later!), The Crew at Brooklyn Tattoo, and countless others. Plus, my friend Ginger, who went back to back with two different artists at Dare Devil Tattoo.

And of course, Jamie Delzel for giving me a kick-ass tattoo, and Matt Amey, also from Independent Ink, who were just plain awesome.

And finally, the good people who run the NYC Convention, for bringing it back bigger and better, even after losing their home at Roseland!

If you missed it this past weekend, don't worry. There's always next year!

Friday, June 12, 2015

Warthog On the Knee

I wandered into my favorite watering hole earlier this week and ran into our friend Jeremy.

"We were just talking about you," someone said, "Check out Jeremy's new tattoo!"

I don't need much coaxing in that department, and Jeremy was happy to share this still-fresh tattoo:

No reason for a warthog on the knee but art for art's sake.

This was inked by Bobby "Doc" Osborne (Instagram @DocOsborneTattoo) at Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Thanks to Jeremy for sharing his new tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

The New York City Tattoo Convention is Back in Town Tomorrow!

It's that time of the year! The annual New York City Tattoo Convention is back and in a new location at the Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th Street!

We here at Tattoosday will be covering the event with dispatches, tweets, Instagram, and social media updates.

Not only does covering the convention rock, but it's the gift that keeps on giving, as readers will be sure to see posts from the show long after the doors have closed and we've moved on to summer.

You can take a walk down memory lane here with all the posts from the last six years I have attended the show at the Roseland Ballroom. This will be my seventh year, and I am looking forward to meeting new artists, seeing old friends and, you guessed it, adding to my collection.

You can visit the convention webpage here and their Facebook page here.

The convention kicks off tomorrow at 4:00 PM and runs through Sunday evening.

Come find me and say hello!

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Matt's Amazing Tattoos by Brian Murphy

Yesterday, Melissa shared a tattoo (documented here), but she was walking at the Fifth Avenue Festival in Bay Ridge with Matt, and Matt shared several amazing pieces with us.

First off, Matt's work is by Brian Murphy at Third Dimension Tattoo Studio in Marshalls Creek, Pennsylvania.

I actually met Brian in 2008 in a chance encounter on the street (recounted here) when he was in town working with Paul Booth, so I knew he was a talented artist.

But, back to Matt, when I approached him about his tattoos, I didn't even see the work on his legs, which was what he showed me.

First a couple of knights:

And then these amazing faces which utilize negative space in an incredibly creative way:

Matt and Melissa filled me in on Brian's work.

"Those are all [Brian's] ideas," Matt told me.

"You're his guinea pig," Melissa chimed in.

Matt agreed, "Yeah, essentially...".

Melissa added, "He's got something in his head, Brian calls him up and says, 'Hey, I have a spot, this is what I wanna do, there's this new style of tattooing...".

"It's like a color negative tattoo," Matt explained.

Matt lived out near Marshalls Creek where Third Dimension is located many years ago and when Brian was first starting out tattooing, they became friends. Brian has been tattooing Matt ever since.

It really is such spectacular work.

Check out Brian Murphy on the Third Dimension website here, or Brian's Facebook page here, or his Instagram (bmurphysart) here.

Thanks to Matt (and Melissa) for sharing their body art with us here on Tattoosday!