Tattoosday: September 2015

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Marcel Shares a Flash Dragon on Sixth

I was walking down Sixth Avenue, south of 14th Street, the other day, when I noticed someone ahead of me with a bunch of tattoos.

When he stopped at a crosswalk, I introduced myself, and learned he was Marcel Blue, an artist at Daredevil Tattoo in Manhattan.

He offered up this piece on his leg, based on some old tattoo flash, and completed by one of his Daredevil colleagues, Peter Chile:

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

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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

A Rendition of Erin, at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade

With summer ending this week, I want to celebrate with one last tattoo from June's Mermaid Parade on Coney Island:

I met Erin at the end of the parade on the boardwalk:

You may notice the colorful tattoo on her upper left arm:

Erin explained that this piece was conceived by a friend of hers who works for the designer Ana Sui.
This is a rendition of Erin, in the spirit of Ana Sui's style. The phrase "Sans la musique, je n'existe," means, in French, "without music, I don't exist."

Erin credited the tattoo itself to Marissa Mikeo, an independent NYC-based artist.

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

This entry is ©2015 Tattoosday.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Meredith's Key to Happiness

I met Meredith in Bowling Green park at the end of August and asked her about her tattoo:

Meredith elaborated on her tattoo:

"It represents Galatians 5:1, it's a scripture that says 'it is for freedom that Christ has set you free.' I have dealt with depression for most of my life and my faith has been a big part of my healing from that and so this tattoo represents finding freedom from that ... it's something I live with but it's not something that controls me anymore."

Meredith said she got this tattoo at Harlem Hype on 125th Street in Manhattan.

Thanks to Meredith for sharing this tattoo that is so important to her with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, September 11, 2015

Celebrating Steve's Tattoo on Patriot's Day

September 11 is always a difficult day here in New York City, and I always want to honor those who lost their lives in 2001 with an appropriate tattoo. I have tended to repost a couple of lasting images in the past, but back in June, at the NYC Urban Tattoo Convention, I met Steve, who had just recently had this piece done:

Steve told me he belongs to a bike club, which inspired this tattoo which features a bald eagle perched on a Harley Davidson engine, with the United States flag flying in the background.

I noticed at the time that the twin cam engine bears a resemblance to the two towers of the World Trade Center, which Steve acknowledged was part of the appeal of the design.

This patriotic tattoo certainly seems appropriate for Patriot Day.

Steve credited the artist Rudy Sciarra from Underground Tattoo Studio in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Thanks to Steve for sharing this work with us here on Tattoosday. And thanks to the men and women who gave their lives on September 11, as well as all of those that have served and continue to serve and protect us.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Celebrating Another Inky Year

via http://lafozi.com/us-en/detail/birthday-cake-tattoo-designs/

Technically, Tattoosday was born on July 31, eight years ago, as a weekly feature on my old site BillyBlog. But I enjoyed writing about tattoos so much, I created this standalone site, Tattoosday, to celebrate NYC body art, eight years ago today.

Sometimes I like to celebrate on July 31, other times I like to celebrate on the actual blogiversary date, September 8.

So here we are, eight years later. Since starting up, depending on which traffic site you believe, we've had 1.8 million hits and 2.6 million page views. Blogger says we have 3.5 million page views. Either way, that's still an awesome amount for a tiny site like this.

Thanks to everyone over the years who has contributed to the success of Tattoosday - contributors, artists, sponsors and, most importantly, the readers. Your appreciation for what I do makes it all worthwhile!

Monday, September 7, 2015

Coney Denizen and Her Dick: Our First NSFW Tattoo

In the eight years of Tattoosday's existence, we have never featured an NSFW tattoo, so it's really about time, don't you think? Especially since it's Labor Day, when no one is supposed to be at work, anyway.

I met Mary at the Mermaid Parade in June and immediately asked if I could take a picture of this phallic tattoo on the back of her arm:

Mary is an artist that uses the moniker Coney Denizen (click through for Flickr photostream).

She initially told me that this was based on her husband's drawing and that "old ladies in banks love it."

Later, she elaborated:

"I stole this piece from my husband's drawing board. I was a buyer of Indonesian and other folk art for many years. Became fascinated by the use of dicks as a prosperity symbol. I collected dick pull toys-actual dicks with wheels. When I saw this piece I thought it funny and went for it. Squid did all my work at the time, it was a fun night in the shop.Over the years I found it was a funny kind of litmus test. Older women love it, never have I had a reaction of offense. Men never notice it is a dick, until someone points it out. I did a lot of dick art for a bit. Men also never saw the dicks (blatant as they were)-unless pointed out. It has been a great one to enjoy."

Mary's reference to Squid is Sydney "Squid" Silver, or Syd the Squid, from the New York-based punk band the Lunachicks. More from Mary on Squid:

Squid did my first tattoos. I think the first was at Venus. The dick was done at Fly Rite, in Brooklyn. I remember getting faint for this one-took 6 hours-straight. Squid’s band was amazing-all girls-wicked. I knew her thru my baby sitter at the time, she lived in our pal Eddies house. I love Squid. She had the best back tattoo I had ever seen. Squid-Underwater. It is something to behold. There was no finer gal to play this way with. She was fierce and sweet. The kindest soul. Used to let me take my daughter backstage at shows. My kid thought she was the best. I believe she stopped working when she had her son, but it would not surprise me to find her somewhere ... Those were the halcyon days…."

Thanks to Mary for sharing her awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday, and helping us break the Dick Barrier!

Friday, September 4, 2015

Bronwinn is Anchored to Brooklyn

I met Bronwinn on Beaver Street last month in downtown Manhattan. She was sporting a whole armful of cool designs and she shared this tattoo:

Bronwinn explained that this anchor is resting over an outline of the borough of Brooklyn, representing that this section of New York City is her home, through and through.

I've seen folks with outlines of countries and states before, but never distinct city outlines, and never combined with traditional anchors to show their connection to their homes.

She credited this to Ron Mor at Hand of Glory Tattoo in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

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

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Mike and Harley Quinn at the NYC Poetry Festival

I met Mike in late July at the NYC Poetry Festival on Governor's Island. He shared this cool tattoo by Christine Nelson from No Ka Oi Tiki Tattoo in Philadelphia:

"This is the character Harley Quinn," Mike explained. "She's the Joker's girlfriend ... my favorite comic book character," he added, "and it's every girl I shouldn't date."

Thanks to Mike for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!