Tattoosday

Monday, July 14, 2014

Heather and Her Stunning Tiger Tattoo

Down where I work during the week, you tend to see a lot of professional dog-walkers during the day. Last month, I spotted a woman, wearing a shirt that read "KEEP CALM AND CARRY TREATS." She wasn't the first person spotted wearing that shirt, as it is often worn by people working for Paws on Pine.

Anyway, I noticed that she had a pretty cool half-sleeve and, although I didn't interview her then, I figured I would get another opportunity soon.

I spotted the woman again last week, walking a pooch up on Wall Street. I introduced myself.

Heather, it turns out, is the owner of Paws on Pine, and this is the tattoo that caught my eye originally:

This stunning tattoo was done by Kristi Walls, who is currently "resident guest artist" at Sacred Tattoo, but has also worked at Bang Bang Tattoo and East Side Ink.

The details, shading and line work in this piece are stunning - just take a closer look:

Heather explained to me that she was laid off three years ago from a corporate job and "got this to symbolize resilience and strength, because I ended up taking a year off and then I started my own dog-walking business."

Thanks to Heather for sharing her work with us here on Tattoosday and, if you're ever in need of professional dog-walkers in lower Manhattan, be sure to check out Paws on Pine.

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Sunday, July 13, 2014

Esther's Tattoo of Patience

I met Esther last month at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

I found her tattoo intriguing and asked her about it.

Esther explained:

"I designed it myself. I got it right when I turned 18. I got it in Hawai'i ... I was going through a tough time, so I was kinda like, you know, strength and wisdom and patience. The kanji itself means patience."

She credited it to an artist named Lee.

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

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Pepper in Penn

For many years, I spent countless hours of lunch breaks in Penn Station, as my day job was situated across the street. Long-time fans of Tattoosday know it is a ripe location for meeting people with tattoos, year-round. I have found that people waiting for their bus/train/plane at transit hubs are more likely to share their tattoos, just because it breaks up the boredom of waiting for one's gate to be called.

Case in point: one night last month in June, I had an hour to kill and found myself in Penn, and interviewed several people in a short span, starting with Pepper, who shared this tattoo:

Pepper explained that this colorful piece was inked by Tom Johnson out of Philadelphia over 15 years ago. Sadly, Pepper reports, Mr. Johnson is deceased. Yet his work lives on, on her arm.

Aside from the fact that they collaborated on the tattoo, Pepper didn't offer up much more. So whether this is a wood nymph, or a faerie queen, is left up to the interpretation of the reader.

Thanks to Pepper for taking the time to share this colorful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Vince's Half-Sleeve: One Dragon, Lots of Skulls

I met Vince last month on Broadway in Lower Manhattan last month and I asked him about his half sleeve. He was more than willing to share it:

The sleeve includes an old gnarled tree, a dragon clutching a skull, a rose, smoke additional skulls and a moon and stars.

Vince also has this section on his inner bicep:

The playing card, aflame with a skull-faced suicide king, is bright in the center of the inner arm. You also can see another flower with a skull peeking out.

Vince had the dragon inked twenty years ago at The Tattoo Shoppe in Carlstadt, New Jersey, but all of the surrounding work was done by Charlie at Lola's Tattoos in Bogota, New Jersey.

"There's a lot of skulls in there," he told me, "I just like skulls."

Thanks to Vince for taking the time to stop and share his cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Another Year, Another Max (Wild Things at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade)

Last month at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, I spotted a guy with a really cool Where the Wild Things Are tattoo.

I remembered meeting a guy 2 years earlier at the same parade, but I knew that this tattoo was better than the one I had featured two years ago.

When I asked the guy about it and he said his name was Max, I knew I had erred. It was the same guy, same tattoo, only with more detail.

This was the tattoo in 2012:

So when I sat down to write this post, and I pulled the old photo off of the 2012 post, I had a realization. Look at the tattoo I photographed last month:

Guess what, folks. Not the same tattoo. Two years apart, I run into two guys named Max at the Mermaid Parade, each with Maurice Sendak tattoos depicting the characters from Where the Wild Things Are. What are the odds? 2014 Max had more in his tattoo:

The artist for this newer (frankly better) Where the Wild Things Are tattoo is Luke LoPorto from Timmy Tattoo in Huntington, New York.

So, the moral of the story is, if you meet a guy named Max, and he has a Where the Wild Things Are tattoo, don't assume you've met him before. He may be a different Max.

Thanks to the 2014 Max (and the 2012 Max, as well) for sharing his awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

UPDATE: Several weeks after this posted, artist Luke LoPorto shared the finished product. See it here.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Kalossal's Colossal Tattoo by Al Fliction (at the NYC Urban Tattoo Convention)

Last weekend at the 5th Annual NYC Urban Tattoo Convention, I met Kalossal, who shared this magnificent Egyptian back piece:

Kalossal explained that this is all about royalty, saying "every king should have a queen that's got his back."

I love the expressiveness in the face:

This piece was created by Al Fliction, who is a central figure to the UTC and is an Ink Master alumnus.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Kristin Shares A Drawing by Her Father

Last month I met Kristin on Murray Street in lower Manhattan and she shared this tattoo on the back of her calf:

That's W.C. Fields and Kristin explained why he's inked on her leg:

"My father drew the picture and ... Ryan Reyes [formerly of Asylum Tattoos] tattooed it ... My dad was a huge W.C. Fields fan and he drew his likeness constantly. He was an artist and he passed away a few years ago and I got in in memory of him and that's my dad's signature right there [on the bottom right]."

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