Shaina's Back Piece Blooms

A post-work errand had me walking down 6th Avenue to 23rd Street where, to my delight, I ran into Shaina, whose large back piece stopped me dead in my tracks. Lucky for me, and all of our Tattoosday readers, she had no problem sharing it with us here:

This piece is a cover-up (more on that later) and initially was born out of a desire for a large bunch of purple flowers. Shaina explained that, at six feet tall, her size can sometimes take the edge off of her feminine side. "I try as hard as I can to be girl-y," she said, and she embraced her floral design as "a sign of girliness".

As time passed, the whole tattoo, which Shaina estimates was composed in five four-hour sessions totaling twenty hours, took on additional elements. When her grandmother passed away, she added a memorial line for her ("In Loving Memory of Eleanor Vespie) along with the red carnations, which were her favorite flowers.

She later added the additional memorial on her neck, for her cousin Tasha.The tattoo was created by Cliff Evans at Fuzion Ink in Norfolk, Virginia.Of course, I had to ask about the tattoo she covered up. Shaina looked at me, and I'll give her points for honesty, she confessed, the original tattoo had been a portrait of the Icelandic singer Björk.She looked at me. I looked at her. "Don't take this the wrong way," I cautioned her, but what would possess you to do that?" Shaina had good humor about it. Like a lot of eighteen-year olds, what seemed cool at the time, in retrospect seemed ill-chosen. But there are many amazing tattoos out there that might not exist had they not been needed to cover up an earlier, less memorable piece.Thanks kindly to Shaina for not only sharing her lovely back tattoo with us here at Tattoosday, but for taking the time to chat so candidly about her body art.

Two Rocking Tattoos from Joe

I met Joe last month outside of Penn Station and he shared two tattoos with us.First is this hellcat:

Why this cat? It's a design, Joe says, inspired by the band Rancid, whose music appears on Hellcat Records. Not to mention, he likes cats. Need he have more reasons? That's on his upper left arm.I'm more excited to share this photo, which actually is a rare Tattoosday shot in which one can see the contributor's face. I could have cropped it out, but I think it's a cool shot.

This tattoo arose out of Joe's desire to have some body art made with red ink. The design is based on the album art for a disbanded musical act out of Washington called Isa.

The two tattoos are among five Joe has in total and were done by Milton Sillas at Tattoo Royale in the Pacific Beach section of San Diego, California.Thanks to Joe for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday and for waiting so patiently for me to get to his tattoos. The summer backlog is both a bane and a blessing.As a postscript, readers familiar with the site will notice that I've watermarked these photos. I've grown tired of seeing Tattoosday content appropriated elsewhere on the web, without attribution. This is an attempt to maintain credit of our content here at Tattoosday.

Kristina's Rooster Crows in Honor of Her Son

It was funny, now that you think of it, the way everything came full circle.I was picking my younger daughter, Shayna, up from camp, when I spotted a woman approaching from the opposite direction.It was after six, on a weekday, and she had a small boy in tow, wearing a t-shirt indicating that he was in the same camp, albeit a younger group, as my child.She was displaying an amazing rooster tattoo, covering her upper left arm.Initially, Kristina seemed hesitant to let me take a photo, but as we talked, she changed her mind, and let me snap away.

This was inked by the incomparable Virginia Elwood, who does incredible work, especially with bird tattoos. Work from Virginia, at New York Adorned, has appeared previously here on Tattoosday.In all fairness, the right side of the tattoo is compromised in the photo above by the sun (and the bane of a borrowed camera), so the best view is the front part of the rooster:

Kristina explained that she chose the Rooster because that was the year in the Chinese Zodiac in which her son was born. It certainly is a wonderful way to commemorate her child.

Almost as an afterthought, Kristina mentioned that a couple years back, on a subway platform, someone had asked her if he could take a picture of her tattoo, still in progress, for his blog, but she politely declined.I thought about it for about a second when I smiled and exclaimed "That was me!"In three years, I've approached a lot of people about their tattoos, and they all blur together.But I still recall the disappointment I felt at 34th Street, when the woman with the unfinished rooster tattoo from Adorned politely declined my request.Lucky me, time solved that missed opportunity, and I got to see the finished product, in the bright afternoon soon, years after I had asked.And it was certainly worth the wait.Thanks kindly to Kristina for sharing her incredible rooster tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sam's Sleeve Revels in Her Heritage

Last month I had the pleasure of running into Sam on the subway platform at West 4th Street. She had this amazing work on her left arm:

Sam's half sleeve is autobiographical in that it celebrates her heritage and her family in the South.Her ancestry is one-half Koren and one-half Scotch-Irish, which explains my favorite part of the tattoo, the pigs holding the fans emblazoned with the flag of South Korea:

Her home state is acknowledged by the pig with the gold necklace in the shape of Virginia:

And the one pig drinking from the distinctively-shaped bottle is a nod to her affinity for Jack Daniels.

Many may ask, why pigs? Sam explained that many of her family gatherings and reunions are lavish pig roasts. As a chef, Kim, who blogs here, embraces the cultural aspects of her upbringing through food and, as one can see, in this tattoo.The work done is by Willie Kirby at Classic Tattoo in Richmond, Virginia.Thanks to Sam for sharing her awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

& (Melissa)

I love typographical tattoos.You've read about them here before in this post, among others.Last month I met Melissa, in Borders at 2 Penn Plaza, and she shared this tattoo, right below her left collar bone:

This was Melissa's first tattoo (she now has three) and she got it because it is her favorite punctuation mark.

She couldn't recall the exact font, but it resembles old English.This tattoo was done in Babylon Tattoo & Body Piercing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Thanks to Melissa for sharing her ampersand with us here on Tattoosday!

Kristen's Trilogy of Knots

The 34th Street Platform for the A Train has been very kind to us here at Tattoosday, even more so this summer than in years' past.Take Kristen, for example. She generously offered up this small portion of her corporeal canvas:

Estimating that she is at least a quarter covered by ink, this "trilogy of knots" was the artist's response to Kristen's request to attach the cobwebs on her elbow to the end of her wrist.The artist, identified only as "Batman" near Canal and Broadway, was also asked to incorporate a Celtic pattern, as well.The final result was to Kristen's liking and we here at Tattoosday thank her for sharing the tattoo with all of our readers!

Nick Remembers Billy, I Remember Siki

My first tattoo was modified from a piece of flash at Body Art Studios by an artist who goes by the moniker "Siki". Shortly thereafter, Siki left the shop and went on his way.My friend Pete knows who he is but, until recently, I hadn't met anyone with ink from Siki, other than myself.Then, I met Nick on the R train one day after work and, while discussing his many tattoos (he "lost count after 45," they've all connected) , I heard him talking about Siki.So today's tattoo is by Siki and was, like my lynx, modified from an old piece of flash. Although he adapted it a lot more fully and developed a more unique tattoo.

Siki and Nick had a mutual friend named Billy, who Nick would often go with to get tattooed. When he passed away, they added Billy's name to the bottom of the tattoo as a tribute to their departed friend.Thanks to Nick for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Jessica's Feather for her Mother

I met Jessica on the express platform at 34th Street earlier this month.She shared this gorgeous peacock feather tattooed on the upper right section of her back:

The piece is an homage to her mother, who loves everything peacock, and has countless items, like bracelets and other jewelery, that emulate the vivid colors of these beautiful birds.She credits this tattoo to an artist known only as Allison.Thanks to Jessica for sharing this wonderful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Timmy's Sophisticated Owl

Earlier this month, Melanie and I took advantage of having my sister's car while she was out of the country and we made an unusual shopping trip to the Fairway Market in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.There was a gentleman in the produce section with a lot of tattoos, and Melanie pointed out one to me that she thought was cool, this owl on his calf:

Turns out that the guy was Timmy from Timmy Tattoo, an artist whose name rang a distant bell. Work by Timmy appeared in one of Tattoosday's earliest posts, when I met Jackie,an FIT student whose tattoos appeared here.Timmy's owl was inked by Garrett Ostrowski of Garrett's Tattoos.Thanks to Timmy for sharing one of his many tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Michelle's Tattoo Takes Your Breath Away

Michelle has a lot of ink, twenty-one tattoos, all told, but when I stopped her in Penn Station, she chose to share this one with us:

Boldly planted on her upper right arm, Michelle explained that she paraphrased and pared down a longer quotation to read, more simply, "Live for the moments that take your breath away". I believe she was referring to the saying, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." The flowers in the photo are cherry blossoms that were done in blue, rather than the traditional pink because, as Michelle tells it, she's "not really a pink kind of girl".

This tattoo was inked by Fat Tony at Hobo's Tattoo Shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.Thanks to Michelle for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Niki's Memorial for Elizabeth

Last week I was down in Chelsea when I spotted Niki from a distance. She appeared to have a colorful Madonna-like tattoo on her right shoulder, so I changed course and caught up to her only to discover this lovely tattoo instead:

This lovely photo was supplied to me by Niki, as my own camera's battery had run out of power and my BlackBerry photo seemed inadequate:

Niki explained that, after her beloved cat Elizabeth passed away, she wanted a memorial tattoo to honor the friend she had for fourteen years.She went to artist John Reardon, then at Saved Tattoo, and told him she wanted a memorial in the style of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the look of Mexican shrines and altars.

One can see Reardon hit the ball out of the park, as proven by my mistaking the piece from a distance as a religious icon.John Reardon is no stranger to Tattoosday. His work has appeared previously here and here.He now works out of his private studio in Brooklyn.Thanks to Niki for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us on Tattoosday!

Jim Commemorates a Trip To Greece with His Brothers

I mentioned yesterday that I had gone up to Woodstock on the 4th of July weekend, where I spotted some upstate ink.At a flea market, I met Jim, who had this amazing tattoo on the back of his calf:

And a wider, three-paneled view:

Jim had gone on vacation to Greece for thirty days with his brothers and he wanted to commemorate the experience.They had stayed on the island of Ios, and Jim took several photos he had into Jake Parrington at Lowell Ink in Lowell, Massachusetts.The end result was this amazing tattoo that captures the scene of their vacation. One of Jim's other brothers got the same tattoo. Note the three figures hiking are meant to represent Jim and his two brothers.Thanks to Jim for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Larry's Tattoo Burns at Both Ends

Occasionally, but not too often, I do venture out of the city to places far, and not so far, away.Fourth of July weekend, I was up visiting friends in Woodstock, New York.On July 3, we found ourselves at an outdoor flea market and I met a couple of inked folk, including Larry who has "a lot" of tattoos.When asked to choose one, he offered up this piece on his forearm:

The image, of a candle burning at both ends, reminds him that life goes by quickly. The "No Tomorrow" is a spin on the carpe diem, or "seize the day" philosophy.

The tattoo was done by JR Maloney at Vanguard Tattoo in Nyack, New York.Thanks to Larry for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Lil' Miss Sunshine

I spotted Christina on a subway platform and she let me take a photo of this tattoo above her outer right ankle once we got on the train:

Our time to chat was limited, so all I learned from Christina was that this was a self-drawn self-portrait that a friend tattooed on her four years ago."Lil' Miss Sunshine" is her nickname.And yes, the sun refers to her as "That Crazy Ass Bitch".Thanks to Christina for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Pete's Tribute to a Magical Grandfather

Last month, as I wandered despondently down my street, mourning the loss of my camera, I saw Pete standing on his stoop in the afternoon heat, without a shirt. He had a really cool tattoo and I talked to him about it, taking a picture with my BlackBerry.Alas, the image quality wasn't good enough, I thought, to post here, so I waited until I saw Pete again, almost a month later, when I had my new camera in hand.So here, without further delay, is Pete's tattoo:

Pete explained that this tattoo is a tribute to his grandfather, a magician who went by the name "The Great Merlini". The tattoo was designed by Kiki at Tattoos by Lou in the South Beach section of Miami, Florida. Pete went to him and explained what he wanted and Kiki drew it up and inked it.On a sidebar, the Great Merlini wasn't just your run-of-the-mill magician. The man behind the persona was Clayton Rawson (click name for full biography). Rawson wrote four mystery novels that featured the character also known as The Great Merlini. And as this YouTube clip shows, Merlini also was a noted illusionist:


Thanks to Pete for sharing this magical tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Preston's Invaders Take Tattoosday

I met Preston in early May on the train platform at West 4th Street.I spotted his tattoo and we talked about it.After along wait, we finally get to see this, one of Preston's five tattoos, here on Tattoosday:

These are,of course, images from the original Atari Space Invaders, one of the forerunners that was the first video game to truly take the world by storm.Preston told me that these symbols represent space invasion. The neon green color makes them stick out even more and, he added, they make a "great ice breaker".As a result, he continued, "people invade my space" when they question him (as I was doing) about his tattoo.Preston is a musician by trade, who goes by the moniker Press Reset. Check out his website here. And this link will take you to his new record <3 on iTunes, where you can listen to (and hopefully, buy) his music.Preston credits the tattoo to an artist named Ziggy who tattoos out of South Florida.Thanks to Preston for sharing his alien neck tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Shannon Shares Her Wieners!

At the end of May, I met Sherry, who shared her love of her home state of Texas with this tattoo here.

In an ensuing email, she asked if she could send her friend Shannon my way to share her ink. "Of course," I replied, and was directed by Sherry to Borders, where Shannon worked. "Ask to see her wieners," she said and added, parenthetically, "(it's G rated, I promise!)."

The Borders in question is part of my normal stomping ground, so I kept my eyes peeled. No sign of Shannon and her wieners.

Then, at the beginning of the month, I finally found Shannon and met Geddy Lee and Sarah Lee, the two wieners tattooed on her upper right arm. They are of course, wiener dogs, more formally known as dachshunds:

The one on the left is Geddy Lee, named after the lead singer of Rush. Shannon's a big fan of the Canadian rock trio.

Sarah Lee, on the right, is a fictional dachshund, do-si-do'ing with Geddy, as they are dance partners.

The tattoo took two sessions, which shows her devotion to Geddy Lee who, Shannon acknowledges, is "that little jerk [that] sucked my soul". She loves him to no end.

These beloved dogs were inked by Adam Paterson at Jersey City Tattoo Company.

Thanks again to Shannon for sharing this incredible tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Venus Flytrap Takes Manhattan Cape Fear

I met Tim earlier this month, along with a bunch of friends, and he had an amazing tattoo that I wanted him to share:

This piece, which is located on his upper right arm, took about twelve hours and features a large mutant Venus Flytrap attacking Cape Fear. Tim is from Wilmington, North Carolina, and this tattoo is a nod to his hometown, with a twist of disaster movie thrown into the mix. It's a brilliant idea for a tattoo, and very unusual.

I love the detail and color that the artist Josh Payne utilized in this amazing piece.



Josh works out of Artfuel Inc. in Wilmingtion.

Much thanks to Tim for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sugar Skull Sunday: Hannah and Her Family

I met Hannah in Penn Station one afternoon after spotting this amazing sugar skull on her upper left arm:

Here is a broader glimpse of the tattoo:

Hannah has over twenty tattoos and told me she wanted this piece to have alot of different elements in it. The gold tooth was a must, because Hannah loves pirates.

Gold teeth in sugar skulls are not necessarily unusual. Chainsaws, however are a bit out of the ordinary:

The chainsaw, Hannah explained, is a tribute to her uncle, who is a lumberjack. And, she added frankly, the bottle is there to acknowledge her grandfather, an alcoholic.

This sugar skull was completed in two 2-3 hour sessions by Tim Barnes at Holeshot's Premium Tattoo & Piercing in Amherst, Massachusetts. Tim has moved on to Florida, according to Hannah, but I haven't been able to identify where he is currently working.

Readers can see all of the sugar skulls previously posted on Tattoosday by clicking here or on the Sugar Skulls tag at the end of the post.

Thanks again to Hannah for sharing her sugar skull with us here on Tattoosday!

Welcome to the Machine

I met Paige over by the New Jersey Transit section in Penn Station late last month and she shared this, one of her five tattoos:

It's a biomechanical piece that helps illustrate her as a machine. Her plan is to ultimately turn it into a sleeve with an apocalyptic bent.

She had this done at Lola's in Bogota, New Jersey. Work from Lola's has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

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

Sealed with a Snake

I spotted Steve one day, and got him to share this rattlesnake tattoo on his right arm:

Steve has three tattoos and is bass player for a band called S.W.A.K.

He came up with the design and had Gary, owner of Shotsie's Tattoo in Wayne, New Jersey, complete the process.

Thanks to Steve for sharing this tattoo with us here on T
att
oosday!