Laman

Happy Valentine's from Tattoosday!

Lacking any new material for this holiday o' love, I'm re-posting an old favorite that seems to be in the theme. Well, at least there's a heart in it.

I just love the way, in this photo, that Cait's hand is positioned as she is pulling her blouse back to reveal the whole tattoo...
"I asked her if she'd be willing to share, and she did. She peeled back a little of her top to reveal this beautiful piece on the top left side of her chest:


Cait and her friend Michelle have birthdays two days apart. When they turned 18, they took a design that Michelle had crafted to Da Vinci Tattoo Studio in Wantagh, New York. The artist she remembered as "Yoshi" inked matching pieces for the two.


Cait says the heart that encases the colorful stars represents their friendship, and serves to remind them of the bond. In the event that life ever separates them, the tattoos will link them, no matter where they are.

Work from Da Vinci Tattoo Studio has appeared on Tattoosday before here.

Thanks to Cait for sharing her ink with us here at Tattoosday!
The original post is here.

Here's hoping the day is everything you expect it to be!
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Tattoorism: Sean's Leg Piece Represents His Transformation from Child to Adult

This installment of Tattoorism comes from Sean, a reader who offered up his leg piece for our viewing pleasure. The detail above is my favorite aspect of the tattoo, which wraps around Sean's entire left leg.

In Sean's words:

"...Even though this was done in about 4 or 5 sessions, I could not describe this in any other way except as one big tattoo. Each piece works together with each other.

I consider this my growth-themed tattoo. I started the tattoo, at the age of 18, right before I graduated from high school and finished it right before entering my first year of college, a period of immense growth in my opinion. As long as I can remember, I have been drawn to Asian artwork, so at an extremely basic level this tattoo is just extremely aesthetically pleasing to me, but there is also deeper meaning.

From the Japanese folklore I have heard, koi fish are said to grow into dragons.

That was the basic premise of my tattoo, maturing from childhood to adulthood. I decided to have the koi swimming upwards to portray the different struggles experienced in this growth. The dragon has always been such a powerful image to me and a great symbol of courage and strength, two qualities I constantly strive to achieve and portray myself.

There are also two other major images in this tattoo, the pagoda and the lotus flower.

The lotus is another symbol of "growth." I always loved the idea that a lotus begins its life in murky, dark, ugly waters, but eventually grows to become a beautiful flower despite its surroundings. It's a reminder that no matter how hard things get in life, I can make it through those times and blossom as a better person.
Finally, the personal symbolism I hold for the pagoda is a house of knowledge and discipline. I hoped to achieve, and believe I have, a great amount of knowledge and discipline through my years in college and during the growth from childhood to adulthood in general.
The tattoo was done by Mike Schweigert @ Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ.
Thanks to Sean for sharing this amazing leg piece with us here on Tattoosday!

Sean recognized that our "posts kind of drop off, completely understandably, during the colder months." Not only did he help us with content on an ink-less day, regular readers will recognize that I generally don't run sleeves, or wrap-around tattoos, on the blog, as their characteristics make them very difficult to adequately display in their full glory. It's tough to capture them fully when on the street. So a double thanks to Sean for not only sending us an elaborate leg piece, but providing a well-written synopsis of the personal meaning behind the elements in the design!
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Lizz's Tattoo Anchors Her to Her Brother

One of the things that I love most about writing Tattoosday is the way New York City plays a significant role in the narrative. It may not be a blog about New York, but it would be a much different one without this city I call my home.

This is one of those posts that is tied to the fabric of New York.

This evening, I was taking advantage of a free ticket to see a revival of Guys and Dolls at the Nederlander Theater, which is still in preview and opens March 1st.

I was standing in line outside, about twenty minutes before curtains. The theater, on the south side of West 41st Street, faces the back of the New Amsterdam Theater to the north.

There were assorted people milling about across the street, folks I assumed were crew from Mary Poppins, outside having their last cigarettes before their show started.

I spotted a woman who had exited the theater and saw, from across the street, that she had a tattoo on her right forearm. I was doing nothing but standing in line anyway, so I crossed over 41st Street to say hello.

Lizz, who works as a dresser, was more than happy to share her tattoo:


What's remarkable about this traditional-style anchor tattoo is that she had it done at the same time, on the same spot, and with the same design as her younger brother.

For Lizz, this was her most recent, her nineteenth tattoo. For her brother, five years her junior, it was his first.

The piece is based on the state flag of Rhode Island, where Lizz grew up:


Tattoos in general have significant meaning for their bearers. When the same design in shared, and the act of being tattooed is similarly experienced, the emotional charge instilled in the work is compounded.

Another example of siblings sharing a tattoo can be seen here.

Lizz told me that she doesn't rely on one artist, but that her ink has come from different shops all over the country.

This tattoo was created at Cherry Bomb Tattoo (now known as East River Tattoo)in Brooklyn by the artist Duke Riley. Work from Cherry Bomb has appeared here previously.

Thanks so much to Lizz for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!
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Tattoorism 101: Jenny's Unforgettable Memorial to Her Mother and Grandmother


Despite unseasonably warm temperatures this weekend, I didn't see any tattoos, shattering my expectations. However, all was not lost. I received a lovely e-mail from a reader named Jenny who brightened my day with an amazing tattoo. She must have been reading my mind when she said, "Since it's winter and most of us have our ink covered by turtlenecks and wool sweaters, I would let one of my tattoos out and share it with you."

And what Jenny sent me was a breathtaking floral tattoo that is simply beautiful:


I'll let Jenny explain this piece in her own words:

"My grandmother and mother are two very special people in my life, and both have passed away. When I was 21, I got my first tattoo. It was a small piece, but it meant a lot to me. My mom was so excited for me - she told me that she wished that she had the money to get a tattoo herself! My mom died without ever getting a tattoo, but blue was her favorite color.

My grandmother passed away a few years after my mom, and I decided that I would get a tattoo for them. The tattoo did not start out as planned. I went in to the shop thinking that I'd get myself a small lilac on one shoulder that had a green ribbon wrapped around it (Grandma in the Green House had lilac trees). I was also toying around with the idea of some sort of blue tattoo for my mom, but I had no idea what to do.

When I talked to the tattoo artist, she was designing a lovely lilac tattoo, and I asked her to put some Forget-me-nots with it for my mom. She created two separate sprigs, and the forget-me-nots were perfect. I went in to plan for a lilac tattoo, but I left with a shoulder of forget me nots (my largest tattoo, and I had it done in one sitting - it was intense, but I am so glad that I did it in one sitting). A sprig of lilacs will go on the left shoulder once I have some more money and the design is "right" (it's good but not ready, yet). For now, I have my mother's forget-me-nots intertwined with my grandma's green ribbon."

A closer look shows how well the two elements of the forget-me-nots and the green ribbon are woven together, just as Jenny's mother and grandmother are permanently sewn into the fabric of her life:


This simple and poignant memorial tattoo was inked by Kira at Sleepy Hollow Studios in Potsdam, New York (40 minutes from the Canadian border).

Much thanks to Jenny for being a loyal reader and from infusing a drab weekend with color by visiting us here at Tattoosday and sharing her tattoo!
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