Stevie's Tattoo Calms and Inspires

Last Wednesday marked the official end to the veritable tattoo drought this winter in New York has afforded us here on Tattoosday.

In addition to the three people I met at lunch, my train ride home and, subsequently, my day, was punctuated by a fleeting encounter with a woman named Stevie on the R train.

I had just plopped down in one of the seats after having moved car-to-car between stops, in an effort to get toward the back of the train. I mention this to illustrate how fortunate I was to be where I was, when Stevie boarded the train.

She got on at one stop and, by the time she had exited two stations later, I had had just enough time to take a picture of the wonderful tattoo on the back of her right calf, and pass her the blog info so she could contact me with more details.


Stevie has seven tattoos and this one came from the incomparable New York Adorned at the talented hands of Virginia Elwood. Stevie worked over several sessions with Virginia, ironing out the details of the piece, which was completed in one sitting.

There are three elements to the tattoo: the lotus, the hamsa, and the peacock feathers.

Via e-mail, Stevie explained:

I moved out here from the West Coast to teach in inner-city schools. When I first started teaching and things would get nerve-wracking I'd tap on this hamsa hand necklace I always wore. For whatever reason it calmed me down and reminded me that I was here to infuse some change and to do some awesome work. When I became an NYC Public School teacher I decided I'd like it on me permanently. The hamsa hand is a symbol of faith and clarity and that's what I think I found in myself, like my calling. The lotus flower goes along with this idea of rising to the surface and blossoming while the peacock feathers were an aesthetic touch.

Work from New York Adorned has appeared previously on the site here.

Thanks so much to Stevie for sharing her amazing work with us here on Tattoosday!

Butt Cheek Buddy

If you have a really close buddy and you want to display your friendship toward him, just take him out to dinner or by him a football...

But whatever you do...Don't get his face tattooed on your butt cheek!

How will he ever explain this to his future wife and kids...Awkward!

Two Tattoos from Devin

Last Wednesday I had a productive inkspotting lunch hour, which culminated with meeting Devin in front of Penn Station.

Devin has three tattoos, two of which are in close proximity on his left forearm:

The first of the two he shared was also his very first piece he got when he was eighteen:


This "punk rock chick" is based on an old Rancid logo. Aside from being a fan of the band, he liked the design, as well. It was tattooed by Brad Schicklgruber at Mackenzie's Tattoo in Carmel, New York.

Just above that is the sparrow design that is classic flash:

It seemed fitting, then, that Devin had this done by Eddie at Sam O'Reilly's Tattoo Parlour in Santa Cruz, California. O'Reilly's, established in 1891, is one of the oldest shops in the nation and has top-notch artists. Work from O'Reilly's has appeared previously on our site here.

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

Tattoos I Love: Melanie's Hybrid Flower

This is another special edition of Tattoosday, a variation on the Tattoos I Know series. First seen on Valentine's Day, this is an episode of Tattoos I Love.

This category is reserved for the ink on my wife, Melanie, who turns 40 today.

Several years ago, I bought her a gift certificate for Body Art Studios in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The owner and artist, Peter Cavorsi, is a talented tattooer, and he proved it in this case.

Melanie's favorite flower is the iris. She wanted something pretty along those lines, and gave Peter a couple of samples of artwork as a reference.

What he came up with was a lovely interpretation of the iris, but with other floral elements thrown in. So, although based on her favorite flower, it is a hybrid that is uniquely hers:


I surreptitiously snapped this photo of the tattoo on her right ankle last year at a little league game in which our younger daughter was playing.

Work from Peter at Body Art Studios has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Happy Birthday, Melanie!

Trina's Tattoo for Her Momma

The second subject of our March 10 tattoo bonanza is Trina, who sports seven tattoos, several of which are on her legs.

After her sixth piece, her mother chided her, saying teasingly, "You have all of those tattoos, and none of them are for me?"

The next tattoo solved that problem:


Reading "I'll always love my Momma," this piece was inked on the back of one of Trina's calves at Uptown Tattoos & Body Piercing in Harlem.

And what does the woman to whom this tattoo is dedicated think of it?

"Mom loves it," Trina grinned. As well she should.

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

Juan's Sleeve, Traditional Elements, Inked in the Bronx

A burst of pleasantly warm weather this week signified the end of a quiet winter.

Posts have been scarce indeed, but I see busier times ahead.

Wednesday afforded me my first "Tat* Trick" of 2010. That term, for those unfamiliar, is reserved for a day when I meet and photograph at least three tattoo hosts. Even rarer is the "Lunch Tat Trick," which involves me getting photos from three people (or more) in the course of an hour, on my lunch break.

So I am grateful for the following contributor, and the two three other nice people from the 10th of March.

I spotted Juan in Penn Station and he offered up this half-sleeve-in-progress, which includes a skull element and a panther :


Inked by Freddie Arroyo at Cool Hand Tattoo in the Bronx, this tattoo features his ideas and the artist's interpretation of the suggested design elements. The mask at the bottom of the design is one element I find exceptionally interesting, as it deviates slightly from what a traditional demon mask looks like, and takes on a slightly more original appearance which more likely reflects the style of the artist:


The work as photographed represents two sittings. Not seen in the shot above, but quite impressive, is the work and color of this flower, which is on the inside of the biceps, extending into the ditch:


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

* Ed. Note:Tattoo purists often raise an eyebrow at the term "tat" to denote a tattoo. I generally employee it when I am attempting a clever play on words. Sometimes, I fail.

Heart tattoo designs

HEART TATTOO DESIGNS

Heart tattoo designs are one of the most popular choices of people all over the world. You can also attach several meanings and symbolism with this heart tattoo design. The heart tattoo designs used for showing different kind of symbolism such as religion, love and other type of beliefs.

The heart tattoo designs easily signify love or romance that matches with the feelings of heart perfectly. Some people also entwine tattoo by making a heart design with flowers or roses for the purpose of signifying deeper romance.

The heart tattoo designs look like inverted triangle and easily able to symbolize public triangle which is considered as universal symbol of feminine.

The heart tattoo designs are getting popular worldwide among the young generation. Teenagers love to create heart tattoo designs on special occasions such as Valentines Day as a token to their loved ones.

heart design


There are wide varieties available in terms of color at the time of creating heart tattoo designs apart from red color. Each color reflects different type of symbolism in the form of heart tattoo. Some people also prefer to wear heart tattoo designs to symbolize the feeling of faith.

The image of the sacred heart is also very popular as heart tattoo designs along with creation of image such as Jesus Mary. The image of the Jesus Mary can be crowned or pierced with the use of thorns with a radiating light emanating from it. Emotional expression, romantic bonds, courage and friendship are the most popular form of expressions in heart design tattoos.

heart tattoo

Amy's Circle of Sanskrit Honors The Loss of Something She Needed to Lose

It was one of those New York City Tattoosday moments, when you really hit it off with someone and a simple question about a tattoo turns into a lengthy conversation.

I was coming home much later than usual and, at West 4th Street, where I'll occasionally switch from the A train to the D train, I spotted a woman in front of a subway map on the platform. She had tattoos on her ankles and was carrying a large hoop.

Amy, a nursing student and trapeze artist, shared the long segments on either side of her right food, inked in Sanskrit, quoting the Baghavad Gita:


She paraphrased the meaning as "Weapons do not pierce this. Fire does not burn this. Such is the eternal nature of the soul."

Or, in one translation, referring to the Atma, or higher self:

Weapons do not cut this Atma, fire does not burn it, water does not make it wet, and the wind does not make it dry. (2.23)
This Atma cannot be cut, burned, wetted, or dried up. It is eternal, all pervading, unchanging, immovable, and primeval. (2.24)

Why this quote? Aside from her appreciation of Hindu art and design, she got in "in honor of forgetting a person's number that I really needed to forget".

In other words, as I interpret it, she couldn't remember the number of someone who she was better off without. Her mind released the link to the person the heart craved and, in hindsight, the mind was operating in the best interest of the soul.

She had this work done by an artist at Purple Panther Tattoos on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood California.

Although the photos above were taken on the train platform at West 4th, we spent a good amount of time chatting on the D train after it pulled into the station. We talked about tattoos mostly, and I recommended some artists to check out in New York.

Amy said she had been recently thinking about a new tattoo and it was funny that I just happened to approach her about her own work.

We parted ways when the D rolled into 36th Street in Brooklyn, where I switched to the R train, and Amy headed to work teaching an Aerial Hoop class (which explains her possession of the large ringed object I alluded to at the beginning of the post).

A hearty thank you to Amy for sharing her inspirational tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!

GOOD LUCK TATTOOS

Good luck tattoos


Tattooing is an art and this has been continuing since earlier ages. Tattoos have always been linked with luck and this is one of the reasons why many people like to get good luck tattoos. There are a lot of symbols that stand for good luck and these are made in the form of tattoos. The sailors started this tradition of getting good luck tattoos. The life of the sailors used to be uncertain as they had to sail through the seas and they got these tattoos so that they can come back home alive. Tattoos like sparrows were very popular in the earlier days.

Tattooing tradition has undergone a change and the styles of the tattoos are being revised and brought forth in a creative and new manner. Vibrant colors are now being used to give a new look to the tattoos. The two images that were popularly used as good luck tattoos were sacred heart and a sparrow. The new versions of the tattoos have a lot of colors and are merged into unique designs. They have a more retro look to them and this is what makes them popular.

Some of the most popular tattoos designs are sparrow. The reason for this is that the birds are spotted near land. Other tattoo designs that is considered lucky is the nautical star tattoo, horseshoe, three 7’s, number 13, good luck amulets and shamrock tattoos. You too can get one of these and flaunt it off your arm or on some other body part.

Good luck tattoos

Hoot! Hoot! Thanks for Your Support!!

Last night at 11:37 P.M., someone in Fairfield, California googled "owl tattoos".

Seventh on the list of results was the link to this tattoo:

(the post here)

This visitor registered Tattoosday's half a millionth hit, a number that seemed impossible when we first started out as a spin-off from BillyBlog 2 1/2 years ago (almost to the day). And although we're no Huffington Post (or I Can Has Cheeseburger, for that matter), which tosses off 500k in a day, or a week, or a month, or whatever, this little tattoo blog is very happy to celebrate this milestone.

Thanks to everyone who visits regularly, stops by occasionally, or just pops in from time to time. And, of course, a hearty thank you to all those tattooed folks who have volunteered their body art over the last 30 months!

Tattoorism: Corline's Beautiful Tree

As we rapidly approach the milestone of a half a million hits, it only seems fitting that today's post features a tattoo from one of our fans. We recently received this photograph of a lovely tattoo from Corline:


This beautiful tree on her lower back was tattooed by an artist known as "Hellboy Dennis" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It's her first tattoo and took about four hours.

Corline says she and Dennis collaborated on the design. They worked at a friend's home studio, he drew it on her back, and then took about four hours to tattoo it, making his own interpretation of their design. She adds, "Trees are really important to me. I went to travel after a long relationship and found my roots and my freedom...".

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

PEACE TATTOOS

PEACE TATTOOS

Title: peace tattoos


Peace tattoos are very much in the trend for people who like to show that they care and they love humanity. These tattoos have been one of the all time favorite among various social reformers whose main goal is world peace and removal of hatred. These people take the help of peace tattoos to show the intense feeling they have for peace and harmony.

Tribal Tattoos peace: In this category a tattoo loves wants to show that he cares for peace and humanity by getting a tribal symbol of peace. There are many symbols and signs in many tribes which represent peace and tattoo lovers like them as it is a new way of saying you care for mankind.

Dove Tattoos for peace: Dove is a very beautiful white bird which is a universal symbol of peace and harmony. Dove symbols are held auspicious by Christianity. In Christianity dove denotes resting in peace. Similarly symbol of paired doves represents harmony, love, fidelity and happy homes and that is the reasons doves are released on the wedding day by the brides and the grooms. Doves are known to have a single life partner for life and are very peaceful that is one reason for the tattoos of dove denoting peace the world over.

A peace tattoo signifies universal peace and hope for all mankind. It also denotes purity and gentleness. It epitomizes the elimination of hatred among the people of different countries of the world. It calls for universal love under any conditions.

Title: peace tattoos

Tattoosday's First Ambigram Tattoo

Now that we have the horrific ink-hiding months of January and February behind us, I was looking forward to seeing what March provided.

I was rewarded by the cooperation of Brian, who shared this, one of his five tattoos:


For those readers unfamiliar with ambigrams, they are designs that reveal images or words from both perspectives.

Brian's tattoo, for example, reads "Life" from this perspective. But, when flipped, reads "Death". In this case, a perfect dichotomy, with each word opposing the other.


The better ambigrams have a correlating juxtaposition, emulating a yin and yang approach to the art form.

Brian got this done by Melissa at Sparrow Tattoo in West Hempstead, New York.

I must say, as ambigram tattoos go, this one is pretty cool, and I'm happy to have it be the first of its kind featured here on the site.

Thanks to Brian for sharing his life/death tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!