Jackie's Bouncing Lyrics

At the beginning of the week, I posted Jackie's beautiful tattoo and didn't include some work on her wrists that I also photographed:

These lyrics, "What are dreams for anyway/without the guts to live your life that way," are from the song "Highway Kings" by The Bouncing Souls, from their 2003 album Anchors Aweigh.



Thanks to Jackie for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

MODELS

while browsing through the new zara lookbook i found this good looking model/tattoo.

Flower Tattoos-Design for Ladies

Flower Tattoos-Design for Ladies

A flower can represent fertility and life and of course many flowers strike a beautiful pose. A small rose or Lily can be very popular first time tattoos among young ladies.

Jessica's Floral Half-Sleeve

A trip to the Fairway market in Red Hook last month was not only remarkable for the experience with the cheese monger, but because I met Jessica, the owner of this beautiful tattoo:

 

I love the variety of flowers, colors, and textures:

Jessica credited this work to Greg at Planet New York Tattoo in Poughkeepsie.

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

Shamrock And Clover Tattoos

The shamrock is a wildly popular and trademarked symbol of Ireland, along with the Celtic harp, these designs are the counties two primary symbols.

However not only the Irish enjoy this pleasant work of nature, in fact various cultures all around the world embrace the beauty and good fortune that is associates with the shamrock, also refereed to as the clover.

Shamrock/clover tattoos a extremely popular among both men and women of all ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Just have a look through this nice picture gallery of great tattoo ideas.

Beautiful small knot and heart inspired design.

Grove of lovely little clovers on lower back.

Representing both America and Ireland with matching artwork on chest.

Large ink on back of each calf.

Highly detailed idea with saying.

Body art on left side of mans chest.

Cute and highly visible tat behind left ear.

Melanie's Phoenix Helps Her Rise Above

I met Melanie in Penn Station and had to stop her to ask about this colorful phoenix on her back:

She originally had just the Yin and Yang tattoo, but expanded the work to include the legendary bird rising through the ashes. To Melanie, this represents being "better and stronger" after picking up the pieces from life's challenges, overcoming difficulties and rising above everything.

The tattoo was inked by Rick Schreck at House of 1000 Tattoos in Middlesex, New Jersey.

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

Tattoos of Celebrities

Like it or not, celebrity culture is slowly taking over this ever-changing world in which we live in, with absurdly non-newsworthy celebrity headlines finding their way into prime time television news broadcasts...

Despite this downward spiral of our society, many of us find ourselves latching onto these famous figures as a means of self-representation or perhaps simply admiration and fascination.

While some people take the obsession to the next level and devote ever lasting tattoos of these "admirable" celebrities. Get a load of these celebrity portrait tattoos below.

Amazing guitar player and singer Jimi Hendrix.

Britney Spears looking awfully upset.

Oprah Winfrey smiling wide.

Pee-wee Herman talking on the phone.

Bob Barker come on down tattoo idea.

Christopher Walken great sleeve portrait design.

Jack Black looking whack.

Michael Moore shifty eyes and glasses.

Conan O'Brien and his amazing red hairstyle.

Tony Danza with a bow tie.

Will Ferrell as elf character.

Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce on shoulder.

Clay Aiken ink on back.

Sew You Want a Cool Tattoo? Check This One out from Vicky...

I met Vicky back in August outside of Penn Station and marveled about the colorful vibrancy of this beautiful tattoo:

Vicky explained that she is a seamstress for a new company called Cupcake Provocateur. Check out their site, it's pretty cool. Vicky's boss, Cynthia, is the brainchild behind the business, designing all of the aprons and other housewares, as well as making the cupcakes. There are several tattoo-inspired apron designs on their site, including this one, which would make a great holiday gift, no?

But back to the tattoo, Vicky hopes to grow this tattoo into a half-sleeve, and it started out as a design that she had Angelique Houtkamp design for her. "It wasn't drawn exactly the way I wanted it," Vicky explained, so she took it to Sunday Dawne-Marie at Skinflower Cosmic Arts in Phoenecia, New York and, she continued, "Sunday went with my basic idea, an antique sewing machine in a cameo, and re-drew and re-designed the entire thing."

I am most familiar with Sunday's work at Lark Tattoo on the poet Adam Deutsch.

Thanks to Vicky for sharing her amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! We look forward to seeing the sleeve grow in the future!

Woody Woodpecker Tattoos

Woody Woodpecker is another one of those legendary and highly beloved animated cartoon characters, that will surely remain in our hearts and minds forever.

Feast your eyes on this small collection of fabulous Woody Woodpecker tattoo ideas.

Playing golf in checkered pants tattoo idea.

Puffing on cigar while looking upset.

Classic portrait of the animated cartoon character.

Jackie's Vintage Postcard

I caught up to Jackie after she passed me in Penn Station and I was delighted when she agreed to share her tattoo with us:

It's a truly remarkable piece, and I was thrilled to hear it was tattooed by the amazingly talented Amanda Wachob at Dare Devil Tattoo in New York City. She is well-known for an amazing eye for detail for tattoos that appear as if they were just painted on. I mean, look at this delicate touch on the back side of the piece:

Jackie explained that the tattoo is inspired by art in a book of vintage, early 1900's postcards that she found from Pleiades Press. She credited S. Solomko as the artist who created the original piece which inspired this tattoo.

She loved the vintage appearance of the original and Asked Amanda to recreate that feel.

She also loves, from an artistic perspective, the female form, and the sensuality of the peacock feathers fanning out at the bottom of the tattoo.

 

Again, I can't help but marvel at Amanda's artistry and how she paints on a tattoo:

Thanks again to Jackie for sharing her amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sandra's Cherry Blossoms

I met Sandra at the local laundromat at the end of August and she shared this lovely tattoo on her upper right arm:

There are two elements to this design, the cherry blossoms and the quote. The cherry blossoms were inked after her father was initially diagnosed with cancer. The quote was added when Sandra decided to move to New York from Oregon.

Reading "When your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme...", this quote is from the film Pinocchio, in the song "When You Wish Upon a Star".

The tattoo was done by Dragon at Star Tattoo, in Portland, Oregon.

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


Here's a little bonus:

Frank's Anvil

When someone is "not sure" how many tattoos they have, the one they do offer up can seem a bit random.

Take Frank, for example, who volunteered this anvil for us here at Tattoosday:

Why an anvil? "I'm a big Looney Tunes fan," he told me. The anvil, falling from great heights, is often a cartoon catalyst for one of those big expanding bumps on the head of say, Wile E. Coyote, for example. Thus the name on the anvil, ACME, which was said coyote's chief supplier of items designed to aid in the capture of the Roadrunner.

This particular piece was inked by Jae Connor at Electric Lotus Tattoo in Boonton, New Jersey. Work from Electric Lotus has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

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

The Queen of Clams

One year ago today, I posted about meeting a couple of Kansas City burlesque performers outside of Penn Station (recalled here).

Since then, I had the pleasure of meeting another local performer, Legs Malone, and documenting one of her tattoos here.

Coincidentally, I am sharing here today, a tattoo on the ankle of one Miss Clams Casino.

It would be one thing if I was catching these performers in their natural habitats of burlesque shows, but my encounter with Clams was so fleeting, I was fortunate enough to snap a photo and take her card.

A brief ride on the F train (two stops only) afforded me enough time to spot a tattoo above her ankle, introduce myself and take a picture before necessity required I transfer to the R train.

So, here's the tattoo that so intrigued me:

As I mentioned previously, I barely had time to snap a photo, let alone get the story behind this cool tattoo. Thankfully, Miss Clams Casino was generous enough to send me the story at a later date:

"Every year I go to the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in Las Vegas and play in the official Burlesque Hall of Fame Poker Tournament. I enjoy poker, but I know that I'm probably not going to win, so I like setting little goals for the game with fabulous rewards...in 2009 I decided that if I won a hand with a pair of Queens I would get a tattoo to mark the occasion. Long story short, a few hands in I was dealt a pair of Queens and won the only hand I won that tournament. A few months later, my friend Scarlet Sinclair was getting started as a tattoo artist and was looking for willing guinea pigs. I told her the story and that I'd like some ink involving Queens and hearts and she came up with this incredible design. I went to see her at Matt's Tribal Dragon Tattoo in Bethpage, NY and was her 7th tattoo ever. She's incredible and I love the queen living on my ankle."

Thanks to Miss Clams Casino for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Please feel free to check her out on these sites:

http://www.MissClamsCasino.com
http://www.GameShowSpeakeasy.com
http://www.casinoofortunecookie.com
http://www.burlesqueonthegogo.com