Friday, December 11, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res Vol.8
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res Vol.7
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res Vol.6
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res Vol.5
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res Vol.4
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res Vol.3
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res Vol.2
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res Vol.1
Amazing Water City In The Night Wallpapers 1024x768 Hi-res
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Daniel's Back Piece Begins...
In my previous post, I described meeting Daniel and Katte. And, although Katte's work was what initially prompted me to stop the couple, Daniel offered up the bigger surprise.I have yet to come up with a term for the phenomenon, but anyone who responds to an inquiry about a visible tattoo with an unprompted unveiling of a covered one, earns a place in Tattoosday lore.(See some memorable examples
Katte's Memorial for the Artist, Gone Too Soon
I met Daniel and Katte as they were about to go into the subway station at 34th Street and 7th Avenue.Although Katte had a lot of visible work that was interesting, she rolled up her left pant leg to show me this interesting collage on her calf:The tattoo, along with much of her work, was inked by her step-father, who works out of his home.The piece is a memorial for an ex-boyfriend, who was hit
Friday, July 17, 2009
Crow and Mouse
A few minutes after talking to Brian (here), I ran into Tony, a tattoo artist at Gotham City Tattoo in Bay Ridge.Tony estimates he is 50% covered, so choosing a nice tattoo to offer up for Tattoosday was no easy task.Until he showed me his inner left bicep:This incredible work was done by Simone, a visiting artist from Como, Italy, who did a guest spot at Gotham.Tony, who has been tattooing for
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Magdalena's Peacock Struts Through Penn Station
Last week I was passing through Penn Station when Magdalena walked by me.She had this absolutely stunning peacock tattoo on her left shoulder:This was a "purely decorative" choice she said. It's a custom piece and took about five hours for Nik Moore at Scarab Body Arts in Syracuse, New York to tattoo. Great detail to this beautiful bird:Lucky for us, Magdalena had missed her train and had some
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Izzy's Ink: A Tatt-alog, Part 1
On occasion here on Tattoosday, we go a little ink-wild. Someone I meet will show me piece after piece of great body art, and I will snap away and scribble notes as quickly as I can.And when I share a half dozen or more tattoos from one person, in one post, I call it a tatt-alog.I was heading home later than normal, having attended a New York City open house on applying to public high schools
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tiffany's Tree of Life
I was walking through Penn Station back on July 3 when I noticed the woman ahead of me had an interesting-looking tattoo on her inner left bicep.But it was rush hour and I was off to a small birthday gathering so, when we went separate ways at the turnstiles, I sighed and thanked the tattoo deities for letting me meet two other people earlier in the day.A few minutes later, however, while pacing
Monday, July 13, 2009
Doug's Geisha
I met Doug on Penn Plaza on my birthday.He has 14 tattoos and was, by chance headed down to Rising Dragon Tattoos in Chelsea later that day to get more work on a traditional Japanese piece by Horisei (see his work featured previously here).The goal is to eventually cover his whole upper body with traditional Japanese tattoo art. He already has foo dogs, demons and kite masks. The favorite piece
Sunday, July 12, 2009
A Darling Skull
I spotted Stacey from Washington D.C. in Penn Station, waiting for her train home.She had this remarkable skull tattoo on her right bicep, which she said, was a tribute to her girlfriend:It's the first piece of what she says will eventually be a sleeve.There's something extraordinary about the tattoo, with a surreal paint-splatter effect that I have not seen before.The colors, in addition,
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Xavier's Pocket Watch Flies Through Time
I knew my birthday was going to be a good one when I not only spotted ink first thing in the morning, but I talked tattoo and got a story before 7:00 A.M. on the R train at 95th Street.Xavier has a dozen or so tattoos which he wears with pride. All are inked by Joe Maggs at Brooklyn Ink. Just by virtue of my close proximity to the shop, Brooklyn Ink's work has appeared on the blog more than any
Friday, July 10, 2009
Mari's Unusual Ink
Every so often, a Tattoosday post goes bust.Despite amazing potential, the subject is in a hurry and, for whatever reason, I am never able to fully follow-up with the individual and we are left with a skeleton of a post.This one's not so bad, however. I met Mari in Herald Square. I believe she is a photographer, hailing from Brazil, but now living in New York.I took two pictures of her tattoos
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A Viking Design Commemorates Brian's Ancestry
Back on June 29, while pacing the 59th Street platform in Brooklyn, waiting for an R train, I spotted this interesting design on the right calf of Brian:According to Brian, the piece is based on an ancient Viking symbol representing land. He had this tattooed to commemorate his Swedish ancestry.The piece was done by Rob (who appeared on Tattoosday here) at Brooklyn Ink.Thanks to Brian for sharing
Fate Leads Me to Abundance
Sometimes Fate sends me to interesting tattoos.My commute home generally starts at the 34th Street subway station, on a Brooklyn-bound N Train.Sometimes, if the train is in the station when I come down the stairs, it is not clear if it's an N train or a Q train. Generally, if it doesn't matter completely, I hop on and sort it out later. Hesitation can cause me to miss the right train.So I jumped
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Website Review: Print Tattoos Online
As tattooing becomes even more popular, the proliferation of sites dedicated to the art is amazing.I was recently made aware of a new site called Print Tattoos Online that caters to the tattoo customer seeking designs for their next tattoo(s).People seeking tattoos in the past used to have the sole option of going into a shop, poring through the flash art is books or on the walls, and going with
Caroline's Sabre-Toothed Skull
Back on June 23, I spotted Caroline walking in Penn Plaza, with this fascinating tattoo popping off of her right thigh:This is Caroline's second tattoo and is based on a sketched she drew of a sabre-toothed tiger skull. She is a visual artist whose website can be seen here.The tattooer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, did a phenomenal job in under an hour, "capturing the cross-hatches and lines that
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Horror Goulash with a Side of Power Mushrooms
I was passing through Century 21 Department Store when I spotted Jason, a web designer who estimates he is 50% covered in tattoos.He offered up this sleeve, which he worked on for six sessions with the tattoo artist Sean Sweeney at Lola's Tattoos in Bogota, New Jersey:Sean has subsequently moved to Virginia.They called this piece "Horror Goulash" as it was a big pot of ideas for a sleeve, with an
Monday, July 6, 2009
A Duel on Christian's Arms
Christian is one of the rare Tattoosday subjects with whom I got greedy.My normal modus operandi is to ask people for an offering of one of their multiple tattoos. I let them choose and I am happy to capture one piece and move on.But in the course of photographing Christian's choice, I saw his other two tattoos, and requested to include them in the post, as well.Christian is a filmmaker and the
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Cody's Message of Recovery
These arms belong to Cody, who I stopped outside of Madison Square Garden on June 23.What caught my eye was a beautiful religious piece on his forearm, but it was still healing, so we went with these tattoos instead.Cody explained to me that he is in recovery, and that the strength he gets from this message, "Dealing with the Cards Life Dealt Me," is invaluable. "No matter what life throws at you
Saturday, July 4, 2009
A Traditional Sailor Jerry Pin-up for the 4th of July
When I saw Paul standing in Borders, inked up with nineteen tattoos, I couldn't help but ask to take a picture.Not much of a story here, but a hell of a tattoo:This is an old school Sailor Jerry pin-up design that Paul had always loved. So, he finally had it inked by J.P. at Rising Dragon Tattoos in Manhattan. Work from their shop has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.Thanks to Paul for
Friday, July 3, 2009
Joe's Martini Girl
I spotted Joe outside of Madison Square Garden after work last week.Joe is not sure how many tattoos he has, but offered up this one, on the back of his right forearm:Joe said that this tattoo is "the first one I ever wanted to get, but the last one I ended up getting."The piece was inked by Tom Yak at New York Adorned. Tom did add a bra and panties to the pin-up reclining in the martini glass,
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Mason's Gypsy, with a New Orleans Twist
I met Mason at the 7th Avenue Street Fair in Park Slope on Father's Day.He has "twenty or so," tattoos, mostly accumulated from different artists from different places he has visited.His offering for Tattoosday, however, was inked here in New York. It is a take on the traditional gypsy tattoo which I have been seeing a lot of lately:Mason went to Kings Avenue Tattoo in Massepequa, Long Island,
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Elvis and the Saint
I met Kristin and Jason at the 7th Avenue Street Fair in Park Slope on Father's Day.Street fairs in New York City generally occur in the summer months and, to an inkspotter like me, they are heaven on earth.Well, perhaps I exaggerate. They are also hot, crowded, and dangerous. I have seen many a fair-goer clipped by a slowly-moving baby stroller. But I digress.There were tattoos aplenty at the
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Jubail Celebrates the Midnight Mile
I met Jubail on the corner of 34th and 6th Avenue, and he shared this awesome tattoo:"Midnight Mile" is a song by Bouncing Souls, and it reminds him of coming home to New York City.Jubail, who has "nine or ten" tattoos, was a student at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.He was about to earn his commission as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army when I spoke with him, and he knows he can
Monday, June 29, 2009
Where The Wild Thing Tattoo Is
The day after I met one Jared, I met another, out in front of Madison Square Garden.With a tattoo like this:how could I not stop him?As one would imagine, Jared loves the book, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.The tattoo displays, on Jared's right forearm, one of the "Wild Things" that is in Max's imagination.Jared, who was in town visiting from Boston, has ten tattoos. He had been
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Jared Shares His Vegan Tattoo
I met Jared while he was waiting for a train in Penn Station.After the Manhattan Mall food court closed last summer, I discovered this wide expanse of Penn Station (especially the Amtrak area) was great for inkspotting when the weather made normal traipsing about unappealing.Jared's ink runs down the length of his arm, from the top of his right bicep, down to the inner part of his forearm.As a
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tattoosday Boxcars: A Leonine Tattoo and Wearing One's Heart on One's Sleeve
I met Jeff and Jeanie in Penn Station as they were about to board an Amtrak train out of the city.I've been trying to come up with clever terms for different inkspotting phenomenon, basically creating my own lexicon.I'll call Jeff and Jeanie "boxcars". Meaning, I approached the two of them and gambled, asking them both to participate, and they came through. Like rolling two sixes on the dice (
Gina's Mayan Design
Earlier this month, I met Gina in Manhattan at the corner of 31st Street and 7th Avenue and I asked her about these tattoos:The main element is a the piece she had inked in January 2007, on a trip to Mexico.She went on a cruise to Mexico with her mother. While exploring some Mayan ruins, she made a rubbing of the design above, which bears some relationship to Xul, a canine god in the Mayan
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Mark's Gypsy Tattoo Pays Tribute to the Female Singer-Songwriter
I have mentioned before that I tend to shy away from approaching subway commuters about their tattoos.However, like most of my self-imposed guidelines, I always make exceptions for work that is transcendent. That is, if the tattoos are supremely blogworthy, I will solicit, for the sake of the reader, people on the subway. One such case presented itself last week on the Brooklyn-bound N train.I
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Leesa's Memorial Tattoos
There are certain signs I look for when I am scanning a crowd for tattoos. Colored hair and/or facial piercings are good, but not always reliable, indicators that someone may be inked. A guitar case, you would think, also favors the theory that its possessor has tattoos, but it's not always the reality.So when I spotted a tall woman walking out of Penn Station carrying what appeared to be a
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Sarah Shoulders Her Slavic Heritage
A couple of weeks ago, I had a very productive Wednesday, speaking to five different people about their tattoos.Sarah is the last of those five that I an posting, and was my favorite of the group that day.This tattoo was her sixth (she has thirteen or fourteen) and is an homage to her Slavic heritage.The piece is based on the poster for a 1921 art exposition put on by the Czech Art Nouveau
Monday, June 22, 2009
My Third Tattoo: A Hand Steeped in Faith
Last June, I wandered into a 711 and met a tattoo artist named Pete, who works under the moniker Sweetpea. Like most artists, he himself has amazing work. However, I was camera-less that day, so I gave him a flier and we went our separate ways.Later that week he e-mailed me and we scheduled to meet and talk about tattoos. We hit it off nicely and, in one of the perks of writing Tattoosday, I
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Jake's Redd Foxx Tattoo Helps Us Celebrate Father's Day!
Last week, I posted about a trio of friends that had recently moved from San Francisco to New York, all of them inked.Jake was the first of the three to share his tattoo with us, and it is such a good piece, I saved it for a special occasion, Father's Day:This is, of course, a portrait of the great comedian Redd Foxx. People of my generation (X) remember him as the bristling curmudgeon in the
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Ashley's Trio of Tattoos
I've always said that Tattoosday is 50% about the tattoos and 50% about finding them. But once in a while, tattoos just present themselves and I can't contain myself.Ashley is a case in point. She was at the laundromat the same time as I was, and she had two small tattoos inked on her feet. Out on the street, I likely would have let her walk by without stopping her, but there, as we stood around
Friday, June 19, 2009
Amy's Variation on a Sailor Jerry Classic
I met Amy one day a few weeks back, outside of Madison Square Garden.She estimates she has spent about 36 hours being tattooed, and that her body is "a work in progress".She offered up this tattoo on her left arm, which is a modified version of a classic Sailor Jerry design:The original concept is your basic naval tattoo design, with the "Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed" slogan:This piece has been
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A German Gypsy in New York City
I met Dominic a couple of weeks ago out in front of Madison Square Garden in Penn Plaza.He was visiting from Cologne, Germany, and was displaying an arm with tattoos:Dominic has seven tattoos, most of which are based on traditional flash art.We looked specifically at his gypsy tattoo, which Dominic says is especially poignant:Why is this piece so meaningful? Dominic says his family once was very
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Three Tattoos from Mary: Marilyn Monroe and Robert Frost, Fire and Ice
What jumped out at me when I saw Mary in front of Penn Station, on a drizzly late afternoon during Rush Hour, was this amazing tattoo on her left bicep:Marilyn Monroe tattoos are not incredibly unusual (click here to see those that have appeared on this site previously), but this one strays from the glamorous and dabbles in the tragic.What we see is the back of her head, passed out on a make-up
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Two for Tattoosday: Some Traditional Work Imported from California
Last week I spotted a young tattooed woman chatting with a friend outside of the Chelsea Whole Foods store. I hesitated because I was running late, but doubled back across the street and introduced myself. As it turned out, Krista and her two friends, Ryan and Jake, had recently moved from San Francisco to New York. All of them had tattoos.Her friend Jake shared his first, but I am deferring that
Monday, June 15, 2009
Matt Wears His Heart (of Bacon) on His Sleeve
I first met Matt a year or so ago when he and his wife Allison opened the gourmet grocery Robicelli's in our neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (there's more on Robicelli's here).It was only recently, however, when I popped in to pick up some of their incredible gourmet cupcakes (the "Irish Car Bomb" is my favorite), when I spotted this amazing tattoo on the inside of his left forearm:So it
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Mike's Tribute to His Thai Heritage
There are generally two kinds of Tattoosday subjects (and by subjects I mean people):Those that let me take a picture or two and I never hear from them again, and those that send me nice messages and a correspondence more or less develops.Last weekend I met a guy named Mike at the laundromat (which is turning out to be quite a lucky locale for inkspotting) and he falls in the latter category.Not
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A Dozen (or So) of Ed's Sixty-Eight (Approximately) Tattoos
Every neighborhood has at least one or two of them: old-timers who have retired from the workforce and can now shed their suits and proudly display what they have accumulated over a lifetime: their vast tapestry of ink.Ed lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (my neighborhood) and worked for a bank for forty years. Even today, when the stigma of tattoos is dissipating with the changing times, Corporate
Thursday, June 11, 2009
John's Demon Sleeve
Under normal circumstances, I may not have stopped John, as I tend to not feature full sleeves here on Tattoosday. However, last Wednesday I was on a roll, and he gladly modeled his right arm for me:Here's a little better look at that demonic face that dominated the bicep:John's ink, which he estimates covers 25% of his body, has no specific meanings, the artwork is just a form of expression.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tattoos in the News - Friday Jones Fifth Avenue
Sara from W Magazine just e-mailed me about a couture studio in New York's Flatiron District.She writes:"...Thought you might be interested in our article on Friday Jones Fifth Avenue, the "couture" tattoo saloon located inside the Flatiron District's Senses NY Saloon & Spa. Classically-trained tattoo artist and owner Friday Jones has catered to a clientele of Hollywood stars and socialites
Audrey's Wrist Tattoos Keep Her Grounded
Last week I had a wonderful Wednesday of inkspotting, photographing four tattoos at lunch, and those of a fifth volunteer after work.The run started with Audrey, whose tattooed wrist caught my eye in the plaza in front of Borders.As it turns out, Audrey has both wrists done:Her left wrist bears the slogan "Be Present" and the right wrist hosts a series of Roman numerals.The "III.XX.MMVIII" refers
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Jason's Lucky Devil
I spotted Jason walking among the crowds during the annual Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Festival.He had sweet tattoos on his forearms but he chose to share one, near and dear to his heart. His wife chimed in that it was her favorite as well.Where once there was a "bad tribal/skeletal dragon," there is now this phenomenal new tattoo on his left bicep:This was, he told me, his groom's gift, a tattoo
Monday, June 8, 2009
Brian's Amazing Angelic Ink
On Saturday, I was at the park, playing ball with my daughter, and I noticed a guy off in the distance with some dark ink on his upper arm. When we were ready to leave, I ambled on over to him.What I initially spotted was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Brian was more than generous in rolling up his sleeves and sharing his astonishing work. He showed me both biceps and his back piece
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Vince and a Word from John Keats
I'm a sucker for words.Scrabble, crossword puzzles and, when I find them, words inscribed in flesh.I recently spotted Vince, walking down 32nd Street in Manhattan. I caught up with him after he crossed Broadway, heading east.He has eight tattoos, but I snapped a picture of this one:And why does he have the word Beauty inked on the outside of his right forearm?Vince is an artist and illustrator (
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Pepper's Apprentice
It was Rush Hour in Penn Station when I spotted a fairly large tattoo on the right ankle of a woman walking, as it turned out, to the same train platform as me.I was able to grab a few words and a photo from Pepper as we waited for the downtown train:This one-color tattoo, one would imagine, for its size, should have significant meaning (or so I thought), but that is far from the truth.Often,
Friday, June 5, 2009
Danielle's Stars and Signs Forever
Despite great inkspotting weather earlier this week, I found myself walking in Chelsea at lunch, marveling at the absence of tattoos.I like to remind myself from time to time that Tattoosday is 70% tattoos and 30% about finding them.So, I had walked down to one of our vendor's offices at lunch (13 blocks away) to get some forms we needed. I was on the elevator heading back downstairs when I
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Alex's East Indian Tribal Mask
What's fascinating about approaching two inked people talking on a subway platform and asking them if either would like to share a tattoo, is that you never know what you'll get (if anything).On Saturday, May 23, I found myself in such a situation, and Alex, one of the two people chatting on the 59th Street subway platform in Brooklyn, offered up this, one of his sixteen (16) tattoos:This piece,
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tattoo Highway Contest #2
Win Prizes from the New A&E Real Life Series TATTOO HIGHWAY, THIRD AND FOURTH EPISODES AIRING WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 AT 10/9C.Tattoo Highway follows 15-year tattoo veteran and star of former A&E hit “Inked,” Thomas Pendelton as he takes his tattoo parlor on the road to cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake City to transform personal stories into living art. Pendelton and his
Tattoorism: Josh Pays Tribute to the Verrazano Bridge
Last Friday I received a very special surprise via e-mail from a guy named Josh:The following explanation accompanied the photo:"I recently discovered your blog's postings about various Verrazano Bridge tattoos you've seen [here and here] ... They both looked pretty awesome. I'm also a big enough fan of the bridge to get it inked on my skin ... Although mine is a slightly different style than
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Alice and the Cheshire Cat in Manhattan
At one of the busiest intersections in Manhattan (34th and 7th), I recently met Kelsey, who offered up this still-fresh tattoo:This is a scene from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, when Alice meets the Cheshire Cat for the second time.The tattoo is based on this illustration:This is her most recently tattooed piece. The inspiration behind it is that this was one of her favorite
Monday, June 1, 2009
Michaela's Tattoo Illuminates a Life
Yesterday at a street fair in my neighborhood (always prime ink-spotting locals), I saw this beautiful tattoo on the upper right section of Michaela's back:When I asked her what the meaning of the tattoo was, she asked me "The real story?""Absolutely," I replied.So she told me that years ago, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and she had this tattooed to remind her that there are two sides
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The Tattooed Poet's Project, Jillian Brall's Love of Trees Manifests Itself in a Back Piece
In April, we featured 31 tattooed poets in honor of National Poetry Month. But we had some late entries who missed the cut-off and, well, we just plum ran out of days. Nonetheless, we have decided to continue the feature as an occasional treat for those lovers of tattoos and poetry who frequent Tattoosday.First, the tattoo:The owner of this piece elaborates:My name is Jillian Brall. I am
Friday, May 29, 2009
Aaron's Skater Days Represented in Ink
Aaron has this very unusal piece tattooed on the back of his right bicep:When I stopped to speak to him on 7th Avenue in Manhattan, I was happy to hear this tattoo, along with many of his nine others, were inked by Peter Cavorsi at Body Art Studios in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Peter has done three tattoos on my wife and me and he comes highly recommended by us. To see all of Peter's work that has
Thursday, May 28, 2009
New York City Tattoo Convention, Part 2: Amazing Tattoos from North of the Border
Lost in the post-euphoric haze of the tattoo orgy known as a tattoo convention, was an encounter I had with several Canadians, one of which is a talented artist.This was, of course, the New York City Tattoo Convention, which I attended a couple weeks ago (see the brief recap here).Having decided not to collect many posts and photos for the blog (I had settled on this one), I found myself chatting
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tattoorism: Erika's Yellow Rose
I've been remiss in sharing Erika's tattoo, which she sent me almost two months ago. So let's have a visit from her lovely rose tattoo:I'll let Erika explain the artowork:"...[this] was done at Miami Ink [actually called Love Hate Tattoo Studios]. Not by anyone on the show, as they only tattoo for the show, but they have a group of very talented artists who are not featured. This tattoo has a
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tattoo Highway Contest!
Win Prizes from the New A&E Real Life Series TATTOO HIGHWAY, PREMIERING WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 AT 10/9C.Tattoo Highway follows 15-year tattoo veteran and star of former A&E hit “Inked,” Thomas Pendelton as he takes his tattoo parlor on the road to cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake City to transform personal stories into living art. Pendelton and his business partner and wife
Landon's Sugar Skull
One of my favorite tattoos to feature here on Tattoosday are sugar skulls. Clicking here (or on the tag at the bottom of the post) will display all of the sugar skulls featured on the site and, undoubtedly, demonstrate that, like snowflakes, no two sugar skull tattoos are the same.I met Landon last week on Broadway during the lunch hour. He has thirteen tattoos in all, and he offered up this
Monday, May 25, 2009
Mike's Marine: A Tattoo for Memorial Day
It only seemed fitting that, on this Memorial Day, we feature a tattoo that honors are men and women in uniform.A week ago, I was fresh off of my experience at the New York City Tattoo Convention, and everything I saw on the street was uninteresting. Until I passed by Mike and did a double-take.This is the tattoo on Mike's inner right forearm:Mike explained that, as a United States Marine, he was
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Grover's Tattoos Recollect the Past, But Focus on the Future
I ran into Grover a month or two ago where he worked in Penn Station and admired the work on his sleeve. As I try my best to not disrupt folks on the job, I passed him a Tattoosday card and was happy to see when he e-mailed me a few days later.Our schedules are different, and we tabled any definitive date to meet and discuss his ink. But one day, by chance, I passed the business where he worked
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Janet Presents: The Non-Stick Tattoo That is Permanent
My awesome friend Janet (whose tattoos are here) sent this to me last Friday and, although I am not in the habit of accepting on the street submissions, this one is pretty damn cool and blogworthy:Janet reports:"I was walking behind this guy going north on 6th Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets on the east side of the street and was compelled to tap him and ask about the tattoo. He allowed me
Friday, May 22, 2009
Sean's Organic Tattoo
It's always interesting when you meet people with a lot of tattoos. Unless someone volunteers to catalog their entire collection (case I point here), I generally ask folks to share just one with us here on Tattoosday.The problem there is that asking someone to pick one tattoo to offer up is often like asking someone to select their favorite child among their brood of kids. They're all special in
Dispatch from the New York City Tattoo Convention
I take pride in the fact that this site is very positive. Even "bad" tattoos get their moments in the sun. If the story behind an "eh" tattoo is compelling, then it's worth telling.There are enough places on the web where "free speech" reigns, wearing the stained sheet of petty negativity.So I don't feel too bad about offering this word of advice to the organizers of the New York City Tattoo
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Lacey's Traditional Gypsy Tattoo
I will never hesitate to ask someone about traditional tattoos. There's something classic about the imagery that just intrigues me.Last week I ran into Lacey as our paths crossed on Seventh Avenue. It was a gloomy, overcast day, and I spotted a flash of vibrant color cutting through the streets. She shared this lovely gypsy:This tattoo in particular, Lacey told me, doesn't necessarily signify
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
A New Tattoo Show on A&E is Coming Down the Highway
I owe a great debt to shows like Miami Ink, Inked, and L.A. Ink.When I first decided, almost two years ago, to run a once-weekly over on my original site, BillyBlog, I had no idea how much I would enjoy the project. I basically conceived of a "Poor Man's Miami Ink," a once-weekly Tat-Tuesday post. Before long, I had spun off Tattoosday onto its own page, and it hit the ground running.But Inked
Lauren's Thigh Tattoo Salutes Mastodon
If you're reading this post and the Tattoosday banner features some wonderfully-inked revolvers, those "hand guns" belong to Amanda and the original post is here.Just recently, I was thinking that I hadn't seen Amanda in a while and was wondering if she still lived in my neighborhood. Later that day, a much-tattooed woman named Lauren walked into the laundromat where I was packing up the weekly
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Doug's Colorful Demon
I ran into Doug in Penn Station a couple weeks back and he offered up this, one of seven tattoos:He said that this tattoo, which represents twelve hours worth of work, is based on a Japanese demon he spotted while poring over a book on medieval manuscripts.There's no real specific meaning behind it, he just liked the design, especially how different it was from other demons one typically sees in
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Emily's Back Piece Takes Yin and Yang to the Next Level
I spent yesterday at the New York City Tattoo Convention at the Roseland Ballroom.I'll provide a fuller dispatch later but I wanted to share one of the more visually-stunning pieces that I chanced upon.This is Emily's back piece:This represents about sixty (60!) hours of work by Erick Diaz at Asylum Studios in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. A smaller, much less complicated tattoo
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Mike's Lion-Skeleton Tattoo
I met Mike outside of Penn Station after work last Friday. He has five to eight tattoos in all, and he had this pretty cool piece to offer:This piece is all original artwork by the artist, Doug White, formerly at the Ink Spot Tattoo Studios in Linden, New Jersey, back in 1995-6. Mike doesn't know where Doug ended up, but he believes he's now tattooing out in Texas.He also mentioned there's a
Friday, May 15, 2009
Great Balls of Yarn!
A week ago, I met Hobart, who has 14 tattoos. He offered up this interesting piece for Tattoosday readers:Seems like your everyday run-of-the-mill pentagram tattoo. But it's not.Hobart is a knitter and he and his friends often attended "Stitch 'n Bitch" sessions where a group of knitters would get together and practice their craft. Hobart said they grew tired of the "normal middle-age ladies"
Thursday, May 14, 2009
April Marching into May
Last Friday, I spotted this tattoo on Seventh Avenue in the 20's:April was happy to stop and chat about her black and gray tattoo which was a gift from her boyfriend on her 27th birthday.The piece is fairly straight forward - cherry blossoms bloom in late March/early April. Her birthday is in March and her name is April.For that alone these traditional tattoo flowers seemed appropriate for
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Milo's Tattoos Honor Family
I met Milo at Trader Joe's in Brooklyn on the first Saturday in May. Working the door as a greeter, Milo's tattoos were peeking out from under a shirt sleeve so I couldn't help but stop to chat. Twenty minutes later, when Milo was on break and my groceries were bought, we continued our conversation.This tattoo is actually a series of family-themed pieces that make up what is currently a
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Adam's Tattoos Honor God and Country
On April 28th, I was walking across Penn Plaza, outside of Madison Square Garden, and saw a couple of guys taking pictures.This is fairly common outside of "the world's most famous arena".Depending on the event going on that day or night, one can get an eyefull of tattoo ink. When there is a rock concert scheduled, there is quite a few visible tattoos on the plaza, when the Westminster dog show's
Monday, May 11, 2009
Inked Up Angels: Part 2, Kat's Incredible Buddha
Last Friday, I featured a tattoo from one of two women I met in Penn Station.They both are part of a group called Inked Up Angels.I had first taken the photo of the tattoo belonging to "Pink", and now it was her friend's turn.I looked to Kat curiously, wondering what tattoo she was going to offer for Tattoosday.We were standing in a corner of busy Penn Station near the subway turnstiles and she
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Sad News
I'm numb today after learning that the poet Craig Arnold, whose tattoos were featured here, died just a few days after my posts, just a few days after we chatted via instant message on Facebook.I certainly did not have the level of interaction with him that many of the other people in his life, I had only really known him for a short time. But his interest and eagerness to participate in the
Friday, May 8, 2009
Inked Up Angels: Part 1, Pink's X-Men
Back in April, I ran into two young ladies in Penn Station. Both were significantly tattooed and I was delighted when they agreed to talk to me and allowed me to snap a few photos.In order to give each woman her proper due, I'll start with "Pink", who showed me her tattoo first.Actually, she was already showing her tattoos. With a full leg sleeve and an estimated eleven pieces in all (
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The Ship Keeps Sailing Along (Revisiting Carrie's Ribcage)
Last September, I posted this amazing tattoo:If you missed it the first time around, go back and read the full post here before proceeding...There.Did you read/reread it? Good.This is what it looks like now:One of the great things about writing this blog, besides meeting people with incredible tattoos, is that some of the tattooed subjects become friends. Carrie and I have stayed in touch and we
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Ricky & Jessica's Matching Nightmarish Tattoos
I met Jessica and Ricky outside of Penn Station during the last week of April.I had spotted one of Ricky's four tattoos on his right bicep:This is, of course, a tattoo based on the great film A Nightmare Before Christmas, with the character Jack Skellington in the foreground and his girlfriend Sally in the background, standing on the recognizable Tim Burton hill.What's particularly cool about the
Monday, May 4, 2009
Ronda's Olympic Tattoos
As many of my resources were tied up with the Tattooed Poets Project in April, I kept my encounters with random tattooed people in New York to a minimum, saving them for special occasions.However, I couldn't resist on Tuesday, April 21, when I spotted a familiar symbol on the right ankle of a woman in the Amtrak section of Penn Station:Those are, of course, the recognizable Olympic rings.One can
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Ashley's Two Little Birds
Last July, I met two tattooed women, Becky and Ashley, outside of Borders (Becky's post is here, Ashley's is here) on Penn Plaza.A few months later, in one of my more embarrassing moments as an ink-spotter, I approached Becky again, outside of Macy*s, and asked her about her tattoos. She reminded me that she was already featured on Tattoosday, and I reddened, apologized, and moved on. In my
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Grace's Black and Gray Koi
I met Grace earlier this week outside of Penn Station. She has three stars tattooed on the inside of her right wrist and had a cherry blossom (above) inked on the back of her neck.About a year ago, she expanded it, adding the koi fish below it:She attributed the work to an artist named Kevin, and he did in it in a small shop in Koreatown in Manhattan.Grace says that the tattoo is purely
Friday, May 1, 2009
Ben's Amazing Back Piece
With the Tattooed Poets Series under way last month, I was a bit remiss in posting about the "regular" tattoo encounters.With apologies to the following volunteer, I am presenting some amazing work on a gentleman named Ben, who I spotted back on April 2 while walking through Penn Station.Ben was wearing a short-sleeve shirt and had tattoos covering his arms. When I approached him and explained
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Craig Arnold Needs Our Help
Craig Arnold, whose tattoos were featured just last Friday here, has gone missing on an isolated island in Japan.He needs our help. The Japanese authorities are close to calling off the search, and we need to do what we can by contacting our elected officials in Washington to put pressure on the Japanese government to not give up on finding Craig.There's more info here.
The Tattooed Poets Project: Wrapping Up National Poetry Month
"Alas, I've done the uninkable"-Paul Muldoon, February 3, 2009That was Mr. Muldoon's response to my inquiry, in January, if he was tattooed. I've been wanting to include that somewhere this month, and finally found the spot. Thank you, Mr. Muldoon.As I wrap up National Poetry Month here on Tattoosday and BillyBlog, it all seems a bit unreal. I spent a good quarter of the year, since mid-January,
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: A Hand for Joy Harjo
Our last tattoo for National Poetry Month comes to us from the wonderful poet Joy Harjo.I was surprised, to be honest, when Joy agreed to participate, because she seemed so busy. Despite the exchange of messages from her, aside from her permission to be a part of the project, I didn't get a lot of detail about the piece she offered. Fortunately for me and, by extension, Tattoosday readers, she
The Tattooed Poets Project: Eileen Myles - "Poet, Take My Measure"
For this, our penultimate post in the April Tattooed Poets Series, we present a tattoo from Eileen Myles.Last week Thursday, I met Eileen on my lunch break at a Starbucks in Union Square. For a blog based on meeting people with tattoos, it was refreshing to sit and chat with a poet in person. It was only the second face-to-face meeting with tattooed poets. All others have been based on e-mail
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Meredith Sugarman's Interpretation of a Russian Prison Tattoo
As the end of National Poetry Month approaches, I find myself in an enviable position: too many poets' tattoos, too few days. So, I've decided to "double up" and make today a "Two for Tattoosday". I have also realized that this Tattooed Poets Series will have to continue, in one form or another, above and beyond National Poetry Month. Stay tuned for more details.In the mean time, Meredith
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Ruth Kohtz Shares a Poema
Today's tattoo comes from Ruth Kohtz:Ruth explains:I got the "poema" tattoo on my birthday, November 9, in 2007, by Nik Lensing at Fluid Ink in St. Paul, Minnesota. I made the appointment about 2 hours before I got it, and I had the design all printed out already.I had been out of college for about six months and was struggling with lots of existential "what am I doing?" kind of stuff. I have
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: My First Tattoo
I'm going to be a greedy little poet/blogger today and share one of my tattoos (and a tattoo-themed sestina on BillyBlog). We're in our final week of National Poetry Month, and I thought it would be a good time to hop on the bandwagon.I was hoping to post a tattoo that I've recently had done, but the artist has respectfully requested that I wait to post it until after it has been fully
The Tattooed Poets Project: Claire Askew's Two Naomis
Today's tattoos come from Claire Askew, a poet and editor who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland:Claire explains:My tattoo was inked by Roberto Seifert, who works out of Herzblut Tattoo in Leipzig, Germany. However, he tattooed me while doing a guest-stint at the fantastic Tattoo Zoo (run by Gerry Kramer) in Victoria, Canada. It was summer 2008 and I originally went into the parlour with my
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Rachel McKibbens' Bookish Knuckle Tattoos
Today's tattoos were submitted by Rachel McKibbens, who knows, among others, Cheryl, whose beautiful tattoo, appeared here previously. These are, in fact, the first knuckle tattoos appearing on the Tattooed Poets Project:Rachel, who is almost fully-sleeved, writes:I got this tattoo on April 30th, 2006, at the True Blue Tattoo studio while visiting Austin, TX. [Work from True Blue has appeared on
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Craig Arnold - Ἔρως and ψυχή
Today's tattoos come to us from Craig Arnold, who I found by way of J.D. McClatchy (who is un-inked, but suggested I contact Craig).He sent these to me from Yakushima in Japan, which, according to Craig, "has lots of Princess Mononoke landscapes but very little internet/phone service".Craig has two Greek words inscribed on his arms:Craig explains:"Both are Greek words: the right arm (Ἔρως) is
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez Presents A Bat from Jersey and a Honeymoon Memento
Today's tattoos are presented by the poet Guy LeCharles Gonzalez.The first one is a bat:Guy explains:"I got the first tattoo, a stylized bat, back in 1995 somewhere in New Jersey; Toms River, maybe? I'd resisted the urge to get one while I was on active duty in the Army, not wanting something stereotypical that I'd hate or regret a few years later, but a friend of mine had finally psyched herself
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Cody Todd's Murals - Star Wars and an Interpretive Tribal
Today's tattoos come from Cody Todd, who was referred to me by Carol Muske-Dukes:The first one is a back piece, still in progress:Cody explains this as "a Star Wars mural--the Millenium Falcon in front of a meteor pursued by a TIE Fighter, from The Empire Strikes Back with the specter of Boba Fett looming above the chase." He credits an artist named Skip (since retired) at Old World Tattoo in
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Dese'Rae Stage and Some Poetic Tulips
Last Wednesday (April 15), I was trying to distract myself from having my back tattooed, when my BlackBerry chirped and I found a wonderful e-mail in my inbox. A poet and photographer named Dese'Rae Stage had graced me with some photos of a few of her fifteen tattoos. What follows is my favorite of those pieces:The first piece is based on Sylvia Plath's poem "Tulips":The poem is below, with the
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Moira Egan's Literary Ink, A Little Bit of Ireland, All the Way from Rome
Today's tattoo comes to us from across the Atlantic, contributed by Moira Egan, a poet living in Rome, Italy:Hers is a literary tattoo. Moira reports, it's:"A page corner from the Book of Kells (an illuminated manuscript that's housed in Trinity College, Dublin), in this version, housed a couple of inches below my left clavicle. Little Vinnie of Little Vinnie's Tattoos in Maryland is the artist,
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Tattooed Poets Project: Adam Deutsch's Miltonic Tattoos
Today's tattoos come from Adam Deutsch. We started with this photo:Photo taken by Lillian Bertram.A cool photo, and Adam explained the piece:It's based on a Gustave Doré etching from his interpretations of Milton's Paradise Lost, the lines "He the Almighty Power/ Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky" (I. 44-45) when Lucifer is waging war, before the fall to Hell.White ink is incorporated