Culex Tattoo

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Juliana's Hibiscus

I met Juliana last month and, although there's a section of her tattoo that is "in progress," she agreed to share it here:

Juliana explained:

"I took the picture of the flower myself. The hibiscus means eternal beauty, which I though was really cool. And the symbols [kanji] are respect, love, strength and energy ... so I call it my Keep Truckin' tattoo."

The artist is Ed Knowles, who is currently at 12 Tattoos in Groton, Connecticut. Work by Ed has appeared previously here on Tattoosday.

The kanji are, on the left side strength above energy and on the right side, respect above love:

Thanks to Juliana for sharing her tattoo-in-progress with us here on Tattoosday! Keep truckin', Juliana!

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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Two Peacocks for a Tuesday

Back in June, I met two women on separate days who had peacock tattoos.

First was Charlotte, a filmmaker who I spotted on the uptown 3 train. I snapped these pictures when we got off the subway at 72nd Street:

Charlotte credited Daniel Albrigo as the artist, who did this when he worked at Brooklyn Adorned. He now tattoos out of Three Kings in Brooklyn.

She explained that she "wanted something beautiful to offset the Kali tattoo on her right shoulder".

A week later I met Emily near Penn Station, who had this different perspective on the peacock, inked on her calf:

Emily explained:

"My mother used to work at a school in Dallas, Texas, where I'm from, that has peacocks that roam wild on campus ... when I was a child I used to go play with them (or just watch them)."

Emily told me she "drew it and designed it with the help of Dave Wallin." Dave tattooed this when working at Tattoo Culture in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, but he now works out of Eight of Swords Tattoo Studio.

Thanks to both Charlotte and Emily for sharing their very different peacocks here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Sammy's Substitute for High Fashion

When I spotted Sammy outside of Macy*s, Herald Square, I noticed a single line of numbers just below her neck.

Intrigued, I stopped her and asked about it. It was then that she revealed that the one line of digits, from 0 to 9, was only the top of the tattoo. Here's the whole thing:

Sammy explained that this is a body art version of a clothing tag from the high-end clothing designer, Martin Margiela:

She told me that this was her "favorite design label" and said "I want to illustrate ... it's really expensive so I can't buy anything." She added that having the label on her back serves "to control my desire for buying it."

That's certainly a new functionality for a tattoo, in my opinion.

Sammy credited an artist in Los Angeles named Baku at a shop whose name I can't find, so I will go out on a limb and credit Baku Watanabe, who works at Freak Chic Tattoo on Melrose.

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

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Mitch and a Positive Reminder

I met Mitch last month on the Upper West Side, near the 72nd Street Subway Station.

I spotted him and his seventeen or eighteen tattoos and asked if he would share one. He offered up his most recent piece:

I asked Mitch to elaborate on this tattoo located on his left forearm. He explained:

"I found this Japanese graffiti artist who did a bunch of flash and I just really liked one of his drawings. I was in the mood and decided to get it."

And the banner stating "Enjoy Yourself"? Mitch says, "just try to be happy all the time".

I'd imagine looking down at this cool design, inked by Mike Lucena at Flyrite Tattoo in Brooklyn, helps contribute to the happiness. Work from Mike at Flyrite appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

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

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Saturday Housecleaning - Chef Misfit at Your Service

My system for Tattoosday is to try and go chronologically, but that never works out. I generally jump all over the place. I keep a list of all my pending posts, with the date associated with them, so I know where I am in my quest for a relatively normal timeline.

Although not my oldest "pending post," this one is from a guy named Austin, who I met in Penn Station back in April:

This tattoo, on Austin's left arm, had to have a great story about it, right? Especially, with the food at the bottom of the piece?

That is the logo from the Misfits, complete with chef's hat and various ingredients for something.

I stopped Austin at a dining establishment in Penn Station, and didn't want to disturb him too much, so I snapped photos, got some basic info, and figured I'd fill in the blanks with him via e-mail.

Unfortunately, he didn't respond to my e-mail inquiries and, his credit of the work, citing Chris Brewer at Seventh Saga as the artist, left me with a cold trail.

I know he is/was a culinary student and a fan of the Misfits, but that's all folks.

So, let's just enjoy what we see and know, and perhaps I can update you with more information later.

Thanks to Austin for sharing the tattoo with us!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Sarah's Seashell by the Seashore

Let's face it, after inkspotting in New York City for over four years, things can often get repetitive. That's why I don't share a lot of koi, kanji, skulls and, of late, flowers. The point is, I'm always hoping to find something new and unusual.

That's why, when I spotted Sarah last week, I was excited to talk to her about this, her first tattoo:

When I asked her about it, she explained that it was only two weeks old and it is an "alphabet cone" seashell.

She elaborated on why she got this particular tattoo:

"I got this because I found this exact shell when I was ten in Florida with my mom ... it's [her] favorite shell and so it is my tribute to her .... it even has the crack that the shell has."

Sarah credits Ren Sakurai at Albatross Tattoo in Portland, Oregon, for creating this Conus spurius on her back.

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

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Marisa Shares Some Vonnegut

I love a good literary tattoo, especially when I recognize the text and the author.

I met Marisa after I spotted these six familiar words below her neck:

The quote "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt" refers to an epitaph inscribed on a tombstone in Vonnegut's classic novel, Slaughterhouse-Five.

This is Marisa's one and only tattoo and she explained why she chose this particular quote:

"I was going through a hard time and it helped me out a lot - it's just one of those quotes, so meaningful ... that I just needed to have it on me."

Marisa and I share a mutual appreciation of Vonnegut's work and, despite the greatness of Slaughterhouse-Five, we both liked Cat's Cradle better.

The word were inked at High Roller Tattoo in Hicksville, New York.

Thanks to Marisa for sharing this classic literary tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

And remember, you can see more literary tattoos at Contrariwise and The Word Made Flesh.