The hands represent a blessing over his ability to play basketball, which was a significant aspect in his life, as it is with any college athlete. The ability to compete athletically is a God-given talent and many believe that their faith accompanies them onto the courts, fields, and tracks, giving them the strength to accomplish their goals.
Thanks to Jason for sharing this sports-themed inspirational tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
I met Jessica last Friday night before game 1 of the New York Liberty-Detroit Shock playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Her neck tattoo caught my eye as I was going to Will Call to pick up my tickets (to hear about the game, go here), so when I was walking back outside and she was still there (talking to Jason, whose tattoo will be next to appear here), I introduced myself.
For some reason, the photo came out a little blurry. My apologies.
Some folks believe, Jessica noted, that tattoos can help someone find the way to their soulmate in the afterlife. This is one element that makes matching tattoos on people more romantic, if one believes that their ink transcends death.
This piece was inked by Gio at Crazy Fantasy Tattoo in Manhattan. Gio now works at Village Pop Inc. Work from Crazy Fantasy has appeared previously here. Work from Village Pop has appeared here.
Thanks to Jessica for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
Last Friday evening, on the steps of Penn Plaza, I spotted this simple tattoo on the right side of Lara's neck. It is the sign for someone born under the sign of Leo.
Even though it was a simple astrological squiggle, I said hello anyway and, as often is the case, she had another tattoo to show me:
Actually, she has five altogether, but this one, the word "heart" inscribed on the inside of her left wrist, has special meaning to her.
She and her best friend from Seattle have the same heart tattoo inked on the same spot. There's something particularly transcendent about tattoos that are shared between friends. When you look at your tattoo, you wonder if someone you care about far away is doing the same. It's a mark on flesh that produces a mental connection.
Not only did Lara explain that the dual nature of their tattoo is a "marking of our friendship," but that it is also a lifelong reminder to always, as she put it, "come from our hearts". That is, to follow their hearts when going through life.
All of Lara's work was done at Lucky Devil Tattoo Parlour in Seattle. Work from their shop has been featured previously here on Tattoosday.
Thanks to Lara for sharing her two tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
Tattoosday was founded upon the concept of spotting tattoos in New York City. I never planned on becoming a submission site, nor did I ever anticipate people would send me photos of their ink. But they have.
And I have been conflicted about posting it, as it didn't necessarily "fit the theme".
But one thing struck me about two recent submissions from the ether: the people sending me their ink have been sincere about following the blog from day to day and have expressed their enjoyment of it. Having someone coming back from time to time is one of the pleasures of blogging. And then the epiphany struck me: what better way to thank readers by occasionally posting their ink?
So, pun-ny guy that I am, I have decided it to call the concept "tattoorism" - people visiting Tattoosday and sharing their work with us here. Of course, one could call anyone featured here who is visiting New York from elsewhere a "tattoorist".
But for my own selfish purposes (my blog, my rules), a tattoorist is a visitor who contributes elsewhere than from the streets of New York.
Of course one of my big reservations has been that by posting an e-mail submission, I'd be preempting the posting of a tattoo from the streets. Previously, I have worried that the people posing for my photos are waiting by their computers with baited breath, anticipating when their ink will go "live" on the blog. Then I have to right my version of reality around which all life revolves around Tattoosday. I know it doesn't.
Now that I've got that out of the way, I can present the first installment of what I am going to call, for lack of a better term, and because I like the sound of it, "Tattoorism 101". Enjoy!
This is the first installment of what I call Tattoorism 101.
Hello Bill,I wanted to start off by saying I love your blog. I really enjoy reading all the stories behind all the interesting tattoos you post. I'm sure you're swamped with submissions, but I wanted to add mine to your collection.
The quote "Everything is beautiful and nothing hurt" is from Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five". It's my first tattoo, and it was done by Black Diamond Tattoo Studio in Abington, MA. I knew I wanted to get one for a while, and I knew I wanted it to be a quote of some sort, but nothing really struck me until I saw this. In the book, the quote is actually on a tombstone. I think it struck me to think that if you can go through your entire life and put that on your tombstone, you must have lived a pretty good one. I know that it isn't entirely realistic, but I think of the quote as an ideal, and something to live up to. I wound up choosing the heart design just because I liked it and I didn't fancy putting a tombstone on my back.
Well, I hope that you are able to post this on your blog. Thanks for running such an awesome site!
Cheers,Emmie
This is actually a pretty popular tattoo quote and has appeared, in a different form, on Tattoosday here. I do like how Emmie shaped it into a heart. I think Kurt Vonnegut would have liked that too.
Thanks to Emmie for sharing this piece with us, and for all of you who have sent me photos previously. I will get to your submissions in the days and weeks to come.
I spotted these beautiful roses last week outside of Madison Square Garden, and had to find out more about them.
I introduced myself to Rachel with my standard opening line, "Can I ask you about your tattoo?" Rachel admitted to me that the first impression she had was that I was going to try to sell her on a tattoo-removal product or service. She has not been the first person to think that. Perhaps I need a new intro.
Anyway, Rachel's trio of roses are remarkable, and she has 6 or 7 tattoos in all, many of which are roses as well, although she professed an admiration of Betty Boop, and has one of the comics icon as well.
But all I saw were these three roses, inked by Shannon O'Sullivan at a tattoo convention. Rachel's brother worked for a bit at Skin & Ink magazine, which helped introduce her to some folks in the tattoo community.
Rachel explained her rosy infatuation a bit further, noting she had worked for the designer Betsey Johnson, who used a lot of rose prints and rose-inspired design. She acknowledged that this led to her "obsession" with roses, and that beyond that, they do not have "a deep meaning".
Rachel is a designer whose website highlights her work.
Thanks to Rachel for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
I ran into Michael last week outside of Madison Square Garden. He had numerous tattoos up and down his arms, but he told me that he regretted most of them. He had been in the military, based in the San Diego area, and he said he hoped, someday, to have all of his ink removed.
"All of it?" I asked. He had a lot.
He nodded, but then pointed to the one pictured above, inked on the underside his left forearm, and said he would probably keep this one, as it was a religious tattoo that has some meaning.
He said that he got this "homemade" piece in Tijuana for about $30, and that it took only a couple of hours to do.
A lot of people in Southern California make the trip across the border to Tijuana to take advantage of the nightlife there. Some even walk away with tattoos.
Thanks to Michael for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
The triptych above (ok, it's not technically a triptych, but I am calling it that as I divided it into three sections) belongs to Vaj (rhymes with Dodge), a filmmaker who I met across the street from Macy*s on 34th Street and 7th Avenue early last week.
This piece was inked about 16 years ago in California by Jeff Rassier, who currently works out of Black Heart Tattoo in San Francisco.
Vaj, who has been in the entertainment business for many years, based his tattoo on the interpretation of the creative process.
The center of the tattoo contains a jar with two brains:
moving up and out of the jar is a an arm, at the end of which is a hand holding paper:
Moving down out of the jar is an arm, at the end of which is a hand holding a pen, which is dripping ink:
The two hands, each with pen and paper, are acting out the creative process, stemming from the two sides of the brain.
Thanks to Vaj for sharing this interpretation in his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
At the beginning of the week, I ran into Josh, a chef at an upscale restaurant in Tribeca. He was actually showing his tattoos to a couple of people standing with him, so I felt in apropos to join in the conversation.
Josh is hard at work on a culinary sleeve on his left arm, which includes a langoustine, a Red Junglefowl, and the tattoo above, a sturgeon, complete with slicing knife and roe.
Thanks to Josh for sharing his sturgeon with us here on Tattoosday. Here's hoping he'll return to show us more. The Red Junglefowl was not completed, otherwise I would have asked to feature that piece here. It's a sweet piece (you can see a fragment of claw above the sturgeon).
WHO in the world gets a neck tattoo? A couple of years back you could have narrowed the answer to gang members, prison inmates, members of the Russian mob and the rapper Lil Wayne. Then something occurred.
Last Friday I met Christopher on Penn Plaza. He estimated that he had tattoos numbering in the mid-fifties.
Again, I am sometimes intimidated by folks with a lot of ink, and will usually not trouble them, but not this time.
And, of all those tattoos, Christopher lifted up his shirt to reveal one of his most meaningful pieces:
The cross with angel wings behind it is graced by a banner that reads "In Loving Memory ... Grandpa Al".
This tribute tattoo was inked at Good Times Tattoo Studio in East Islip, New York by Bill. Christopher is a tattoo artist there as well.
Grandpa Al was a tattoo artist himself, at Ace Tattoo in San Diego, one of the oldest shops in the city (founded around 1947). I acknolwedged that Al must have been busy working in San Diego, with several military bases nearby.
Christopher always knew he wanted to be an artist, and has been tattooing about 14 years.
"What about your Dad," I asked him, "is he an artist?"
Christopher shook his head and said he wasn't. "And he doesn't have a single tattoo. Not one!"
"Really?" I asked.
He shook his head and laughed "I just don't understand it."
So the ink-lination to tattoo skipped a generation in his family, but you could tell he was proud of his grandfather's legacy, and he bore it like a badge of honor.
Thanks so much to Christopher for sharing his tribute to Grandpa Al here on Tattoosday!
Last Friday was a banner day for inkspotting. By day's end, I had four great Tattoosday stories to tell. This is the third of the four, although it was the first encounter of the day. It certainly set the tone.
I was walking east on 34th Street when I spotted a well-inked guy walking in my direction. I am sometimes less-inclined to talk to people with a TON of tattoos, but I stopped him anyway and asked about his work.
Buddy seemed eager to share, and quickly raised his right pant leg to reveal, in red ink, the words "Boston Sucks". Right below it was a depiction of an anatomical part that would fit the epithet. I hesitated.
"It's kind of a family blog," I joked, "my daughter reads it." He seemed disappointed, but was understanding. "How about the neck tattoo?" I suggested. He was game. I snapped the photo above.
It was inked in Austin, Texas at, according to Buddy, a shop called Red River Tattoos, circa 2003. He has approximately 32 tattoos in all. Any story behind it? "I was drunk when I got it," he said. Knowing that, and the absence of any reference to a shop called Red River Tattoos in Austin, I am more inclined to believe it might have been True Blue Tattoo, which is located on Red River Street. Work from True Blue has appeared on Tattoosday previously here.
But then he added, "If you don't get a neck tattoo before you're successful, then you shouldn't get one".
"So," I asked, "are you successful?"
"I'm in a band," he acknowledged, "I'm the singer."
This is not new to me, I have come across several musicians on Tattoosday before (here and here, for example).
"Cool," I said, "I'll link the band's page to the blog." In the back of my mind, I thought the name sounded familiar.
I thanked Buddy and we parted ways. It was only later that I realized that Buddy Nielsen wasn't just a singer from a band in New Jersey. Senses Fail is a significant act in the music scene. They're not platinum artists, yet. Their last record, Still Searching, sold 900,000 copies in the U.S. alone.
They've toured widely since they formed in 2003. I even have one of their songs in my iPod. The song, "Can't Be Saved" even refers to the tattoo on his chest (the video is below). So, Buddy's tattoo, the one that is up above (according to wikipedia has a second word "lady" below it), is the most famous tattoo I have photographed thus far for Tattoosday.
To celebrate the end of summer (farewell, tattoos aplenty!) and welcome the beginning of fall (come out, come out, wherever you are!), I am posting this appropriate tattoo celebrating the new season.
I was fortunate enough to meet Brian on Friday, right in front of Borders on Penn Plaza.
As the last weekend of summer was upon us, it seemed bittersweet to find his tattoo above. Brian told me that it is a depiction of Sahmin, who is the god of Autumn in Irish mythology. When I went to research this further, I could not find a reference to such a deity, but I do believe that Brian was referring to Samhain, a traditional Celtic celebration after the end of summer.
As for the actual deity in question, let's just say it is perfect for the season, the arboreal face bestrewn with leaves. Perhaps my friend over at NeoPagan Ink can shed some light on this.
This piece was inked by Joe Ferzola (click for nice bio at About.com) at Inklinations in Copiague, New York. The link to Inklinations takes you to the Devil's Den in Copiague, run by a long-time associate of Joe's, Tony Lafemina.
Thanks to Brian for sharing his autumnal tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!
