Alas, with winter setting in, spotting tattoos in public is seasonably challenging. Thank goodness for ink on uncovered extremities, like hands and the occasional foot!
Case in point, earlier this month I met Niki in Penn Station after spotting this dagger on her foot:
She had this, one of her three tattoos, done three or four years ago a couple of years after her father had passed away.
It is a memorial that is based on a necklace her dad wore. When I asked her, after the fact, if she still had the necklace, she said she didn't, but said it was a lot like this one. She added "my dad bought it the Christmas before he passed away and it really showed off his sarcasm and style because he was very much into motorcycles and whatnot".
Wisely, in my opinion, she kept the design, but excised the words on the necklace from the tattoo!
I spotted Jill in the beginning of November sitting in the New Jersey Transit waiting area at Penn Station.
She has eight tattoos, five are symbols and three are word-based, including this one on her forearm:
The one she shared with us is based on the song lyrics of U2 and their song "Walk On".
The letter G and the date refer to her grandmother and the day she died, March 2, 2010.
The lyrics are "And I know it aches/And your heart it breaks/You can only take so much/Walk on".
Jill said that listening to music got her through a difficult time and this song, in particular, carried and sustained her through the mourning process.
Coincidentally, March 2 marked the anniversary of her meeting the band in 2009.
As you would expect, there was a long line to see the author, who is indisputably the most famous tattoo artist in the world.
Despite the long line, I did have a chance to chat at length with several other people at the event. We talked tattoo as we queued along 46th Street, around the corner onto 5th Avenue, up an escalator, and through a maze of book stacks.
One such fan was Melissa, a student, who was accompanied by several friends. Talking with Melissa and her friends made the two-hour wait much more bearable, indeed.
Melissa offered to share this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday:
This white feather on the inside of her right wrist is tied to the memory of her mother who passed away a couple of years ago.
Melissa's aunt often said that a floating white feather represents the soul of someone who's died. That said, whenever Melissa sees one, she thinks of her mother. By tattooing it on her wrist, she is assured that the memory of her mom will always be close at hand.
The tattoo was inked by Kerry O'Neill at Shotsie's Tattoo in Wayne, New Jersey. Work from Shotsie's has appeared previously here on the site.
Thanks to Melissa (and her friends) for keeping me company on that long day in October, and a special thanks to Melissa for sharing this poignant tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
Let's take a moment and pause from our regularly-scheduled programming this Veteran's Day to remember the men and women who serve our country bravely. I've dug into the archives and reposted a friend's tattoo, which appeared originally here on Tattoosday in January 2008. Be sure to thank a Veteran today, and to appreciate not only our soldiers at home and abroad, but their families who support and inspire them to serve our country courageously.
Tracy is a friend of mine who lives in Fort Drum, New York. She was in town last weekend, visiting family, and this was the first time I have seen her since Tattoosday was born over the summer.
I knew Tracy had at least one tattoo, because she and my wife have talked ink before. So when I saw her on Saturday, unexpectedly, I was happy that I had a couple of Tattoosday printouts in my pocket.
I explained the blog and asked if she'd like to participate. She was happy to oblige and, as fortune would have it, she was coming to an indoor soccer game the following day. Her nephew plays on the same team as my daughter Shayna.
After the game Sunday, I asked if she was ready. She lifted the back of her shirt to reveal:
I was surprised, honestly. I was not expecting butterflies, but expecting the one above it which, as fate would have it, is later in this post. But I wasn't about to pass up a cool tattoo, so I took a picture of this one as well.
Tracy is a mother of two boys, Matthew and Danny, and these butterflies represent each of them, as they flutter and transform, as ones children are apt to do, growing from infants into people. Tracy had these inked three years ago in Victorville, when she was living at Ft. Irwin. She said that they had been done at "Victorville Designs," which has either changed names or gone out of business, based on this link.
These butterflies are nicely inked and really seem to float over the skin. Definitely a nice tattoo, from design to execution.
Above the butterflies is the tattoo that I had heard about:
A simple, basic script. The arced triad of three pillars of strength in many people's lives: "Faith. Family. Friends."
In order to understand this tattoo, we have to take a little side journey.
Whatever one's politics may be, or however one feels about what we are doing in Asia and the Middle East, one thing must be acknowledged: the men and women in our military are there to do a job, to serve our country, and to fight to not only protect the people there, but here as well. Thousands of American men and women have given their lives and their souls to serve our country.
As one may have guessed by two prior references (Ft. Drum and Ft. Irwin), Tracy is closely tied to the United States Army, as she is married to Pete, who is a soldier with the 10th Mountain Division, Light Infantry.
On October 31, 2006, Pete's friend and fellow soldier, Major Douglas E. Sloan, was killed in the line of duty in the Wygal Valley in Afghanistan, while serving with Company B, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment. You can read more about Doug here at the Arlington National Cemetary website.
As every drop of spilled blood in the line of duty hits home, the loss of Major Sloan was devastating to his family and friends back in the States. The community of Fort Drum mourned Doug's passing and hearts went out to his wife Kerry and their children.
In December 2006, to pay tribute to Doug's memory, Tracy and three friends, including Kerry, went to Tattoos Forever in Evans Mills, NY, and each had the same inscription inked. In hindsight, Tracy recalls how funny it must have appeared, for four moms in minivans to drive up to the shop and collectively get tattooed.
It is a recurring theme on tattoo shows. Memorial tattoos are among the most popular types of body art. People mourn, heal, and remember through the art of the tattoo. And a piece of the loved one lives on, for years, in the flesh of the survivors, who gain strength and hold on to the memory of the departed.
The alliterative mantra of "Faith, Family, and Friends" reminds not only the tattooed, but those around them, of the most important things in life.
I want to thank Tracy for sharing her tattoos, and the stories behind them. I would add a special nod of gratitude to the memory of Major Douglas Sloan, who I never knew. Yet, by virtue of this tattoo, helped remind me of the sacrifice that our soldiers make day in, day out, and their families they leave behind.
Tracy's husband Pete subsequently returned from Afghanistan, but has since returned to duty overseas. On behalf of all of our Tattoosday readers, I want to thank Tracy and Pete, for their commitment and sacrifice, and for sharing this one story among thousands, with us here at Tattoosday.
I met Rebecca a couple months ago in Penn Station and asked her about her tattoos.
Of the eleven, she shared this one from her leg:
This beautiful, yet battered, butterfly is a memorial to her unborn child. She lost the baby when she was just nineteen. The cherry blossoms are often symbolic of the fleeting nature of life.
The tattoo was completed on October 13, 2007 by Nate Hudson when he was at Virginia Beach Ink. He now tattoos at Folk City Tattoo in Suffolk, Virginia. As today is October 13, I've been hanging on to this post, not only to correspond with the day the tattoo was finished, but also the due date of the baby that was lost.
We here at Tattoosday truly thank Rebecca for sharing, not only this poignant tattoo, but also for allowing us to relate the emotional story behind this butterfly.
One of our readers, Linda, e-mailed me this photo of one of her tattoos back in March and we have been patiently waiting to share it here until today, August 14, which is an integral part of the tattoo.
I'll let Linda do most of the talking:
"This is a tattoo that has an extreme amount of meaning to me. It is in remembrance of my grandmother, and as far as I'm concerned is a work in progress. The heart reads "I will never forget the way I felt that day," reminding me of the day, and the way I found out [about] my grandmother's passing who, along with my mother and my grandfather, was one of the most important people in my life, and still is. "Memento Mori" is a Latin a phrase which was said to Roman generals who would parade through the city after a battle to remind them that tomorrow is another battle, they may have been victorious today, but must remember they are only mortal. August 14 is the day that she died...
...The first installment of this tattoo was done on my birthday in June [2009] and the second part, the date, I saved to be done on August 14, 2009, the 10-year anniversary of her death. This tattoo is on my back between my shoulder blades..."
Thanks to Linda for sending this our way, and waiting patiently for us to post it. We here at Tattoosday are wishing you strength as you recall the anniversary of your grandmother's passing.
Bryan was around the corner from where I work with this rose on display:
Perched on his left elbow, the tattoo is identical to one that a friend of his had.
When his friend died, Bryan chose to commemorate his friend's memory by going to the artist that did the original tattoo on his friend, and asked for the same drawing be used to recreate the tattoo on himself.
A post-work errand had me walking down 6th Avenue to 23rd Street where, to my delight, I ran into Shaina, whose large back piece stopped me dead in my tracks. Lucky for me, and all of our Tattoosday readers, she had no problem sharing it with us here:
This piece is a cover-up (more on that later) and initially was born out of a desire for a large bunch of purple flowers. Shaina explained that, at six feet tall, her size can sometimes take the edge off of her feminine side. "I try as hard as I can to be girl-y," she said, and she embraced her floral design as "a sign of girliness".
As time passed, the whole tattoo, which Shaina estimates was composed in five four-hour sessions totaling twenty hours, took on additional elements. When her grandmother passed away, she added a memorial line for her ("In Loving Memory of Eleanor Vespie) along with the red carnations, which were her favorite flowers.
She later added the additional memorial on her neck, for her cousin Tasha.
Of course, I had to ask about the tattoo she covered up. Shaina looked at me, and I'll give her points for honesty, she confessed, the original tattoo had been a portrait of the Icelandic singer Bj�rk.
She looked at me. I looked at her. "Don't take this the wrong way," I cautioned her, but what would possess you to do that?" Shaina had good humor about it. Like a lot of eighteen-year olds, what seemed cool at the time, in retrospect seemed ill-chosen. But there are many amazing tattoos out there that might not exist had they not been needed to cover up an earlier, less memorable piece.
Thanks kindly to Shaina for not only sharing her lovely back tattoo with us here at Tattoosday, but for taking the time to chat so candidly about her body art.
Last week I was down in Chelsea when I spotted Niki from a distance. She appeared to have a colorful Madonna-like tattoo on her right shoulder, so I changed course and caught up to her only to discover this lovely tattoo instead:
This lovely photo was supplied to me by Niki, as my own camera's battery had run out of power and my BlackBerry photo seemed inadequate:
Niki explained that, after her beloved cat Elizabeth passed away, she wanted a memorial tattoo to honor the friend she had for fourteen years.
She went to artist John Reardon, then at Saved Tattoo, and told him she wanted a memorial in the style of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the look of Mexican shrines and altars.
One can see Reardon hit the ball out of the park, as proven by my mistaking the piece from a distance as a religious icon.
John Reardon is no stranger to Tattoosday. His work has appeared previously here and here.He now works out of his private studio in Brooklyn.
Thanks to Niki for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us on Tattoosday!
Last month, as I wandered despondently down my street, mourning the loss of my camera, I saw Pete standing on his stoop in the afternoon heat, without a shirt. He had a really cool tattoo and I talked to him about it, taking a picture with my BlackBerry.
Alas, the image quality wasn't good enough, I thought, to post here, so I waited until I saw Pete again, almost a month later, when I had my new camera in hand.
So here, without further delay, is Pete's tattoo:
Pete explained that this tattoo is a tribute to his grandfather, a magician who went by the name "The Great Merlini". The tattoo was designed by Kiki at Tattoos by Lou in the South Beach section of Miami, Florida. Pete went to him and explained what he wanted and Kiki drew it up and inked it.
On a sidebar, the Great Merlini wasn't just your run-of-the-mill magician. The man behind the persona was Clayton Rawson (click name for full biography). Rawson wrote four mystery novels that featured the character also known as The Great Merlini. And as this YouTube clip shows, Merlini also was a noted illusionist:
Thanks to Pete for sharing this magical tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
I met Katie on 34th Street one afternoon when I stopped to ask her about her foot tattoo:
This tribute piece on her left foot is for her cousin, whose initials are JMS. The letters sit astride the ribbon designating awareness for the disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The two feet represent the fact that she helps raise awareness in the fight against MS by participating in an MS Walk each year.
Katie also shared with me these wings on the back of her neck:
The initials "MCF" refer to her brother Mark, who was killed with a friend a few years back when a train struck them. This memorial piece ensures that her brother is always with her.
Katie's tattoos were inked by Spencer at Fat Kat Tattoos in Keyport, New Jersey. Work from Fat Kat has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.
Thanks to Katie for sharing two of her four tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
Closest of my Hawai'i nieces and nephews is Lehua who, in essence, is a third sister in my Hawai'i ohana. My wife and I had the tremendous honor of Lehua dancing hula at our wedding reception in 1995, which many guests still recall as the highlight of the post-ceremony festivities.
In honor of Poppa John, who passed away suddenly on the fifteenth anniversary of our wedding and that memorable hula, Lehua had this touching memorial inked on her foot:
Lehua explains that this infinity symbol represents eternity in the context that Poppa John will be remembered forever.
What I love about this relatively simple design is that each circle contains an astrological sign, giving more significance to the tattoo.
Looking at the photo, the sign on the left is Gemini, and the sign on the right is Sagittarius. The Gemini sign represents Lehua's son Raycn (Poppa John's great-grandson) and, of course, Sagittarius was the sign of Poppa John. The tattoo thus bridges four generations and is a reminder of the eternal ties that will carry on the memory of John Ferreira.
Coincidentally, Raycn shares the same sign as my mother (his great-grandma), Diane, whose birthday happens to be today, May 23. So, even though I know the meaning for Lehua is the link between John and Raycn, through Lehua, I interpret a second unintended meaning: the love of John and Diane, woven together, 25 years in this world, and the rest of time beyond.
On my last day in Hawai'i I had some time to kill before my flight. I wanted to stay close to the airport, so I headed over to Pearlridge Center to do some last minute shopping.
One of the first people I met was Dottie, a Kentuckian who had moved to Oahu.
She had this touching tattoo on her calf:
It is a memorial piece for her father, who was a constable back in Kentucky. Sadly, he was killed in the line of duty in 1984. The rose is part of the shield he wore and she incorporated it into the tattoo design.
Thanks to Dottie for sharing this emotional tattoo with us here on Tattoosday.
Update: Dottie has filled me in on some missing details.
But, like any one of these brave men and women can tell you, they have seen their share of sorrow when they have lost fellow soldiers in the war in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Earl's way to honor them has been to inscribe on his flesh "For the Fallen," and the initials of those that have died for their country, each bullet representing someone he knew.
On his right arm, he has this tribal piece with a military inscription:
The phrase "Mess with the Best, Die like the Rest" is one of those military slogans that is designed to inspire the soldier and intimidate the enemy.
I was contemplating the best way to approach a rather imposing figure who was completely covered in ink, when Darren passed me at the entrance to K-Mart in Penn Station.
When I caught up to him in the store, I introduced myself and, being a piercer in a New York City tattoo shop, he was more than happy to indulge my curiosity.
Darren has three tattoos, all on his arms and crafted by Young Cho at Monster Tattoo in the Elmurst section of Queens.
The first piece, on his lower right arm, is a pin-up depiction of Lady Luck perched on a crescent moon:
The second tattoo is a half-skull that pays homage to Boys Night Out, a band in which one of Darren's friends plays:
This is the outer forearm on his left side.
Finally, we have this piece, which is more than just a few numbers and letters: Located on his inner right forearm, this tattoo is translated as 40 degrees, 40 minutes, north latitude and 73 degrees, 9 minutes west longitude. These coordinates refer to a specific location in the world, in this case, a spot in the Great South Bay off the coast of Long Island. It was here that Darren's father loved to go fishing and the coordinates in question mark the spot where his father's ashes were scattered after he passed away.
I must emphatically state that this is one of the coolest memorial pieces I have seen. It is extremely thoughtful and creative, speaking to a point on the earth where Darren knows his father will remain, in spirit, for the rest of time.
I thank Darren for taking the time to stop and chat with me about his three tattoos here on Tattoosday!
I met Dan outside of Penn Station last week on a balmy December day.
He has 22 tattoos and shared this one from his right forearm:
It's a memorial piece for a friend who passed away in 2008.
Her initals are in the heart, which is pierced by a lone yellow rose. "She loved yellow roses," Dan told me, which led him do design this variation on the dagger-through-the-heart tattoo.
The piece was inked at Fat Kat Tattoo in Keyport, New Jersey. Work from Fat Kat has appeared previously on the site here.
Thanks again to Dan for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
I met Bill in mid-September on the 34th Street train platform while waiting for a downtown A train.
You may have heard of the scent known as a "new car smell". Bill had whatis known as a "new tattoo sheen," which occurs when one anoints a fresh tattoo with a healing ointment used to protect the ink.
The tattoo depicts himself, seen from the back, standing in reverence at the graves of his grandfather "Giff" and his uncle Giff Jr.
It's a nice way to memorialize his family. This was inked by Aaron at Red Rocket Tattoo East, in Levittown on Long Island.
Bill has a great tattoo on his outer right forearm, as well. Whereas his left arm is a memorial to those in his family that passed before him, his other piece pays tribute to a newer generation:
In this piece, two traditional swallows hold aloft a banner bearing the name of his daughter, Allana.
Last month, I ran outside toward the end of the day to throw a letter in the mailbox at the corner of 31st and 7th, near Penn Station.
Always prepared, I had a flier and my camera with me, just in case, and I spotted a woman ahead of me on the sidewalk with an interesting-looking tattoo on the back of her right arm.
After dropping my letter in the box, I ran up and introduced myself. She said her name was Jeanette and she showed me this chest piece which truly took my breath away:
I was however, without a pen, so she lent me hers. Fortunately, she later e-mailed me a fuller explanation of her work, reiterating what she told me in the street:
My gypsies on my chest are a representation of my open, free spirited soul, my wandering spiritual ways and my childhood. As a child, my mom moved my 4 sisters and I from place to place; never truly getting settled but gaining amazing friendships and experiences on the way.
These gypsies were created and drawn by Mo Coppoletta a tattoo artist originally from Italy but now residing in London.
He owns and operates The Family Business...He is a feisty but charming fellow who I bonded with immediately after meeting. You can view more of his work and his shop at www.thefailybusinesstattoo.com.
I also snapped a photo of the original tattoo I had spotted on her right arm:
She explained:
This tattoo is very sentimental...[in memory of] my mother who passed away at the young age of 50 in May of 2003. The words inscribed on the tombstone..."It's Gettin Chistled on yer tombstone" are from one of my favorite films, The Devil's Rejects. These words represent the things you do in life...each moment...each day you are engraving a memory for which people will remember you by, and this is how my mother lived. Always giving a hand and offering her last dollar from her pocket to a stranger. This tattoo is not completed yet, I intend to have the front of the tombstone added soon which will have my mother's name, date of birth and death and the words "Loving Mother and Loving Soul" in bold ink. This tattoo artist is Ezra [McCabe] from Sacramento, CA owner and operator of Timeless Tattoo and his work is truly timeless and remarkable. They are located at 912 J St Sacramento, CA and can be reached at(916) 443-6441.
A little more about Jeanette:
"I am a freelance fashion designer for my own clothing line "Altered Betty's," a line of clothing that comes straight from my heart. All one of a kind pieces made from all recycled fabrics and notions. What once was very special to one could be a delightful surprise for another. I recently moved to New York from California, I am still adjusting but I am beginning to really love and appreciate this beautiful city. "
It was an unexpected treat to meet Jeanette and I thank her for sharing her amazing gypsy rose tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
I met Missy last month in Penn Station and she shared this, her first tattoo:
This is also the first Icelandic tattoo on Tattoosday!
The phrase in Icelandic, "M�r vartar kraftaverk" , Missy loosely translated as "I need a miracle". It is a memorial tattoo for a friend of hers who was killed after being hit by a car.
This tattoo not only serves as a memorial (she needs a miracle to bring her friend back), but also provides strength and prayers for any future challenges she may face in life.
The phrase was inked by Chi Chi Gunz at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Work from Silk City has appeared previously on our site here.
Thanks to Missy for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
I had just exited from the subway station in Bay Ridge when I spotted an extremely-inked couple.
I talked with both of them, but Mike was gracious enough to share this phenomenal back piece:
Mike, a musician, has been on the receiving end of the tattoo machine for many years. He is currently lead singer/bassist for The F.T.W.'s, a New York-based rock band.
He even speaks nostalgically about the mid-90's, when tattooing was still illegal in New York City. He has a critical eye and like many people with a commitment to old school tattooing, is dismayed by the skyrocketing popularity of the art, and the subsequent deterioration of the overall quality of tattoos.
For every great tattoo you see here on Tattoosday, there are two dozen others that were inked because they are trendy, and not out of appreciation of the art.
We had a lengthy discussion about this and I worried he might not be so down with the site because I don't always feature top quality tattoos, and am oftentimes just as interested in the story behind an average tattoo as I am in a convention-quality piece.
As for Mike's back piece, he credits Miss D'Jo at the fabulous Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York for the creation of this gigantic tribute.
Mike spoke of a friend and tattoo artist, Chris Lewis, who committed suicide many years ago. Chris had given Mike a knife as a gift, and after his friend passed, Mike had this quasi-memorial back piece done. The knives in the tattoo are modeled after the blade in question.
The detail in this gigantic tattoo is simply phenomenal. Just take a look again at the handiwork on the knives: Much thanks to Mike and his girlfriend Amanda for stopping and talking tattoo with me. Your contribution to Tattoosday is much appreciated!!
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