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 commemorating his marriage, and the fact that he is a "lucky devil".

The piece was inspired, in part, by the artistic style of Coop, and includes a lucky seven (rolled on the dice) juxtaposed by the lucky number 13.

This cool tattoo was inked by Johan Florendo at Mean Street Tattoo Studio in the College Point section of Queens, New York.

Thanks to Jason for sharing his awesome lucky tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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 which, combined, he estimates represent nearly 150 hours of work.

First, the one arm:


Then the other:


Both pieces, what he calls Bad Angel and Good Angel, were cover-ups.

And then, the feather in his cap, so to speak, his back piece:


All three pieces were custom-designed by Denise de la Cerda whose website, ChicksDigTattoos.com, is a great showcase of her work. In fact, you can see the before and after of each tattoo on the cover-ups section of her site. The back piece can be viewed here. The "good" angel can be seen here. And the "bad" angel can be viewed, before and after, here. Truly amazing!

One of Denise's tattoos, albeit a much smaller one, appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Brian for sharing these awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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 (see some of his work here) and he finds inspiration from the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats. The lines

When old age shall this generation waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou sayst,

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," -that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

resonate deeply with him. They are central concepts to him as an artist and a human being. The word "Truth" is inscribed on his left side to accompany the Beauty on his arm.

"I live for them," he told me, and I thank him for taking the time to talk with me.

The tattoo was inked by Kari Hamilton, a friend of his, in her basement in Michigan.

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, Pepper said, she doesn't "even remember that it's there".

About fifteen years ago, she managed a tattoo shop in West Chester, Pennsylvania called Damian's City Tattoo.

An apprentice named Shawn inked this on her as part of his ongoing learning process. Pepper believes that it is based on the artwork from a comic book called "Sláine". She worked at the shop for only a year, and has no idea what became of the artist.

It never ceases to amaze me the variety of back stories behind tattoos. We are so accustomed to the deep meanings, the personal ordeals, the appreciation of art for art's sake. But more often than one might imagine, a tattoo is a signpost marking a moment in time, and nothing more.

I thank Pepper for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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 noticed the woman next to me (who worked for the company I had just visited) had this interesting set of tattoos:


On the street, I may not have stopped her, but in an elevator, it seemed foolish not to.

Danielle had these tattoos (one of three total) inked at a shop in Long Beach, New York. She didn't recall the name of the shop or the artist who did the work, but she did mention that her fiance has a matching set of the three colored stars on his left bicep.

These stars and signs, tattooed on Danielle's inner right wrist, are decorative and, the three symbols represent Danielle, her mother and her sister.

From left to right, the three insignia stand for Libra (her mother's astrological sign), Gemini (for her sister) and Aries (her own Zodiac affiliation).

What I have found interesting about astrological tattoos, is that each sign of the Zodiac has a simple line representation, but that these symbols can be modified artistically in so many different ways. The whole range of astrological signs as interpreted by subjects of this site can be seen here.

Thanks to Danielle for sharing this cool tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!

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, which covers the front of Alex's right shin, is a representation of an East Indian tribal mask.

The tattoo was done by David at Dragonfly Studio & Gallery in West Reading, Pennsylvania.

Thanks to Alex for sharing this cool mask with us here on Tattoosday!

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 business partner and wife Monica have transformed a 1970s tour bus into a tattoo parlor on wheels, featuring a swanky interior and top-of-the-line tattooing equipment. It’s a tattoo shop that can tattoo anyone, anywhere. Ride along as emotional limits and friendships are challenged and the persistent mechanical problems of a vintage bus are tested on the road, as “Tattoo Highway” proves to be one bumpy ride. Tattoo Highway premieres Wednesday May 27th at 10/9C on A&E!

Visit http://www.aetv.com/tattoo-highway for more information.


Here at Tattoosday, we've partnered with A&E to help promote this exciting new show. Here's how our contest is going to work:

Tattoosday is all about stories behind the tattoos and how each piece of body art resonates with the individual. To be entered into the contest, simply watch the two episodes airing Wednesday, June 3rd from 10:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern/9:00 to 10:00 PM Central) and then write a little something in the comments section of this post. Tell us what tattoo that you saw on the premiere episode was your favorite, and why you liked it. Winners will be chosen randomly among the entries and you could win:

a Tattoo Highway iPod Skin OR

a Tattoo Highway Aluminum Water Bottle OR

a Tattoo Highway Tank.

Watch and enjoy! Winners will be announced on the site by Monday, June 8.

Dana Winkler and Chris Manning were the winners from last week. Congrats to Dana and Chris!!