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Friday, August 2, 2013

Caitlin and Her Friends Ask With a Tattoo

I love textual tattoos and am more inclined to stop people who have words inscribed on their flesh.

Caitlin, for example, had these words tattooed on the backs of her legs:

Her left leg reads "nature is a language" and her right leg asks "can't you read?"

About eight years ago, Caitlin told me, she and two of her friends all got this same tattoo, which references lyrics from "Ask" by The Smiths. The work was done by an artist at Bodytech Tattooing and Piercing in Gainesville, Florida. We featured work from the same shop here back in 2008.

Here's the video from the song:

Thanks to Caitlin for sharing this lyrical tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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Thursday, August 1, 2013

Anna's Sea Oats Remind Her of Family and the Ocean

I spotted Anna on Seventh Avenue about a month ago, and had to stop her to ask about this incredible back tattoo:

The artist is Joel Brennan a.k.a. Suga Bear, who owns and works out of Steadfast Tattoo Parlour in Erie, PA.

Anna explained:

"He [Suga Bear] drew it and the concept is sea oats, which represents my family and my love of the ocean ... We went on vacation every summer to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and there's beautiful sea oats in the sand dunes down there."

Thanks to Anna for sharing this lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

We Are Six!

I never did a big 5-Year Anniversary Celebration last year, but I also didn't want to let the day slip by without noting that it was 6 years ago today, on my old BillyBlog, that I "introduced" Tattoosday. See the original post here.

Appearing weekly for a bit on BillyBlog, until September, when Tattoosday earned its own URL, this is our 1522nd post, and we have racked up 1.7 million hits and 2.5 million page views.

I want to thank everyone who continues to support Tattoosday, including the tattoo community as a whole, but especially my readers, first and foremost.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Tattoosday in the Berkshires: Bob & Sue's Excellent Tattoos

Back in June, we took a trip up to the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts to drop my older daughter off for a summer program in Lenox. I had anticipated seeing some cool tattoos on the weekend trip, but came up empty-handed. That is, until we were headed back to New York, and took a small detour in Stockbridge, MA, where I ran into Bob and Sue.

We spotted the couple in a shop along Main Street and talked to them about their tattoos. They had been up at Tanglewood the night before to hear the Boston Pops perform a "Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration," which made sense, when we took a closer look at Bob's tattoo:

Bob explained:

"The sun is from the Filipino flag - it's my heritage. The hills are covered with trees from New England, that's where I grew up. The road is not straight, it's narrow ... that [Yamaha Stratoliner] is based on my bike, and I'm a Grateful Dead fan."

The artist is Canman out of Visions Tattoo Gallery in Medway, MA.

Sue shared these two tattoos:

This portrait, inked six months ago, depicts their children, who are in their thirties now. Their daughter is twelve in the portrait and this, too, was done by Canman, as was this other piece on Sue's opposite arm:

This piece is about four years old, yet it's still fairly bright.

Thanks to Bob and Sue for sharing their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, July 26, 2013

A Brief Glimpse at Megan's Bluebells on Fifth Avenue

I know that this looks like I took this photo surreptitiously, but trust me, I had the woman's permission.

I spotted Megan on Fifth Avenue, near the Mid-Manhattan Library, last month. Unlike many of the people I interview, she was not interested in stopping to talk to me, but did share, as long as I walked with her. The photo was snapped when we waited for the light to change.

She got the tattoo somewhere in the East Village, she said, and explained a bit about the tattoo:

"I collect agricultural books, like pieces from old books from the 1800s, early 19th century, and the bluebell is my favorite flower and I came across a few that were bluebell dissections ... it's taken from that."

Thanks to Megan for sharing her favorite flower with us here on Tattoosday!