Last Fall's 3rd Avenue Festival in Bay Ridge was a watershed moment for Tattoosday. I came out of the block like gangbusters, tallying up a half-dozen tattoos, enough to carry me through into the cooler days of October.
With the Fifth Avenue Festival on Sunday, June 1, and nine months of tattoo-spotting under my belt, not to mention a sunny day in the 80s, I anticipated even greater success.
Instead, I found myself being more selective. I ran into Tani from this post and stopped by Groove Tattoo and introduced myself to Marc Redbeard (who inked these pieces).
By the end of the day, I only took pictures of two tattoos, and I was okay with that. I focused on quality, not quantity.
The first person I spoke to, Nancy, let me photograph her left leg, above.
This tattoo is about ten years old and was inked by the great
Nancy said that this was not flash, but a custom piece. She went into Huggy-Bear's shop, told him what she wanted, and he drew it up.
This piece is one of five of Nancy's tattoos.
Thanks to Nancy for sharing her ink!
UPDATE August 28, 2009. I have been informed that Mr. Ferris is still with us, despite several people telling me he had passed. I apologize to Mr. Ferris and wish him a long, happy life!
5 comments:
For whatever reason I was thinking about Huggy Bear today. He did my tattoos MANY years ago! Hope he still remains with us! I was trying to track him down when I found this blog.
Glad to hear the rumor of Huggy Bear's demise has been greatly exaggerated! I photographed him over 20 years ago in his Brooklyn studio and it was a blast working with him and sharing in his talent and generosity.
The link to my photo in your post can be updated here: http://bit.ly/c0jkfu
I believe that Huggy did what a great many New Yorkers do in their later years... slid down the coast to Florida.
Hiya! Huggy-Bear is definitely still around I just talked to him a minute ago while he was walking his dog! I will have to show him this website, thanks for keeping his name alive, he lives in FL now :)
Huggy Bear was nice enough to ink my right calf with a butterfly in 1990 in Park Slope. Now I'm thinking of finishing up work started 22 years ago. Living in southern New Hampshire now. Any suggestions for artists as GOOD as HB Ferris?
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