A Healing Tree

In the fall, I met "A" at the Union Square green market. I had noticed her tattoo and was fascinated by its simplicity and how it appeared to have been designed and inked around a scar. She was kind enough to share the piece and tell me a little about it:

"A" explained how this tattoo of a tree with roots came into being:

"I was trying to go on a solo week-long bike trip around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State and I was gonna bike around, put my gear on the back of my bike ... I was on this stretch of really gravelly highway by myself ... I had gone fifty miles that day and was two miles from my campsite and the bike hit some gravel. It slid out from under me and I fell right on my elbow, completely shattered it and when they stitched me back up and put me together I wanted to get something around the scar ... it was kind of traumatic and I knew I was going to have to get used to talking about it, so the tattoo was kind of a good way to get used to talking about it with people and not being traumatized."

"A" credited the work to Tony Silva (@tonysilvatattoo) at Electric Arrow Tattoo in Ronkonkoma, New York.

Thanks to "A" for sharing her cool healing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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Louis and His Life Behind Bars

I woke up this morning and the Tour de France was on the television, which reminded me today would be a good day to post the following tattoo, which I spotted on Broad Street last month:

This tattoo is on the forearm of Louis, a bike messenger. It reads "Life Behind Bars" and features two hands gripping a set of handlebars. The hands have knucle tattoos themselves that state "Ride Hard."

Louis explained, "I'm into cycling a lot and it's taken a big part of my life." He added, "I'm in a racing team and I race track and road and I basically got this tattoo to represent how much I love bikes."

I ride a bike myself, but not as avidly. Nonetheless, I appreciate the tattoo for what it represents, not to mention the clever play on words.

He credited the work to Xavier Alvarez (@xavier000xx) at Crazy Fantasy Tattoo in Manhattan, but said that the artist had moved to Sins and Needles nearby. Xavier is currently tattooing out of Ink Couture (@inkcouturenyc) in Staten Island, but informed me he will be back full-time at Sins and Needles in two weeks time.

Thanks to Louis for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2016 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Belinda's Penny-Farthing

At the end of May, I spotted Belinda's unusual bicycle tattoo on the 34th Street subway platform during Friday afternoon rush hour:

Of course, I asked her about this piece on her left ankle, since it isn't too often you see old-fashioned bicycle tattoos on people.

Belinda explained tha a while back she had gone on a pilgrimmage to Spain, which included a 100-mile trek on bicycles. This design is of the "high wheel bicycle" that was introduced in the late 19th century and is more commonly referred to as the penny-farthing. She told me that this was a much more efficient bicycle than had been seen before. The larger wheel allowed it to travel better, although the falls from a much greater height were a problem.

Belinda added,

"The purpose of the pilgrimage was not religious but more a curiosity to see this path (the Way of St. James) that people have been taking for hundreds and hundreds of years just because of faith. I felt it was a great way to see the real "Spain" by riding through the small villages and woods...we ended in Santiago de Compostela..."

This tattoo was inked by one of the artists at NY Adorned. Work from Adorned has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks again to Belinda for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Oscar's Quartet of Tattoos

Born in Costa Rica, a one-time resident of Canada, and now a denizen of the Bronx, Oscar has traveled all over the world.

He expressed his passion for mountain biking to me as we talked in the Amtrak section of Penn Station.

This made sense to me as I had noticed his bike-themed tattoo on his left calf:


The wheel is specific to a mountain bike he owns, and it is connected around the back of his leg by a bicycle chain:


The detail is quite good, almost three-dimensional, and the tribal flourishes up and down the leg add volume to the piece.

This was his first tattoo, inked on his birthday, after many years of thinking about tattoos. He waited until he was ready, so that he could get something with deep meaning for him.

Since then, he has added three other tattoos, all created by Richard at Jent's Tattooing in Yonkers.

He graciously shared those as well. First is a tribal raven:


Oscar spoke of the raven's relationship with God. In the folklore, Raven helps the gods to raise the moon and the stars. He also is known as the prankster, who is always trying to catch the Sun.

In addition, there is a tattoo of Shiva, who Oscar acknowledges as a deity who "destroys ignorance and builds knowledge":


Finally, Oscar wears a Third Eye on his right bicep, which carries its traditional meaning:


Many thanks to Oscar for sharing his amazing tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Massimo Shares A Tribal Design

I met Massimo on the plaza in front of Penn Station last Friday and talked to him about this cool piece he has on his right foot.

He was visiting from Milan and, according to him, designed and tattooed this himself about seven years ago. He had a friend who was a tattoo apprentice around that time, who taught him the basics of tattooing.

He began by saying this was Hawaii-inspired, which is understandable, as it has the "look" of a Hawaiian tiki in its design.

He also said that the top part is inspired by the fact he had been doing a lot of cycling, which
lot of cycling, which influenced the top half of the tattoo. A closer look reveals a resemblance to a bicycle wheel:


He was also very candid with me and said that he was smoking a lot at that time and he would wake up the next day and find incredible designs lying around. This was one of them.

After I took the picture, Massimo had second thoughts, hesitating about letting me post this on Tattoosday. He was worried that his design would be copied. I appealed to him and I must have been convincing, as he changed his mind and assented.

Thank you, Massimo, for sharing this design with us here at Tattoosday!