Some Tattoos in the News

Tattoos are in the news daily, but a few items have popped up in the New York Times that are noteworthy and worth reading.

Just yesterday, was this story about a 100 year-old woman in the Philippines carrying on and keeping alive the country's historical tradition if tattooing:

At 100 or So, She Keeps a Philippine Tattoo Tradition Alive

Maria Fang-od Oggay at her home in the village of Buscalan, in the northern Philippines, last week. She belongs to the last generation of her ethnic group bearing a full set of traditional tattoos and is one of the few who remember how they are done. Credit Jes Aznar for The New York Times

Then, there was this piece, from January, also in the Times:

A Tattoo for the Living

In December, the Times also ran a feature on artist Jonathan Valena, who has become famous for his "tiny" tattoos on celebrities and fashion models:

Putting His Mark on the World

Hailey Baldwin’s “pray” tattoo on two fingers. Credit JonBoy        

And, finally, a story about the increasing demand for cover-ups:

A Face-Lift for Tattoos

An old tattoo is seen peeking through the cover-up artwork in process. Credit George Etheredge/The New York Times        

The finished product. Credit George Etheredge/The New York Times 

Maurianne's Filipino Tribal Tattoo

I spotted Maurianne last summer on the corner of Broad and Wall Streets. I was fascinated by her tattoo and had to ask her about it. Check it out:

Maurianne credited this to Nicholas, the owner at K42 Tattoo in Tucson, Arizona.

"These are from the tribal days, so like these parts right here [in the top circle] are to ward off bad spirits. When I pass on, these [vertical] lines indicate that I can go to the next ... to the land of the ancestors. Eyes of god. There's a lot of adornments....from the Philippines."

Thanks to Maurianne for sharing her awesome piece with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2015 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.

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!

This entry is ©2013 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.