Sheila Squillante Shares Two Tattoos on the Tattooed Poets Project

Today's tattooed poet is Sheila Squillante, who is sharing two tattoos:

Sheila explains:

"These are my only tattoos, gotten nearly twenty years apart. The first, a wrist vine (it goes all the way around), I got at Studio Zee on State Street in New Haven, CT. I was on my lunch break from a coffee house job. It wasn't exactly a whim because I had thought about it, but I also didn't tell anyone I was going because I was worried I would lose my nerve or be talked out of it. I was 27 years old and my first marriage had just ended, leaving me scrambling to locate myself. It's a cliche, I know, but this is my 're-inventing myself' tattoo. I remember I specifically wanted it placed somewhere I could see it every day. A reminder. It's faded but I still love it."

Then, there's this lovely iris tattoo:

Sheila describes this piece:

"My second is brand new, but I have been thinking about it for at least 20 years. Irises are my favorite flower, and I have always been drawn to those 18th century copperplate botanical prints. Michelle Joy at Gypsy Tattoo Parlor n Pittsburgh has a background as a rare book dealer, and much of her work has the appearance of intricate wood cuts. I knew I wanted her to do my iris. The reason for the timing is in the caption: 'Fig. 46.' I turned 46 in October, bringing me to the age my father was when he died. I have dreaded this year, but as it came closer, I knew I wanted to mark it for us both." 

Sheila also sent us, the following poem, originally published in issue 14 of Eleven Eleven, noting, it "is not about tattoos or flowers, but it about heartbreak:"

Eggs for the Broken Hearted

Eggs for forgetting you could still break like that.
                            Like this.
Eggs when you’ve broken someone else.
Cracked open.
Eggs over cold rice in a hot skillet. The popping sound everyone makes.
Stirred and stirring.
Eggs broken and filled.
                            Rice, vice.
Eggs before poems and after you swear them off.
Egg as absolute. Egg as always.
Eggs inside. Swallowed whole or knocking hello on the walls of please no more.
What can this egg do? This one and this one?
Inside earthenware. Nesting like crows
inside the hollow of your hollow of your hollow.
Cracked and salted and swirled there.
                            There.
Eggs when you think you could do better. Could have done better.
When you think you could still write a poem as glossy rich
and filling as yolk over rice. Deep blue bowl
to keep the heat. Wrap your hands around it.
Eggs for when you want to burn yourself.
What egg?
What is an egg?
Egg as infection or invasion. Smooth and hard. Cold and unswallowable.
                            Stuck.
In the pan, oil sizzles or water boils or water simmers
and you slide yourself in.
Feel yourself. Congeal. Stiffen against
this sadness, your center which wants to run
                            loose and away.
Eggs that hang together, stay
in the soup, as they say.
Ribbons of egg, threaded through
noodles or over rice, billowing
in broth, tongue- kissed with ginger.
              I will feed it to you, sweetheart
              spoon by too-hot spoon–

~ ~ ~

Sheila Squillante is the author of the poetry collection, BEAUTIFUL NERVE (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016). Recent poems and essays have appeared or will appear in places like Indiana Review, Waxwing, North Dakota Quarterly, Menacing Hedge and River Teeth. She teaches in the MFA program at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, where she edits The Fourth River. From the couch in front of good or bad t.v., she edits the blog for Barrelhouse. Visit her: www.sheilasquillante.com Twitter: @sheilasquill

Thanks to Sheila for sharing her two tattoos and poem with us here on Tattoosday's Tattooed Poets Project!

This entry is ©2017 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.

Repost: Michael's Mariachis

Well, it has been a repost sort of week, and as it is All Soul's Day, a.k.a. The Day of the Dead, this only seemed fitting. It's from my college friend, Michael, and it appeared here originally on December 30, 2008. Enjoy!


In reconnecting with old college friends through Facebook, my old friend Michael who I haven't seen in almost twenty years sent me an amazing tattoo he has on his right arm.

He sent me before and after shots so we can see the transformation from outline to spectacularly colorful body art. First, the before shots.....



The detail and the line work is exemplary and breath-taking. As someone with a guitar inked on my arm, I can appreciate the intricacies of a finely-drawn instrument. The detail on the mariachi's jacket cuff is incredible.



And now, for some color:




Michael explains the basic premise of this tattoo:

In a sense, this piece is a "memorial" tattoo, although I hate to call it that. Since I grew up in the Southwest, Day of the Dead was a regular thing, so I've always been drawn to that type of imagery, plus I like the meaning -- honoring the dead, and reminding us to live life to the fullest. I picked the mariachis partly because I am so into music, and partly because of the celebratory aspect of mariachis.

Like many intricate tattoos with multiple elements, every part has significance. The tulips, for example, that are growing at the mariachi's feet, "are an actual heirloom varietal that I have in the garden" [and] are for my wife -- tulips are her favorite flower".



And the angel at the top of the piece (and the top of the post)?


Michael informs us that "the angel is for my mother, who is no longer with us. The angel holds a purple iris (my mother's favorite flower), and looks down over the whole scene."

This amazing piece was inked by Susan Behney-Doyle who works out of Jinx Proof Tattoo in Washington, D.C. Mexican folk art is one of her specialties (see a gallery of her work here) and Michael says he "gave her a few reference pieces to look at, but she basically drew it after a consultation". He continues, "we made just a couple tweaks after I saw the drawing, but it's a one-of-a-kind custom piece".

The whole tattoo was crafted back in 2006 over a five-month, seven-session period. Michael notes that one of those sessions was devoted solely to shading the guitar. A closer look at the instrument reveals an incredible complexity of brown variations that truly makes the guitar jump off the skin.

Thanks again to Michael for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday - twice!

This entry is ©2008, 2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site 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.

Katie's Bouquet

I spotted this lovely tattoo on the Broadway-Lafayette subway platform last month, while switching trains:

This floral piece, on Katie's calf,  is one of her eight tattoos.

The larger flower is an iris and the smaller flowers are Narcissus papyraceus or, as they are commonly known, Paperwhites.

She added these paperwhites specifically because they were her Nan's favorite flower.

The tattoo was done by an artist named Ron Hotte in San Diego. Rob is currently back in New York, more  specifically on Long Island, at Solid Gold Tattoo.

Thanks to Katie for sharing this beautiful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site 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.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Kimberly Mahler

Today's tattooed poet is Kimberly Mahler, who sent along this tattoo:

Kimberly credits this bright colorful work to artist Erik Rieth, co-owner of Seventh Son Tattoo in San Francisco. The poem below is an unpublished work she is including in a manuscript centered around her raising her 11-year old autistic son, seen in this photo with the tattoo above.

Kimberly included a small photo of the piece in question, as well:

She elaborates:

"The iris was my first tattoo completed in 2007. It was a one session--four hour odyssey of sorts. I had never seen someone get tattooed, and was pondering why Erik was using so much red ink for a purple flower... yep, that was my blood, not ink. Over the years Erik and I developed a friendship and continued work on my shoulder in 2008 and the cherries February 2011.

I know the next one is going to be a large hip/thigh sea dragon piece, but that's a ways off. 

For me to be ready to get a tattoo, three elements have to be in line: my artist Erik has to want and like the idea, I have to be ready (both financially and emotionally) and the time commitment and passion for the design have to be there. When all are in line, it's a magical sort of experience. I give him ideas, he designs the piece and then we get down to work. I couldn't have anyone else do my work now; it just wouldn't be the same. [...] He co-owns a shop in San Francisco that just did a benefit for Japan, raising $7,000. Cool place. http://www.seventhsontattoo.com. Erik and the shop Seven Son Tattoo are both also on Facebook. 

There's definitely a connection between tattooing and writing for me. This is the only poem that I've written that is about tattooing (at least on the surface). However, both writing and getting a tattoo require a leap of sorts: a stepping off of the known. Both require a loss of control which lay the foundation for original art both on the body and the page."

Kimberly Mahler’s recent work has appeared in, 5AM, DMQ Review, My Baby Rides the Short Bus anthology, Naugatuck River Review, The International Psychoanalysis Poetry Monday and Cimarron Review.  She recently received a residency at the Ragdale Foundation in Chicago. Kimberly has taught college-level writing and literature in the San Francisco Bay Area for 17 years and is the director of The International Poetry Library of San Francisco.  She lives on the coast, a few miles north Half Moon Bay, CA with her son Harrison.

Thanks to Kimberly for sharing her tattoos, poetry and photos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. The poem is reprinted here with the permission of the author.

If you are reading this on another web site 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.

Amanda's Irises (and a Quote)

This start-of-the-year post is courtesy of Amanda, who I met at the end of October in the Borders at Columbus Circle.

It was her sleeve of irises that first captured my attention:

These are inspired by the work of Vincent van Gogh, perhaps this one:

The tattoo was done by Dennis Halbritter when he was at Incognito Tattoo in Pasadena, California. He has since moved to High Voltage Tattoo, Kat Von D's shop on L.A. Ink.

Dennis also inked this on Amanda's inner right bicep:

This quote "IO FU QUELLO CHE VOI SIETE E QUEL CH'IO SON VOI SARETE" is taken from an Italian fresco credited to Masaccio. This is the artwork in question:

The Holy Trinity, with the Virgin and Saint John and donors, in Florence

If you look at the bottom of the fresco, right above the skeleton is the phrase Amanda has inscribed on her arm.

The phrase is translated as "I once was what you are and what I am you also will be".
These words remind her of her own mortality.

Thanks to Amanda for sharing these lovely tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Tattoos I Love: Melanie's Hybrid Flower

This is another special edition of Tattoosday, a variation on the Tattoos I Know series. First seen on Valentine's Day, this is an episode of Tattoos I Love.

This category is reserved for the ink on my wife, Melanie, who turns 40 today.

Several years ago, I bought her a gift certificate for Body Art Studios in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The owner and artist, Peter Cavorsi, is a talented tattooer, and he proved it in this case.

Melanie's favorite flower is the iris. She wanted something pretty along those lines, and gave Peter a couple of samples of artwork as a reference.

What he came up with was a lovely interpretation of the iris, but with other floral elements thrown in. So, although based on her favorite flower, it is a hybrid that is uniquely hers:


I surreptitiously snapped this photo of the tattoo on her right ankle last year at a little league game in which our younger daughter was playing.

Work from Peter at Body Art Studios has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Happy Birthday, Melanie!

Michael's Mariachis Celebrate Life with a Burst of Musical Color

In reconnecting with old college friends through Facebook, my old friend Michael who I haven't seen in almost twenty years sent me an amazing tattoo he has on his right arm.

He sent me before and after shots so we can see the transformation from outline to spectacularly colorful body art. First, the before shots.....



The detail and the line work is exemplary and breath-taking. As someone with a guitar inked on my arm, I can appreciate the intricacies of a finely-drawn instrument. The detail on the mariachi's jacket cuff is incredible.



And now, for some color:




Michael explains the basic premise of this tattoo:

In a sense, this piece is a "memorial" tattoo, although I hate to call it that. Since I grew up in the Southwest, Day of the Dead was a regular thing, so I've always been drawn to that type of imagery, plus I like the meaning -- honoring the dead, and reminding us to live life to the fullest. I picked the mariachis partly because I am so into music, and partly because of the celebratory aspect of mariachis.

Like many intricate tattoos with multiple elements, every part has significance. The tulips, for example, that are growing at the mariachi's feet, "are an actual heirloom varietal that I have in the garden" [and] are for my wife -- tulips are her favorite flower".



And the angel at the top of the piece (and the top of the post)?


Michael informs us that "the angel is for my mother, who is no longer with us. The angel holds a purple iris (my mother's favorite flower), and looks down over the whole scene."

This amazing piece was inked by Susan Behney-Doyle who works out of Jinx Proof Tattoo in Washington, D.C. Mexican folk art is one of her specialties (see a gallery of her work here) and Michael says he "gave her a few reference pieces to look at, but she basically drew it after a consultation". He continues, "we made just a couple tweaks after I saw the drawing, but it's a one-of-a-kind custom piece".

The whole tattoo was crafted back in 2006 over a five-month, seven-session period. Michael notes that one of those sessions was devoted solely to shading the guitar. A closer look at the instrument reveals an incredible complexity of brown variations that truly makes the guitar jump off the skin.