Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog): Kings Avenue Tattoo (NYC)

Showing posts with label Kings Avenue Tattoo (NYC). Show all posts

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

A Triple Shot of Kings Avenue Greatness

When I run into a tattoo artist in public, it's always a treat. Last week I spotted a gentleman with his baby outside of Federal Hall in lower Manhattan and lo, and behold, it was someone I knew.

I didn't recognize him, at first, but when I asked first if he was a tattoo artist and second, where he worked, I knew that when he said Kings Avenue Tattoo (@kingsavetattoo) on Bowery, that I probably already knew him.

I had run into Jason June (@jasonjunetattoos), whose work I have been familiar with ever since he first inscribed a "13" on my wife Melanie on a cold Friday the 13th back in 2009 at Daredevil Tattoo (@daredeviltattoo).

I have since featured a lot of work by Jason on Tattoosday, most recently this amazing lobster.

The tables were turned and I asked if he wouldn't mind sharing some of the work others had inked on him. He was more than happy to oblige and I pointed out this piece which had jumped out at me:

This stunning koi was inked by Will Lollie (@williamlollie) at the Kings Ave shop.

He also offered up these two pieces behind his knees, in the "ditches," as they say:

The piece on the left was done my the heart behind Kings Avenue, shop founder Mike Rubendall (@mikerubendall). The piece on the right was tattooed by the insanely talented Chris O'Donnell (@codonnell_nyc).

It is rare that I get such a veritable treat of outstanding work outside of a convention, so I was truly thankful that Jason was kind enough to share this work with me.

The amazing thing is that Kings Ave is PACKED with insanely talented artists. If you're unfamiliar with the shop, please check them out and follow them on all media social. You can also click here to see all of the work from the studio that has appeared on Tattoosday over the years.

Thanks again, Jason, for taking the time to share the amazing work with us here on 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.
Thanks Jason!

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Swim When It Hurts

I met Marcy on a subway platform in lower Manhattan back in September 2017. She had a lot of work on her arm and indulged me as I took quite a few photos.

This building is part of the Oceanic Hotel on Star Island in Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire, where she used to vacation when she was younger.

Below this image is the phrase "swim when it hurts," which reminds Marcy about overcoming things that are difficult:

These tattoos, part of a whole nautical sleeve, help her "center herself."

This Cape Cod-style lighthouse helps her find her way in life.

Marcy credited her work to Becca Genné-Bacon, who tattooed her when she was at Hand of Glory Tattoo (@handofglorytattoo)in Brooklyn. Becca has since moved on to Kings Avenue Tattoo (@kingsavetattoo) in Manhattan. I love Becca's work, and follow her on Instagram at @beccagennebacon.

Thanks to Marcy for sharing her awesome work with us here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Blair Shares Some Amazing Art (at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade)

On this rainy Sunday, we're heading back to the summer and looking for a little sunshine. It seems appropriate to share some work from the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (@mermaidparade), from a participant named Blair, who had some phenomenal tattoos, including this on her thigh:

Blair told me this is a Bert Grimm design called "Sundance" that was tattooed by Becca Genné-Bacon (@beccagennebacon) from Kings Avenue Tattoo (@kingsavetattoo) on the Bowery.

Here's the Bert Grimm artwork that is an iconic piece of tattoo history:

She also shared this piece called "Prisoner of Love," which was done by Benjamin Haft (@benjaminhaft) from Allied Tattoo (@allied_tattoo) in Brooklyn:

I also snapped a photo of this tattoo, of a stunning gypsy with her hair in rollers:

All amazing tattoos!

Thanks to Blair for sharing her awesome work with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

The Elusive Union Square Lobster by Jason June

Last Friday, I met a woman at the Union Square farmer's market who was in a hurry. I stopped her because she had an amazingly vibrant tattoo that I just had to ask about. She told me her name and I thought I wrote it down, but I can't find it anywhere. I never got the story, but I did get the photo. Behold:

I remembered the artist's name, however. This forearm lobster is by Jason June (@JasonJuneTattoos). I first met Jason years ago when he tattooed my wife, Melanie, at a Friday the 13th event. He is now working at Kings Avenue Tattoo (@KingsAveTattoo) on the Bowery.

The photo really doesn't do the piece justice - I normally avoid tattoos that wrap around limbs like this, but I was so impressed I just couldn't help myself. Here's a collage of the tattoo that I found on Jason's instagram before the piece was fully completed:

Via @JasnonJuneTattoos on Instagram

Thanks to the host of this lobster (sorry I lost your name) for sharing this incredible tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

UPDATE: This tattoo is gracing the arm of Jenn. Apologies for forgetting and thanks to Jason June for filling in the gap in my brain!

Thursday, September 14, 2017

A Moth and a Rose on the F Train (Tattoosday Plays the Alphabet Game)

And the Alphabet Game continues...

1:05 P.M. After a bathroom and pizza break at Penn Station, I'm back on an E train to catch an F at West 4th Street.

1:13 P.M. On an F train at West 4th, southbound.

1:16 P.M. I meet Adrien, who shares a couple of great tattoos from Kings Avenue Tattoo (@kingsavetattoo) on the Bowery in Manhattan.

First is this cool moth:

Adrien told me that this tattoo by Grez matches one that is also on another Kings Ave artist, Becca Genne-Bacon (@beccagennebacon) who, incidentally, tattooed this awesome black rose on Adrien, as well:

Thanks to Adrien for sharing these cool tattoos with us on Tattoosday!

Remember, you can check out the whole Alphabet Game experience here.

Friday, May 19, 2017

Two Spooky Tattoos from Alexis

I met Alexis earlier this week on the J train in Lower Manhattan. She has several tattoos on both arms, and she offered up these two pieces on her right arm, which she called her "spookier arm":

Alexis explained that the "Tomb Sweet Tomb" piece is a nod to a feature in The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando. It's her favorite ride and this was inked by Chris Fernandez (@chrisfernandeztattooing) at Kings Avenue Tattoo (@kingsavetattoo) in Manhattan.

The heart-shaped piece below it is actually a planchette from a ouija board. This was a Friday the 13th flash tattoo that Alexis got at Grit N Glory Tattoo (@gritnglory) in Manhattan.

Thanks to lexis for sharing her cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, August 31, 2015

Christina's Incredible Sideshow

A couple weeks ago, I was on the C train early in the morning, headed to Penn Station, when a woman got on with incredible tattoos.

We didn't have much time to talk, and it was rush hour, but I did pass her my card, inviting her to send me photos.

A few hours later, on Amtrak to Albany, my email pinged and I was delighted to receive an email from Christine, not only sending me pictures of the tattoo I had admired on the subway, but some work that I wouldn't have been able to appreciate in person.

First off, the tattoo on her lower leg:

This tattoo of a snake charmer was done earlier this year at Kings Avenue Tattoo on the Bowery in Manhattan. The artist was the visiting Xam the Spaniard (Instagram here), who is based out of London.

Christina's other work was also done at Kings Avenue by other amazing artists. Behold:

I'll let Christina explain:

"My most significant tattoo is probably the bearded lady from Sarah Carter (she actually went by Sarah Schor then, was living in the States at the time, and started at the Kings Ave shop just after it opened its second location on the Bowery).

I was extremely naive about tattooing (as most people generally are when they nervously walk into a shop for the first time). I think I sent a really long, meaningful letter to Kings Ave before going in. Pretty cutesy/embarrassing stuff. Anyway, the reason this tattoo is the most significant one I have is because Sarah's work made me fall in love with tattooing. I admired her as an artist so much (serious girl crush—pretty sure she thought I was insane because I couldn't even respond to her in complete sentences) (part of this, honestly, is more about the whole tattoo-on-the-ribs thing though) (and people say it all the time, but that shit is no joke).

Before seeing her portfolio and getting tattooed by her, I had no connection to tattooing. None of my friends were into it, and I think we all know how difficult it can be finding artists and just generally knowing what you're looking at if nobody is there to show you. After, I was hooked. Especially since humble yet grossly talented artists like Mike [Rubendall] and Grez also added to my first real experience in a shop and made it a positive one. Grez in particular has become one of my favorite people just generally ever. Collecting from different artists is important to me, but if every single one of my tattoos were done by him, I'd be totally fine with it.

Sarah's bearded lady was the first of many black and grey sideshow performers I have on my body. My entire right leg will be a cohesive piece in time, with different girl head performers from different artists. So far, it's Sarah, Grez, Xam, and Rose Hardy. In time, I'm hoping for Val Vargas, Chris Conn, Jack Rudy, and Tim Hendricks. We'll see how that all pans out."

Grez is responsible for the sword swallower and fire eater, which he tattooed in 2013.

Thanks to Christina for sending along her phenomenal sideshow tattoos!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Best Week Ever: Tattoosday Edition

The last seven days have been quite a whirlwind, and I felt it is worth a recap, just because I can't believe what happened since last Saturday.

A week ago, I had my best trip to the New York Tattoo Convention, saw a lot of great ink, reconnected with old blogging friends, and met a lot of cool people. All my posts since Sunday (with the exception of Friday) recapped the show and some of the folks I met.

On Wednesday, I swung by Kings Ave NYC on the Bowery after work and met one of the greats in the tattoo community, Corey Miller. When I asked him if it would be too dorky to ask to take a picture with him, he said, "Of course, it's dorky, but I love that shit." Do I look just a little bit excited?

For those of you who watch L.A. Ink, last season we saw a subplot in an episode in which Corey designed the album art for his friend Trever Kieth's band Face to Face.

As it happened, this past week the album dropped, and Face to Face had a gig in Times Square. Corey came along for the ride, and joined the band at Kings Avenue NYC to sign posters, singles, magazines, and other goodies.

Corey and the band signed the poster featuring the original album artwork

and the single they produced with Rise Against:

I'm not holding my breath, but I did give out Tattoosday cards to the guys in the band (and to Corey, of course) and asked them to contact me if they wanted to share some of their ink on a future Musician Monday feature. Fingers crossed!

Here's a fan video from the show they did that night:

Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about how the week ended, but I can tell you I was on location Friday on the set of a local tattoo establishment that is home base for a new reality-based tattoo show on a cable channel. Now, I may or may not have received a new tattoo, but eventually I'll be able to tell you all about the experience.

Incidentally, we are less than two weeks away from the premiere of TLC's NY Ink (June 2!) Can't wait to see it, as the show features Ami James, formerly of Miami Ink, as well as amazing artists like Tim Hendricks, Tommy Montoya, and Megan Massacre.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Congratulations to Michael Henry Lee, who won a t-shirt in our Kings Ave NYC contest! Your shirt is on its way!

Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog)