Mike Displays A Watch for His Son, Thomas

Back in August, I met a guy named Mike outside of the American Indian Museum at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan. He shared this tattoo with me:

Mike credited this wonderful work to Jimbo Fortier from Horseshoes and Hand Grenades in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Jimbo is his artist of choice, clocking over 125 hours of work from him on a full leg sleeve (when Jimbo was more local to NYC at Lark Tattoo in Westbury on Long Island), and counting!

He explained:

"My son Thomas Michael was born on November 7th at 9:36 in the morning ... so I did an old-fashioned pocket watch, opened up to the time and the day that he was born ... and just as a little commemorative piece, I put his name in what would have been the top of the pocket watch if it's opened."

This tattoo is on the inside of Mike's left forearm.

Thanks to Mike for sharing this cool tattoo 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.

Sam Shares Two Cool Tattoos at the NYC Tattoo Convention

It has been a brutal winter, and the tattoos have been scarce here in New York City, so I was excited to get back to the New York City Tattoo Convention and see some great tattoos.

The event is early this year, to account for the closing of Roseland Ballroom, so unfortunately there were an inordinate amount of people wearing jackets and long sleeves - meaning body art was not overflowing as much as it has been in the past. However, today looks to be warmer, and I'm looking forward to Day 2!

That said, I did interview a woman named Sam, who works at Lark Tattoo in Westbury, NY. She was kind enough to share two tattoos with us for Tattoosday.

First is this giant piece on her thigh:

Sam explained the origins of this piece, which was done in three sessions of three hours apiece:

"This tattoo was done at South Shore Tattoo in Amityville, New York by an artist named Mike Nomy ... he's the owner of the shop. I'd actually gotten it done a couple years ago ... it was one of my first tattoos ... I knew that I was gonna be a heavily-tattooed person and I needed a way to introduce it to my parents, in a way that was heart-felt to them and seemed genuine ... I got something that was literally for them - my mom has a little tattoo of a rose on her butt and my dad has always wanted to get snakes tattooed on him ... I kinda took the two ideas and formed it into something that would show them how much I care about them and hopefully they can see me in the way I choose to transform myself and love me that way also ... It's kinda the way I reached out to them ... I dedicated a huge spot on my body to them."

She also offered up this amazing piece on the back of her calf:

Sam credits this cool tattoo to Joe Friedman at Lark Tattoo.

She elaborates:

"It's a Maneki-neko cat which is normally a lucky cat ....this  type of cat is an unlucky cat, there's really no name for it - it's something that I kinda came up with based on a toy I had seen actually and it really inspired me to think about the way my life has been running, I'm pretty unlucky ... so I wanted a way to remind myself that I gotta work and not rely on luck."

Thanks to Sam for sharing her awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Be sure to head down to Roseland this weekend to catch the last two days of the NYC Tattoo Convention in this historic venue!

This entry is ©2014 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.

The Tattooed Poets Project: David Jonathan Newman

We have another returning Tattooed Poets Project alumnus today, David.Jonathan Newman.

David's previous contribution appeared two years ago, here.

This is a collage of a work-in-progress that David sent along for 2013:

David explains that this is:

"...a three-quarter sleeve on my left arm by none other than the famous Bruce Kaplan, owner of Lark Tattoo in Wesbury NY and Albany NY. We've both been very excited about this project and it's been in progress for over a year now; excited to be getting well into the color portion of it. Essentially, the tattoo is Bruce's take on a wicked thunderstorm; tidal waves, thunder and lightning, intimidating clouds and fire. Towards the end of the tattoo down by my forearms, the sun's rays come out through the cloud cover and the storm breaks. I've been through a lot in my life (just like many people) and this tattoo, like many of mine, is meant to remind me that I can get through every hardship I have coming; and that I was able to get through everything that's been thrown at me so far.

The quote in script was a previous tattoo that Bruce has been going around... it was done years ago by Chris Koutsis at DaVinci Tattoo in Wantagh NY. It says It's What You Love, Not What Loves You and was inspired by the Charlie Kaufman movie Adaptation."

David sent in this recent poem of his called "the night":

the night.

night comes

night comes exhaled in
casually flourishing in the expanse as if we acquiesced to its maturation
planting its flag among the corpses of our plans for the day, unaccomplished
and the cold
glacial, numbing wind searing across flesh and foliage
air in your lungs like an icestorm
liquid nitrogen eventide

the night is isolation
abandonment and abated breath
a brilliant abattoir of allegiances meant only to separate us and conquer hearts
colonize your capillaries with Cimmerian shade
circumventing circulation

I poured out a little of my drink for her, it froze instantly as it hit the permafrost
exhaled into slow smoke, dancing in the lantern light
frustrated that something so inanimate could take on such life
such alluring life in this ruination and gloom
I miss you
god, I miss you
the way your teeth always backdrop for your smile
the way we interlock perfectly before dreams take us
the way you shuddershake when you climax

you left me

and I go unaccompanied into the night
with this drink and these thoughts
and this lantern
and this love

~ ~ ~

David Jonathan Newman has been a poet and vocalist/lyricist in bands, both on Long Island, NY and in Miami, FL. He is working on a collection of poetry, writes music as a solo artist and has a blog (http://captainselfdestruct.blogspot.com) where he posts both his solid works and stream of consciousness ideas. He's been winning poetry contests since 6th grade, but recently he's been featured in online publications including Haggard & Halloo Publications, quite a few times - and even the Tattooed Poets Project, back in 2011. He's currently floundering back and forth between wanting to pursue his poetry pseudo-career to get more of his work out there, and the soul-crushing hopelessness that any poet feels, wanting to pursue their medium in the year 2013.

Thanks to David for once again contributing to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

©2013 The Tattooed Poets Project 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.

Cristine's 311 Tattoo

Back in June, I met Cristine out on Coney Island, during the Mermaid Parade.

She shared this tattoo:

Christine is a big fan of the band 311, so this was her tribute to the band she loves. Here's a closer look:

This was done by Miss D'Jo at Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York. We've been lucky enough to have shared work by Miss D'Jo previously on Tattoosday here and here.

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

This entry is ©2012 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.

Marnee's Owl

I was walking in the aisles of my local grocery store in Brooklyn , when I met Marnee, who had quite a few tattoos. She offered up this owl on her upper left arm:

Marnee explained:

"There's no story behind it. I've just always loved owls and all the meaning behind them. I'm pretty wise myself."

The tattoo was inked in 2008 by Jimbo at Lark Tattoo. Work from Lark has appeared previously on Tattoosday here. A piece by Jimbo appeared in this post back in 2009.

Thanks again to Marnee for sharing her owl with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading 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.

Joe is Armed with Words of Strength

Last month on 86th Street in Brooklyn, I met Joe, who shared this cool tattoo on his right bicep:

Joe credited Matt Van Cura, formerly of Lark Tattoo. Matt now works out of Da Vinci Tattoo in Watagh, New York. 

Joe came in with an idea for this piece, armed only with the phrase "Increscunt animi virescit volnere virtus," and worked with Matt for a couple of hours as they pieced the art together. Be sure to click on the photo to get a larger view of the exceptional shading, line work and detail. 

When I asked what the Latin translated to, Joe told me it meant "the spirit grows, strength is restored through wounding." A little research on my end revealed that the exact translation,"the spirits increase, vigor grows through a wound," is a quote attributed to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche from Die Götzen-Dämmerung (Twilight of the Idols).


Thanks to Joe for sharing this 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 can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Patricia Loves Summer

The Borders book store in Penn Plaza is closing in less than two weeks, which is sad on so many different levels. When its doors finally shut for good, we here at Tattoosday will personally mourn the loss of one of our favorite spots to browse and, of course, spot ink. Over the years, this particular Borders has been a great location for meeting people and talking to them about their tattoos, as it is just a stone's throw from where I work.

Patricia is among the last people I have met there, having spotted her a couple weeks ago, and interviewed her about this tattoo on the back of her right arm and shoulder:

This tattoo was inked by Miss D'Jo at Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York.

The artwork for this piece is based on the work of Alphonse Mucha's series of decorative panels depicting the Four Seasons. This was based on "Summer, 1896".

Miss D'Jo's work on this piece is extremely well done and true to this original artwork, which is Patricia's favorite of the four seasons.

It should be noted that I find it remarkable how often I see Mucha's work translated into tattoos. Clicking here will display all the previous works by Mucha that have appeared on Tattoosday. Work from Lark Tattoo has appeared previously here, and this work showcases the last time work from Miss D'Jo blessed our site.

Thanks again to Patricia for sharing this lovely 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 can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Sew You Want a Cool Tattoo? Check This One out from Vicky...

I met Vicky back in August outside of Penn Station and marveled about the colorful vibrancy of this beautiful tattoo:

Vicky explained that she is a seamstress for a new company called Cupcake Provocateur. Check out their site, it's pretty cool. Vicky's boss, Cynthia, is the brainchild behind the business, designing all of the aprons and other housewares, as well as making the cupcakes. There are several tattoo-inspired apron designs on their site, including this one, which would make a great holiday gift, no?

But back to the tattoo, Vicky hopes to grow this tattoo into a half-sleeve, and it started out as a design that she had Angelique Houtkamp design for her. "It wasn't drawn exactly the way I wanted it," Vicky explained, so she took it to Sunday Dawne-Marie at Skinflower Cosmic Arts in Phoenecia, New York and, she continued, "Sunday went with my basic idea, an antique sewing machine in a cameo, and re-drew and re-designed the entire thing."

I am most familiar with Sunday's work at Lark Tattoo on the poet Adam Deutsch.

Thanks to Vicky for sharing her amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! We look forward to seeing the sleeve grow in the future!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Adam Deutsch

Although the plan is to introduce new poets in this year's Tattooed Poets Project, there will be a few return visitors from last year. Adam Deutsch is one of those exceptions.

In last year's post, in which Adam shared some incredible Miltonian work, he alluded to the fact that he also had a full sleeve inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's Transcendental Man. I mean, how could we not bring Adam back to share that?

Here's the sleeve:


A closer look shows the mountains wrapping around the upper arm:


Adam explains more fully:

"That moment where 'the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me' is too important to forget. Rather than have the text tattooed, I went with this image--which is an adaptation of a caricature by Christopher Cranch of the transparent eyeball.

I was moved by the image. Beside Emerson, I was reading the Bhagavad-Gita and Bashō. It seemed fitting to have the sky above 'the lover uncontained and immortal beauty' blend into the water at the base of a mountain that peaks at the shoulder.

Like Adam's other work, this piece was done by Sunday Dawne-Marie at Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York. Adam elaborates on the process:

"We decided that the simple line-art style make it seem less like art on the body, and more like art in the body. The red is a mixture of colors. I had just the red for about 3 years, and went back for the shading in late 2008--everyone would see it peeking out of a sleeve, and they thought I either cut myself, or had a scar from some kind of accident. When I came in and said 'I think we can use some shading. A little depth,' she said, 'That's what I told you 3 years ago.' So, it was two sittings, about 3 hours apiece. Because it's an uncommon style, I booked the last appointment of the day so she could take her time with it. I trust Sunday to no end with ink."

Work from Lark Tattoo has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Adam Deutsch was born on Long Island, New York and has his M.A. from Hofstra University (2005) and M.F.A. from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2008). He's been on the editorial staff of a number of presses and journals, including Ninth Letter and Barn Owl Review. He presently works in higher education all over San Diego, and is the editor of Cooper Dillon Books.

Check out a poem from Adam over at BillyBlog here.

Mike's Amazing Back Piece

I had just exited from the subway station in Bay Ridge when I spotted an extremely-inked couple.

I talked with both of them, but Mike was gracious enough to share this phenomenal back piece:


Mike, a musician, has been on the receiving end of the tattoo machine for many years. He is currently lead singer/bassist for The F.T.W.'s, a New York-based rock band.

He even speaks nostalgically about the mid-90's, when tattooing was still illegal in New York City. He has a critical eye and like many people with a commitment to old school tattooing, is dismayed by the skyrocketing popularity of the art, and the subsequent deterioration of the overall quality of tattoos.

For every great tattoo you see here on Tattoosday, there are two dozen others that were inked because they are trendy, and not out of appreciation of the art.

We had a lengthy discussion about this and I worried he might not be so down with the site because I don't always feature top quality tattoos, and am oftentimes just as interested in the story behind an average tattoo as I am in a convention-quality piece.

As for Mike's back piece, he credits Miss D'Jo at the fabulous Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York for the creation of this gigantic tribute.

See other work from Lark on Tattoosday here.

Mike spoke of a friend and tattoo artist, Chris Lewis, who committed suicide many years ago. Chris had given Mike a knife as a gift, and after his friend passed, Mike had this quasi-memorial back piece done. The knives in the tattoo are modeled after the blade in question.

The detail in this gigantic tattoo is simply phenomenal. Just take a look again at the handiwork on the knives:

Much thanks to Mike and his girlfriend Amanda for stopping and talking tattoo with me. Your contribution to Tattoosday is much appreciated!!

St. Michael, Inspired by Survival

I met Michael in Penn Station and he shared this incredible tattoo:


That is a depiction of St. Michael, with whom our contributor shares a name.

Michael had this tattoo added to his right bicep and shoulder after surviving a terrible car accident. One of his lungs collapsed and he was touch-and-go for six days.

Afterward, he wanted to pay homage to Saint Michael and went to Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York. Brian, the artist, spent nine hours on this amazingly detailed piece.


Work from Lark has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Michael for sharing this incredible tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Three Tattoos from Mary: Marilyn Monroe and Robert Frost, Fire and Ice

What jumped out at me when I saw Mary in front of Penn Station, on a drizzly late afternoon during Rush Hour, was this amazing tattoo on her left bicep:


Marilyn Monroe tattoos are not incredibly unusual (click here to see those that have appeared on this site previously), but this one strays from the glamorous and dabbles in the tragic.

What we see is the back of her head, passed out on a make-up table scattered with toiletries and pills. In the reflection of the dressing room mirror you see the woman's face, serenely unconscious.

And, in an effect that makes it look like it was scrawled in lipstick on the mirror, the quote,

"...if you can't
handle me at my worst
then you sure as hell don't
deserve me at my best.
-marilyn
monroe"

The full quote, as uttered by Ms. Monroe, is "I'm selfish, impatient, & a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, & at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

It's certainly a striking piece, and Mary gladly shared it and elaborated. She feels a bit of a link to Marilyn in that the starlet and Mary's grandmother were born on the same date, June 1, 1926.

Plus, there's the universal tragedy of Monroe's demise that resonates on so many levels with so many people. She's a sex symbol to some, a victim of an abusive male-dominated industry to others. And the quote rings true with self-actualized strength. "I am what I am," she seems to say, "if you can't roll with me through the difficult times, then you haven't earned my company in the good times." Do note, this is my interpretation, not necessarily Mary's.

This tattoo was inked, along with many others, by Jimbo at Lark Tattoo. Work from Lark Tattoo has appeared on Tattoosday previously here.

Mary has thirteen tattoos in all, and shared two others as well.

She graciously lifted her shirt to reveal this poetic snippet, tattooed on her right side, accompanied by a peacock feather quill pen on parchment:



The quote "Some say the world will end in fire, some say ice..." is from the opening lines of a poem by Robert Frost, entitled "Fire and Ice":

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

The tattoo points to another piece, at the base of her neck: two flaming ice cubes:


As I mentioned previously, my encounter with Mary occurred outside of Penn Station during rush hour, so I didn't delve too deeply into the meanings of these tattoos. But I do thank Mary for sharing them with us here on Tattoosday and invite her to elaborate further in the comments below.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Adam Deutsch's Miltonic Tattoos

Today's tattoos come from Adam Deutsch. We started with this photo:

Photo taken by Lillian Bertram.

A cool photo, and Adam explained the piece:

It's based on a Gustave Doré etching from his interpretations of Milton's Paradise Lost, the lines "He the Almighty Power/ Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky" (I. 44-45) when Lucifer is waging war, before the fall to Hell.


White ink is incorporated in the rain, and on the halo over his head, as he's still an Angel. We've all got something we turn to over and over again; Paradise Lost is always there.

The tattoo was done at Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York. The artist was Sunday Dawne-Marie.

Despite the awesome nature of this tattoo, I pressed Adam for something more, as it's a bit hard to make out the images of the tattoo in the photo, and I really want to showcase the work.

Our discussion progressed and Adam ended up sending me photos of his leg piece, as well.




Adam points out that this piece, on his right leg, is based on the depiction of Pandemonium, also from Paradise Lost. This is the mock-cathedral in Hell where the fallen angels meet to decide what is next on their agenda:

Mean while the winged Haralds by command
Of Sovran power, with awful Ceremony
And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim
A solemn Councel forthwith to be held
At PandÆmonium, the high Capital
Of Satan and his Peers (lines 752-757)

The detail in the piece is phenomenal:


Adam notes that the two tattoos, both on the right side of his body, "talk to each other....it's a conversation between an angel & devil". He adds that, "in that context, my arm becomes Elijah, fallen, but re-risen."

The arm took about two hours to complete, but the leg took approximately ten hours, in two sittings of four and six hours, respectively, about a month and a half apart. The two pieces seen here are among four "literary" tattoos Adam has. He also has a whole sleeve based on Emerson.

Head over to BillyBlog to check out one of Adam's poems here.

Thanks to Adam for sharing his amazing work with us here on Tattoosday, with a special thanks to Jill Alexander Essbaum (whose literary feet kicked off the Tattooed Poets Project here) for sending Adam our way!