Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog): New York City Poetry Festival

Showing posts with label New York City Poetry Festival. Show all posts

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Al Shares a Rib Tattoo by Bianka Nedbál

In July 2018, I was on Governor's Island for the New York City Poetry Festival to enjoy poetry and spot tattoos. I met Al who was kind enough to let me take this photo:

Al credited this work to Bianka Nedbál (@bianca_nedbal) who worked out of Edison Bar & Ink in Budapest, Hungary before it closed in September 2020.

Al told me the design was inspired by a photo of a staircase bannister that Bianka then interpreted into this lovely tattoo on her ribs.

Thanks to Al for sharing cool tattoo 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.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Two Circles, Symbolizing Anything

I met Daniel last summer on Governor's Island at the 2015 NYC Poetry Festival.

He shared these tattoos:

So what do these mean?

What do you want them to mean.

My recording of Daniel's interview was lost to technological issues, so I will do my best to recall what we discussed.

Their meaning is fluid.

You can interpret these as complimentary new moon/full moon tattoos, but that really wasn't the intent. They were tattooed for the sake of being tattooed, and their meaning has as much to do with the discussion of meaning.

Daniel, thank you for sharing these with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Birdwatching on Governor's Island

Last summer at the NYC Poetry Festival, I met Rachel, whose thigh tattoo filled me with happiness:

If you recognize the image, then we can be friends. It's inspired by the cover of Tom Robbins' third novel Still Life With Woodpecker.

It's always fun to find a Tom Robbins fan!

Rachel also had this bird on her inner arm:

She told me that this image, of an Eastern Bluebird, is inspired by a Cuban postage stamp. It acknowledges her Cuban heritage.

Alas, the artists responsible for these beauties were not recorded for posterity's sake and attempts to reach Rachel for follow-up questioning have been fruitless.

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

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Sam's "Chubster Owl"

Last summer at the New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island, I met Sam and, well, I just had to find out what this tattoo was all about:

Sam explained how this magnificent creature came into existence:

"The tattoo was done by Craig Moore at Leviticus Tattoo in Minneapolis. It was a going away gift done a few days before moving with my girlfriend to Indiana to get her MFA.

I initially gave him free range to create whatever he wanted. The owl originally had a skull belly, but I was under strict orders not to come home with any more 'creepy' tattoos. After some quick redesign, we put it to a vote among the staff and customers at the shop, and the chubster owl won in a landslide.

His name is Goose. He is my spirit animal."

Thanks to Sam for sharing Goose with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, April 28, 2016

The Tattooed Poets Project: Kait Burrier

Every year I feature at least one poet who I've met face-to-face and talked tattoos. This year, it's Kait Burrier, who I met last July at the NYC Poetry Festival on Governor's Island.

Kait posed for this photo for me:

Here's a closer look:

Kait explained the origins of this tattoo:

"Brittany, France is covered in triskels. Scranton, PA artist Mike Frenchko, formerly of Slingin' Ink and now at Electric City Tattoo, drew up my tattoo after I'd shown him a few images of this Celtic symbol. My tattoo brings me back to Quéven, a dreamy Breton seaside town with an incredible theater community that taught me about craft, communication, gratitude, and the tragicomedy of the human condition. They gave me a souvenir clown nose, but I've misplaced it; a tattoo seemed harder to lose."

Kait shared the following poem, which she wrote "in response to the William Carlos Williams poem The Young Housewife, reimagining a different scenario for his poem's subject." It appeared previously both in a zine printed by the Breaking Ground Poets and online at Inknode.

The Young Homeowner
after William Carlos Williams

When it is warm enough to strip
plastic seals from window sills
she will allow the sun
to dress her.
Neighbors will just
have to deal
with her nipples.

~ ~ ~

Kait Burrier writes poetry, drama, and to-do lists. Since moving to New York City in 2014, she has facilitated workshops, shared her work at local venues and in college classrooms, founded and hosted Union Square Slam, co-hosted At the Inkwell reading series, volunteered with Out of the Binders, Inc, wrote as artist in residence at Lemons Brook Farm, and worked in publishing, bookselling, and as a freelancer. She holds a M.F.A. (Wilkes University, ’14) and received the 2013 Wilkes-Etruscan Press prize. Visit www.kaitburrier.com for updates and publications.

Thanks to Kait for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Mike and Harley Quinn at the NYC Poetry Festival

I met Mike in late July at the NYC Poetry Festival on Governor's Island. He shared this cool tattoo by Christine Nelson from No Ka Oi Tiki Tattoo in Philadelphia:

"This is the character Harley Quinn," Mike explained. "She's the Joker's girlfriend ... my favorite comic book character," he added, "and it's every girl I shouldn't date."

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

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Nicole's Airplane Soars Across Her Back

I met Nicole at the 4th annual New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island last month. This bold tattoo on her upper back caught my attention:

Nicole explained how she came about this work:

"I'd always wanted this ... and I decided to get it kind of on a whim, which is why I don't remember the artist ... and when I went to the [tattoo shop] I said I wanted a 1945 plane the guy was like 'obviously you need to be a little more specific or bring me a drawing' and then his partner walked in and had just happened to pick up a book on aviation and I like found this plane in it."

Thanks to Nicole for sharing her aviation tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

The Tattooed Poets Project: Stephanie Berger

I met Stephanie Berger last summer at the NYC Poetry Festival on Governor's Island. I didn't take a photo of her tattoo then, but we stayed in touch and she sent me these photos:

Stephanie explains:

"I got this tattoo in 2005 while my father was dying. I'd taken the semester off of college so that I could spent time with him and take care of him while he was sick. I remember lying on the couch in my dad's apartment feeling inconsolably sad when suddenly some kind of bug crawled over my foot, and my cat leapt upon it like a crazy, wild animal. For whatever reason that was the first time I hadn't felt hopeless in months. I decided to tattoo a scarab beetle on my foot because the scarab is an Egyptian god of rebirth. I got it done at some random shop near Los Feliz in LA."

Stephanie sent us the following poem, which she wrote around the same time, and appeared originally in HoboEye magazine around 2008:

Conversation: Sexual Assault

Excuse me, are you curious George’s father?
I’m afraid.
The uncle?
You have the wrong girl.
Certainly.
I’m little curiosity.
Have or are?
Half or wrong?
23 years old.
I have difficulty speaking the language but understand it perfectly.
There’s a market for that on the Internet.
I hear.
Had I stopped I might have moved in some other direction.
Half or wrong?
Right and left I can deal with.
What about north and south?
Too tied up with the up and down.
In this culture.
Makes a girl sea-sick, a little more consistent.
Can I have a cigarette?
You have one in your hand.
Do you want the panties or not?
You have the wrong girl.
Has anyone ever told you those things will kill you?
That’s not a question.
79 years old.
My father was a sociologist.
Too tied up with the up and down.
He appreciated fine wood-working.
I believe he hated the French.
I hear.
I have difficulty speaking the language but understand it perfectly.
In this culture.
I was eight and nine when I lived there.
He kept a wooden fisherman out on the deck.
He showed little interest in metals.
I like your mustache.
Certainly.
I like your hook.
You have one in your hand.
Yes, less to lose.
Have you ever felt such shimmering exhaustion?
She bet me she couldn't sit on my stomach for an hour without my crying uncle.
There’s a market for that on the Internet.
The uncle?
Do you want the panties or not?
My father was a sociologist.
That’s not a question.
In this culture.
Excuse me, are you curious George’s father?
I hear.
Had I stopped I might have moved in some other direction.
But I've little curiosity.
Have or are?
23 years old.
Perhaps it is better to walk around very isolated.
Yes, less to lose.
Less to emboss.
Maybe more to enamel.
He showed little interest in metals.
Half or wrong?
I’m afraid.
Right and left I can deal with.
Can or have?
Can I have a cigarette?
I can be the wrong girl.

~ ~ ~

Stephanie Berger is the Executive Director of The Poetry Society of New York, co-founder of the New York City Poetry Festival, and The Madame of The Poetry Brothel. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Fence, Bat City Review, Styleite, Similar:Peaks, Smoking Glue Gun, La Fovea, H_NGM_N, Coconut, and other publications. She published a chapbook, In The Madame’s Hat Box, on Dancing Girl Press in 2011, and she has a collaborative chapbook, The Emoji Poems, forthcoming from Coconut Books. She is co-editor of the photo-poetry press, #wtfislongsdrugspress, and occasionally she tumbles over at stephani-berger.tumblr.com.

Thanks to Stephanie for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on The Tattooed Poets Project!

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.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

The Tattooed Poets Project: Sean M. Damlos-Mitchell

I met Sean Damlos-Mitchell last summer at the NYC Poetry Festival on Governor's Island.

I snapped this photo of his arm:

The phrase So it goes [from Slaughterhouse-Five] is circled by Memento Mori.

In a nutshell, Sean wrote to me explaining the tattoo:

"Love & death. As though there is anything else. Memento Mori - being reminded of one's mortality. Vonnegut. The lower piece is by José Guadalupe Posada - The Revolutionary Goes to War. Love & belief; putting up a fight; trying still."

The top part of the tattoo was done by Brian at Enchanted Dragon Tattoos in Tucson, Arizona. the Posada piece was done by Terry Tapp, formerly of Crazy Monkey Tattoo in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Sean sent me the following poem:

STRANGE FEELS

consider a creative process of dealing
with grief, just one creative way

to deal with grief is to throw it under a bridge

another is by righteously hyperextending
an arm, allowing its fingerprints to process

in the end nothing is so effective as giving up

convictions in exchange for virginity – exactly
how I became enlightened re: my limitations

a necessary step in overcoming ways I felt; I feel

there were people then who were ghostly everywhere
even the secret places I'd go to trench my frailties

~ ~ ~

Sean M. Damlos-Mitchell holds an MFA from The New School & is a rather friendly and endearing fellow, possessing smooth skin & a knowing glance. He has previously published poems in Whole Beast Rag, Poem Tiger, The Mackinac, & Hot Street. Additionally, he is the author of SINCERELY SPACEMAN, a chapbook by The New Megaphone.

Thanks to Sean for his contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Karin Shares a Tattoo Fit for a Seamstress

I was leaving Governor's Island after the NYC Poetry Festival last summer, when I spotted Karin sitting down waiting for the ferry back to Brooklyn.

I asked her about her tattoo:

Karin explained that she is a seamstress, which goes a long way to explaining this tattoo. Initially, she told me, "it was just the thread and Maggie added the needle and the hand."

Maggie Cho Brophy was the tattoo artist from Gnostic Tattoo in Bushwick, Brooklyn, who added the parts that gave this seamstress's tattoo a whole new dimension.

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

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

No Mud, No Lotus

Back in July, at the NYC Poetry Festival, I was awash with poetry and a wide array of tattoos.

I met Jhani, who shared this tattoo on her arm:

This lotus flower was inked by Chris at Outer Limits in Costa Mesa, California. It reads, “No Mud, No Lotus.”

When I asked her what this meant, she replied, "To me, it means patience." She added, "it’s also a reminder to be conscious of my decisions and also how turmoil can create life as long as you’re open to existing in a dark and dirty position, especially if it’s in your own like cycle for a while.”

Thanks to Jhani for sharing this fantastic tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, January 20, 2014

A Dog on Adam's Arm

We're still posting tattoos from last summer's NYC Poetry Festival, like this one from Adam:

Adam explained that this tattoo on his forearm is based on a woodcut that served as the cover art from Times of Grace by Neurosis:

Adam credited the piece itself to Scott Santee at Memento Tattoo & Gallery in Columbus, Ohio.

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

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Lauren Shares Two Tattoos with a Literary Feel

I met Lauren at the NYC Poetry Festival last July on Governor's Island and she shared two tattoos.

First up is this appropriately literary piece:

Lauren explains:

"Kill Your Darlings is a [William] Faulkner quote … it’s his advice on writing ... when you are creating a piece of literature, you’re favorite lines are always the first to go. So I took it to mean that I tend to sacrifice the favorite parts of myself for the greater good of my creation."

Lauren also shared this interesting piece:

Lauren elaborated on this piece that was tattooed by Bart Bingham at NY Adorned:

"This is actually based on an artist named Brandon Maldonado - he does a lot of this Day of the Dead style and I showed it to Bart and he was actually able to take it and make it his own and kind of put his own spin ... I discussed the elements I really wanted to keep and the elements that he could play with and he was able to turn it into something really special and unique. My favorite part is, if you’ll notice in the brain, it’s a love story ...

... So you see these people and they’re together and it’s new and then they have a falling out and he’s in the rain and then they’re kind of older and they reconcile and are together again, riding a tandem bicycle together and then I really just like the colors of it. Immortality I thought was really interesting – if you want to really affect your writing, using writing as a way to become immortal and leave your mark on the world, regardless of what you physically leave it."

Thanks to Lauren for Sharing these cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, January 13, 2014

Sarah Shares Two Beautiful Tattoos

Back in July 2013, I was at the New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island, and I met several people with great tattoos.

I saw a woman with some incredible work as she was leaving the event, and managed to speak to her before she had walked away.

Sarah shared two spectacular pieces, both by the talented Nalla Smith at Brooklyn's Goose Tattoo Parlor.

First is this piece on her calf:

Sarah explained this:

"This [Bird Girl] came from a Brazilian artist ... it was done in early 2011 and I was just browsing around on tumblr, a site called Art for Adults. It's mostly kinda like risque and women, but with all drawn and everything and then I just kind of randomly stumbled across this artist, I don’t remember the exact name but she’s Brazilian and then I messaged her asking if it was okay to use the image … she was really sweet and said ya just please send me a picture when you’re done and everything … and then so I just thought it was a really beautiful image … I know everyone has different reasons for getting tattoos, but for me, it was my first one and was super sentimental … after that … I almost felt like I couldn't really top this one, like the sentimentality, so I’d almost rather have something that was really beautiful and had a different purpose other than that..."

Sarah also shared this piece from her thigh:

Sarah elaborated:

"...Her name is Octavia, the artist for the original drawing is Courtney Brims, she’s Australian, not that it has anything to do with it but she’s from the same part of Australia where I used to live … like fast forward 6 years … I just saw it again, a really beautiful image, and actually [in] the original artwork ... she’s blonde and obviously that doesn't translate all that well to a tattoo

© Courtney Brims

... Nalla took a lot of ... liberty with the coloring and everything and it was so funny because he was, at the very last second ... going to be about 45 minutes of shading and then ... he said ‘let’s go dark’ and then that turned into about 3 and a half hours and I almost passed out during it … not too much of a story behind that … it’s quite big and the reason for that is because I didn't tell him how big I wanted it, I trusted him to just do his thing … because he knew what the appropriate size was … I just knew that he would do a good job and even the placement is not like straight on and everything … he’s very good at placing tattoos."

Thanks to Sarah for sharing her beautiful tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Kimberly's Flowering Sugar Skull

It may be 9 degrees today in New York, but I'm thinking about last July, when I was basking in the warmth of the New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island.

And inkspotting, of course!

I met a woman named Kimberly, who shared this sugar skull:

Kimberly got this about six years ago at Addiction Ink in the East Village.

There's a lot of symbolism in this piece, and Kimberly elaborated for me:

"The flowers in the eye are for my grandmother, and then every flower around the edge is a favorite flower of a female member of my family. Left eye is a rose, right eye is a mum, pink one is prairie rose, gerber daisy , cherry blossom, daisy, and then roses [at the bottom]."

"What's the significance of the gold tooth?" I asked.

Kimberly laughed, "I really liked it - if I really want to mess with somebody, I say it's how many men I've killed!"

This is one of four tattoos that she has.

Thanks to Kimberly for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, December 14, 2012

Caitlin's Faulknerian Tattoo and Language

This past summer, while attending the 2nd Annual New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island, I saw a lot of great ink. I have a soft spot for word tattoos, and was drawn to this one, on the back of Caitlin:

This reads, in Latin, "Et ego in Arcadia."

"It's actually grammatically incorrect, but it's as it appears in a Faulkner novel [The Sound and the Fury] ... something Quentin's father says to him," Caitlin told me. "And," she added, "he says it with that wording, but it's really supposed to be Et in Arcadio ego."

Loosely interpreted, she understands it to mean "I am even in paradise."

When I asked her why she had that phrase tattooed on her, Caitlin elaborated:

"It's difficult to say ... I just think, reading Faulkner, when I was a teenager was sort of the first time that I realized what language could do. I thought ... it had certain constraints ... that is part of why I chose the saying from the Faulkner novel, I also liked the idea that ... language is fluid, there aren't really rules to it. We're changing language every day ... It's sort of comforting, walking around New York City and you see, like, all of these signs and they have grammatical errors in them ... it's sort of comforting to think of language as this living, breathing thing."

She had this done at White Rabbit Tattoo Studio in the East Village.

Thanks to Caitlin for sharing this literary 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.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Swallowing the Sun(day)

As I mentioned a couple days ago, back in July, I attended the 2nd Annual New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island. One of the people I met was Anthony, who shared this tattoo on his arm:

Anthony explained that this is an eagle, swallowing the sun. It represents being part of the earth and the sky, being one with the universe.

He credited the work to Flying Ace! Scotty Lowe at Shotsie's Tattoo in Wayne, NJ

Thanks to Anthony for sharing this cool tattoo 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.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Caitlin Shares an Undersea Cover Up

Back in July, I attended the 2nd Annual New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island. Not only did I meet some great tattooed poets, I met a lot of other folks too. The festival had a few of Brooklyn's famous food trucks lined up, serving people hungry for grub and verse.

One of these vehicles was the Kimchi Taco Truck, and Caitlin, one of the truck's employees, shared this cool cover-up on her back:

Caitlin got this tattoo at East Side Ink from Patrick Conlon, who she picked because he was from San Francisco, which is where she is from as well.

She explained that the piece is a cover-up. "I had a really janky tattoo of a star back there," she said, "that's where the starfish is." She had Patrick do the whole design and turn it into a seascape.

Patrick also works at Graceland Tattoo in Brooklyn, His work has been featured previously on Tattoosday here and here.

Thanks to Caitlin for sharing her work 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.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Bailey's Pocket Watch at the New York City Poetry Festival

Last month I had the pleasure of attending the second annual New York City Poetry Festival on Governor's Island. I met some great tattooed poets, but I also ran into a few tattooed poetry fans, one of whom was Bailey, who has this cool tattoo on her foot:

The chain from this pocket watch runs up and around part of her calf, which makes this piece even neater. Bailey explains:

"It's the White Rabbit's pocket watch from Alice in Wonderland ... It's always been my favorite story and something that's stuck with me for a long time ... and I thought it was going to be the only tattoo that I got, so I wanted to get something big and meaningful."

I asked her if there was a significance to the time shown on the watch. She confirmed, "Yeah, it's 3:36, it was a time that connected with this band that I was really into and I wanted to make a little tribute without doing their logo and when [the artist] actually put the hands on the clock, he looked up to see where they were placed and it was 3:36."

The band in question? AFI. 336 is the name of one of their EPs. And, as it turned out, Bailey didn't stop with the pocket watch, she also has two sparrows at the top of her chest.

She credited this tattoo to "Pee Wee" at Bolder Ink in Boulder, Colorado.

Thanks to Bailey for sharing this cool tattoo 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.

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Friday, May 27, 2016

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Monday, January 20, 2014

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Monday, January 13, 2014

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Friday, December 14, 2012

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Friday, August 10, 2012

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