Showing posts with label Owls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Owls. Show all posts

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Total Eclipse of the Art

Back on August 21, 2017, I met Michelle near Bowling Green in lower Manhattan. Everyone was out experiencing the solar eclipse, and I started talking to her about her cool tattoos.

An artist she only identified as Alex from the Bronx, was responsible for this work on her arm:





She also credited Giovanny from Rebel Ink Tattoos (@rebel_ink_tattoo) in Queens with the following work on her leg:






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

This entry is ©2019 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.

Monday, June 18, 2018

Terri Shares Two Great Tattoos (at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade)

This past weekend, I attended another wonderful Coney Island Mermaid Parade in south Brooklyn. I met a lot of great people, including Terri (@ivyleagueink), who shared some amazing work, including this amazing owl covering her stomach:


She credited Peeko (@peekotattoos) from Pyramid Ink Tattoo (@pyramidink) in Brooklyn with this piece.

The quote, "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how," is by Friedrich Nietzsche, and pre-dates the owl. It was done at True Blue Tattoo in Maspeth, New York.

She also has this amazing portrait of the Bride of Frankenstein on her thigh:


Please pardon the shadow in the upper right part of the tattoo. That phenomenal piece was done by Shane O'Neill (@shaneoneilltattooist), who won Ink Master, Season One, and tattoos out of  Infamous Tattoo in Delaware.

Thanks to Terri for sharing her amazing work with us here on Tattoosday! Great meeting you, Terri!


This entry is ©2018 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, May 20, 2018

Vanessa's Wise Headdress

Back in October, I met Vanessa, across from Federal Hall, in lower Manhattan.

She shared this cool tattoo on the back of her leg:


Occasionally, dear Readers, I interview people and lose all my information, or I snap a photo with the person, who promises to email me with details, and then I never hear from them again.

This is the case with Vanessa's cool tattoo. All I know is that Vanessa hails from Pennsylvania and comes into New York occasionally for roller derby events in which she participates.

I have no artist to credit, as much as this pains me. I hope that by putting this out in the world, I may be able to connect the dots in the future.

Thanks to Vanessa, wherever you are, for sharing this great tattoo!

This entry is ©2018 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, June 23, 2017

The Eyes of Heidi's Owl

Yesterday I met Heidi on Broadway in Lower Manhattan. She shared this cool owl tattoo:


Heidi explained that she was in recovery, and that one day she was out walking and there was a moment where she saw an owl, and there was a connection. "I looked into the eyes of the owl," she explained, and the experience remained with her.

She credited the artist Zim from Vancouver Tattoo Company in Vancouver, Washington.

Thanks to Heidi for sharing her owl tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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. 

Friday, April 28, 2017

Athena's Owl on Jennifer Martelli (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Our next tattooed poet is Jennifer Martelli, who shared this photo with us:


She tells us:
"I got this tattoo down in Hyannis, Massachusetts, at a great shop called Spilt Milk. A wonderful tattoo artist named Pablo did my very first tattoo there while I was on vacation, so when I returned a few years later, that’s where I went. I chose this design for a few reasons: first, I love owls (and cats—that beauty is Maria); second, this is Athena’s owl, and I love the fact that Athena was birthed from her father’s head; I love that she was a war goddess, that she wore a girdle made of snakes, and that she remained a virgin—all things that frighten me! My owl is consistent with two of my other tattoos, which are drawn with one single line in black ink. The only color tattoo I have is my purple Alzheimer’s ribbon on my wrist, in memory of my mother (that’s a whole different story)."
The poem Jennifer chose to accompany this tattoo is called, “Inversals,” and it was published in [PANK] last fall:

Inversals


I.

A woman, made famous after fellating a powerful man, dreams of Francis Ford Coppola’s oranges tearing a hole through her brown sack, bouncing past the crow perched on the curb cawing: Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Dreams of an orange slice covering the teeth of an old man with one bad eye under the black grape vineyard.  Of the rind pared off with a sharp knife into a perfect coil. Of the sections pulled apart like small bloody lungs, each an aspirated sigh. The oranges portend death by deals and death by bullets and death by garrote and lightning bolts. Dreams she excretes a senator a president a judge a river a volcano in Sicily.  She thinks, if only a mandolin played in the background of my life, it would be far less nuanced.  She’d eat black olives and fresh cheese; rice; sip espresso in bone demitasse. There would be windows in badly painted rooms, thick with white leaded paint. People would fall from the windows and she’d call them suicides or hopeful for some believed they could fly.  If a mandolin played, the fall would be profound. She’d look up from her lunch she’d spread on the lawn by the black grape vineyard:  the thick mozzarella, the squid ink vermicelli, the plums.


II.

While at a poetry reading, she ponders how some women are born from their father’s heads and ask to remain virgins forever. Bunny Putnam, great-great-great-grandson of witch hunters and witch accusers, a man secure enough to be called Bunny, has a plaque on the wall at the Athenaeum, across from the bookshelves where the taxidermied owls sit, dusty. Women born from their fathers’ heads take on the worst aspects of their fathers: they brood like owls, awake all night and they hunt so silently any maps or photos taped to the wall fall off.  Or, fuses blow and a darkness drops so sudden you wonder, Did I die? or Am I truly not here? which is what the case is: truly, you are not here. Or truly, you did die because the sirens are wailing outside the Athenaeum. No one likes sitting in a pitch black room. No one likes crouching inside a hollow skull. Athena grew inside Zeus’s head and poked the bone plates with her spear until his pain caused lightning storms all over the North Shore. He swore never to swallow a woman again, even if he was caught philandering. She’d assumed Bunny was a woman, especially when trying to decide if she was here, or there, or with the owls. How strong he must have been to earn that moniker, Bunny: the gentlest, horniest beast of all that God made, the easiest prey.

~ ~ ~

Jennifer Martelli’s debut poetry collection, The Uncanny Valley, was published in 2016 by Big Table Publishing Company. She is also the author of the chapbook, Apostrophe and the chapbook, After Bird, forthcoming from Grey Book Press. Her work has appeared in Thrush, [Pank], Glass Poetry Journal, The Heavy Feather Review, and Tinderbox Poetry Journal. Jennifer Martelli has been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net Prizes and is the recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant in Poetry. She is a book reviewer for Up the Staircase Quarterly, as well as a co-curator for The Mom Egg VOX Blog Folio.


Thanks to Jennifer for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2017 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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, April 27, 2017

Stephen Shimmans and His Owl on the Tattooed Poets Project

Today's tattooed poet is Stephen Shimmans, who shared this wonderful tattoo:


Stephen told us "I chose this tattoo design as I consider myself solitary, and possess many qualities associated with the owl ... Wisdom, sharp eyes, graceful and determined."

He shared the following poem, "Battle Grounds," as well: 


Temples have been razed to the ground
Idols have perished in the vapid heat of orange flames.
Tongues severed, men crucified in the arid desert.
Waning clemency a virtuous humanisation.
It casts a pall like a pale veil that enshrouds.
Gifting both intriguing mystery and smokeless ignorance.
Clicking triggers
Triggers clicking.
Blanc
Blank
Mars    Zeus    Odin
Under the glimmering belt of Orion
Ursus roar
Savage animal is man
Behest of any redemption or realisation
Dishonour and faux camaraderie
Watch the setting sun sink below
Twilight
Swinging and swooning on the star strings.

The arrows fly yet bite
The sword gleams but kills
Renders flesh
Cleaving limbs
Crushing bones.
Called to King
To die for country.

The reaping reavr reaps that which he shall sow
Seeds of wheat and buck
The ale inebriates, dulls life pain
Dull mendacity sour despair and disbelief.
Father-less child
Retreat in defeat.

Blood soaked emblems flap defiantly against a cold breeze.
Brothers who fell in battle shall love nevermore.
The reaper calls with scythe in hand,
To collect the bounty,

To collect the wood from our crosses we bear.


~ ~ ~

Stephen Shimmans tells us he is a 29- year old father of three boys and "married to the most wonderful woman on earth." He likes to spend time wrestling with the children and exploring local country parks. He completed a degree in English and Creative Writing at Salford University in greater Manchester, UK. He has had a pamphlet of poetry, entitled Roots,  published with Erbacce Press.

Thanks to Stephen for sharing his tattoo and poem with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project!


This entry is ©2017 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.


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.


Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Brewsday Tuesday: Flying Dog Edition

It's time for another installment of Brewsday Tuesday on Tattoosday!

If you missed our initial post, this new feature highlights the body art of someone from an American brewery and shares, not only their tattoos, but a little bit about their company, their role, and a little beer talk, as well.

Today we are honored to be featuring Flying Dog Brewery (@flyingdogbrewery) in Frederick, Maryland!

Meet Heather Ault, who is Flying Dog's Director of National Accounts and Export:

Photo courtesy of  Jessica Patterson Photography 
Before we talk about Flying Dog, let's first take a look at some of Heather's tattoos.

We see she's got quite a bit of ink on her back, so let's take a closer look:


I asked Heather about the lilies on her back and she replied:
"...The lilies are ... Stargazer Lilies ... Funny enough, lilies actually represent purity…..which I would say I lost a long time ago. However, the Stargazers represent prosperity..and well…who doesn’t want to be prosperous? They are actually also my very favorite flower."
As cool as these lilies are, she shared this awesome owl tattoo, as well:


Heather explained the origin of this tattoo:
"There are few reasons behind the owl. First, my grandmother loves owls and has them around her house. Knick knack owls, not actual owls of course. Also, Athena, Greek Goddess Wisdom, warfare, and courage is often depicted with an owl on her shoulder. And, well, I would like to be wise and courageous. So it’s just a little reminder. I added the MD flag shield because I am born and raised in Maryland and I love my state and my flag."
Heather credited Gary Gerhardt (@ggtattoos) at Classic Electric Tattoo (@classicelectrictattoo) in Frederick, MD with both of the lilies and the owl.

Heather has been with Flying Dog Brewery for 11 years. Initially, it was Frederick Brewing Co, which was bought by Flying Dog about a year into her tenure there.

I first took notice of Flying Dog because of their labels. They stand out like works of art on the beer aisle, thanks to the brewery's partnership with the great Ralph Steadman. Steadman is most famous for his collaborative illustrations with the late great Hunter S. Thompson; his artwork for Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas is epic, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Heather raves "I would totally NOT be doing our brand justice if I didn't say something about our label art and Ralph Steadman, our artist." It's hard to disagree when she says, "I would argue that our labels are the best in craft beer because we have Gonzo Artist Ralph Steadman, an icon!"

Just take a look at the six-pack of Raging Bitch I bought:


I've had quite a few of the Flying Dog brands over the years, but Raging Bitch has become one of my favorites, and definitely tops among my favorite IPAs.

Heather was happy to sing its praises and explain why it's such an outstanding brand:
"Raging Bitch is a pioneer beer in the Belgian Style IPA category. Actually, THE pioneer. First of its kind. We were the first to use a Belgian yeast in an IPA and many other breweries have tried to make this style but I don’t think anyone has nailed it like we did yet. She’s very special to me."
I like it because it's not too hoppy, right in the mid-range of the IBU scale and it just has an amazingly pungent robust flavor. And at 8.3% ABV, it packs a good punch, like you would expect of something called Raging Bitch.

I encourage Tattoosday readers to head over to Flying Dog (www.flyingdogbrewerry.com) and check out all their brands, and the great labels, as well.

Honestly, when I first thought about Tattoos and Beer together on Tattoosday, Flying Dog was one of the first to come to mind, because their visual art seems ideal for tattoo enthusiasts. In fact, Flying Dog just celebrated "National Tattoo Day at the Brewery" on Sunday, July 17. Customers visiting their tasting room receive a 25% discount for life, just by showing a Flying Dog tattoo. They even had artists on hand to ink customers. See the flash, and the details about the event here. Maybe I'll drop in next summer!

I want to thank Heather Ault from Flying Dog for sharing her tattoos and her thoughts on working at the brewery. "My favorite part about working with Flying Dog is that I can be myself," she told me, and then added one of their mottos, "Flying Dog is made up of a small, dedicated band of craft beer mavericks who stand tall and never eat shit."

Also thanks to Rohry Flood, Flying Dog's "Master of the Content Universe," for helping me assemble this feature with Heather.

And as a thanks to Tattoosday readers for visiting Brewsday Tuesday, Flying Dog is giving away a special gift pack with a t-shirt, koozie, and bottle opener. All you have to do to enter is either a) comment on the post naming your favorite Flying Dog Brand; b) comment on the post on Tattoosday's Facebook page here, or on Tattoosday's Instagram (@tattoosday); or c) re-tweet this post. How cool is that!?

Cheers!


This entry is ©2016 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.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Melanie's Owl, Melanie's Heart

I met Melanie last week on the subway platform at Broad Street. She had a couple really cool tattoos that she let me snap photos of, and she filled me in later on the details.

Fist up is this really cool owl tattoo with a sugar skull belly:


Melanie explains:
"The truth is, I have always had an obsession with owls. There is something about their quiet wisdom that intrigued me. They possess secrets and messages that are meant to be told to the right person at the right time. When my father passed, I was always searching for something, for answers. My dad had all the answers and life lessons for everything. Maybe that is why I identify with owls; because in some way, they remind me of my dad; wise with hidden knowledge. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t that young when my father died, I was 24, but I still had a lot of learning and growing up to do. I was lost for a long time and would go on random walks to think, search for things that would fill a void that was left in my life. One night, I was walking down the street when I looked up in the darkness of a tall tree and all I could see was the bright eyes on an owl. At that moment, I felt as if the owl was staring right at me and calming me in a way that my father would; making me feel as if every thing is going to be ok because he will always be there to protect me. So I decided, for protection, for wisdom, for life lessons, I could keep my wise owl close to me on my shoulder."
Then, there is this nifty tattoo on her inner arm:


Melanie told me:
"Art always gave me an outlet to express my feelings. If I felt depressed or broken, happy or loved, I would sketch, draw or paint. I never had a good way with words, but I could express feelings and things dear to my heart with art."
Both tattoos were done by Matt Huff (@matthufftattoo) from Brooklyn Ink  (@OriginalBrooklynInk) in Bay Ridge. Work from Matt has appeared on Tattoosday previously here, and art from the shop has been featured numerous times over the years,as evidenced here.

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

This entry is ©2016 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.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Adam Shares a Trio of Tattoos

I met Adam on the steps of Federal Hall last week and he shared several tattoos, starting with this gypsy on his upper right arm:


He got this because his grandmother used to call him "My little gypsy" because, as he told me, "I would always be travelling around  and staying out and [be] constantly on the move." This was done by Matty Monaghan (@monzuki) at Skin Deep Tattoo (@SkinDeepTattooNY) on Long Island.

Monaghan also inked the "Mom" tattoo below it, which Adam explained "Me and my mom live so many miles apart and I have it to remind me of her every day."

Adam has a lot of tattoos, but we both really liked the juxtaposition of these two, when he rested his right arm over his knee:


The skull in the rose on the knee was done by Richard Smith (@RichardSmithTattoo) at Three Kings Tattoo (@ThreeKingsEastVillage) in Manhattan. The woman with owl headdress was done at a tattoo convention on Long Island several years back. The artist was Jason Voss (@VossTattoo) who is currently working out of Absolute BodyArt (@AbsoluteBodyArt) in Duluth, Minnesota.

Thanks to Adam for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2016 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.

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!

This entry is ©2016 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.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Diana's Homage to The Breakfast Club

Last month I met a woman named Diana outside of a office building on Broadway in lower Manhattan. She had some lovely black and grey tattoos on her arm, all done by her boyfriend, Javier Rodriguez, at Euphoria Ink in Roselle, New Jersey.

Check out this portrait from The Breakfast Club:


That's Brian Johnson, as portrayed by Anthony Michael Hall. Diana said that he was her favorite character in the film and that she totally related to him.

The owl above him is a separate piece representing wisdom.

She also shared this lovely tattoo of Marilyn Monroe:


You can see more work by Javier on his Instagram @JavierTattoos.

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

This entry is ©2016 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.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Jenn McCreary's Owl (The Tattooed Poet's Project)

Our next tattooed poet is Jenn McCreary:


Jenn explains how her owl came to perch on her arm:
"This tattoo was done by Anna Paige, owner of & artist at No Ka Oi Tiki in Philadelphia. It was in part a cover-up job— concealing my first tattoo, a woman’s face in a crescent moon on my shoulder—which I’d gotten around my 21st birthday.
I’d been thinking about this piece for over a year & had collected a folder of images of Athena’s owl, including the Athenian owl on the Greek drachma, which I turned over to Paige during our consult. 
When I went back for the ink appointment & Paige showed me her design I told her it was way too big. She countered that it was exactly the size it needed to be to fit the musculature of my shoulder/arm & look properly anchored, & was still high enough to be covered by a short sleeve, should I ever need to hide it. She drew it on a piece of saran wrap & held it to my arm to prove the point. She was right. 
It took about four hours. We talked about cooking & listened to country music. Paige let me watch until it was almost finished& then instructed me to turn away while she finished, particularly the eyes, which she’d saved for last.​"​


Jenn sent us the following poem, as well:

owls do cry

o on the bats’s back       on a night in summer    a
night like now        on the lawn       or in the grotto
or by  the japonica     or under the tamarind

&  after summer            &  the  creases will come
out in    the air        &  o kind air  that could never
fulfill any promise

o air that is a green & violet & silver thought     is
a shiny thing    is equal parts vinegar & glitter   is
glitter-bright     is vinegar-sharp

& now in this hush     & now we shall have broken
clouds         &  now  snow           &  now  a  cozy
feather      & now sleeping does opens secrets

o faultless hiding place      o moon swallowed by
owl’s   wing            o   moon   that   sends   you
back     o seized again

& with a burning one of its million hands         &
struggle does begin again    & again       & goes
on      & on       & does never finish

~ ~ ~

Jenn McCreary’s most recent full-length collection, & now my feet are maps, is available from Dusie Press; sections were adapted for stage with the playwright Kathy Vinogradoff for performances at Small Press Traffic’s Poets Theater in the East Bay, CA, & at the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia. Other ​books include The Dark Mouth of Living (Horse Less Press), :ab ovo: (Dusie Press), a doctrine of signatures (Singing Horse Press), & Odyssey & Oracle (Least Weasel Press).

2013 Pew Fellow in the Arts for poetry, she lives in Philadelphia with her family where she edits ixnay press.

Thanks to Jenn for sharing her cool tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday's Tattooed Poets Project!

This entry is ©2016 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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

Monday, October 12, 2015

Owl and Olive on Jen's Arms

Back in August, I met Jen on the Whitehall Street subway platform.

She has a couple of fantastic tattoos that are dedicated to her children.

This piece is on her forearm:


These olives are symbolic of her daughter, Olive.

She also has this owl on her upper arm:


She chose an owl because O is the first letter of her daughter's name, W is the first letter of her son's name, and L is the first letter of their last name. The bird's blue eyes are also a nod to her son.

Both tattoos were done by the amazing Emma Griffiths, from Forgot Me Not Tattoo in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Work by Emma has appeared previously on Tattoosday here,

Thanks to Jen for sharing her cool Olive and OWL tattoos 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.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

The Tattooed Poets Project: Abby E. Murray's Hippocampus

I often find tattooed poets from other non-tattooed poets. When I asked Jessy Randall if she had tattoos, she said she only had the temporary kind, but she did send me to Abby E. Murray, who was happy to share some of her work.

"I have a full sleeve on my left arm that comes over my shoulder, and a 1/4 sleeve on the right," Abby told me, adding, "Plus a small, blurry Star Wars tattoo in the center of shoulder blades that I got when I was eighteen."

Take a look:


Abby explains:
"The hippocampus (Poseidon's horse) featured is by Tracy Zumwalt from Anchor Tattoo in Seattle (2006). He's awesome - very particular and honest, true to his art. He also did the peacock feathers (Hera's signature bird) you can only sort of see under my sweater sleeve (2007). The owls near my elbow and purple dress of Athena below are by Joe Vegas at 13 Roses in Atlanta (2009). Joe, too, is a great guy. I used to work as a vet tech down the street from 13 Roses and I once helped his dog get through an eye infection. Joe has a coyote head on his wall that I once sent a pipe as a gift. Said pipe is still mounted to said coyote's mouth. 
My first tattoo was actually a Star Wars symbol (Rebel Alliance, to be specific) on my back. I was young and well-convinced I was tough. My sleeves are mostly based on Greek mythology, which I find, simply put, pretty. Greek mythology is brimming with powerful gods and animals. I wouldn't necessarily say that my tattoos mean anything other than I like cool drawings though, which usually disappoints people who want to know some deeper reason for my getting them."
Incidentally, Tracy Zumwalt is also responsible for this and this tattoo on poet Rebecca Loudon.

Abby sent us this poem:

About Tattoos

When we eat chicken patties in the dining room
we keep our forearms on the table like good Germans,
hands where we can see them. I move my fingertips
on your bare arm from wrist to elbow and say,
look at all this space. You move away from me
as if I proposed cold coffee or yard work,
as if to remind me of that time I met the general’s wife
and I shook her hand with my Pegasus arm,
my Athena elbow, Poseidon’s chariot on my shoulder.
Long white gloves do little for me in the receiving line,
my lotus flowers and storm clouds and blue
and purple stars, the barn owls and cherry blossoms,
the rebel insignia of youth essentially flipping
a ballroom full of army wives the bird.
I’m still angry about the time we went to Hawaii
the week before Iraq, and a coupon for a tattoo parlor
wrapped around bread crusts rolled across your beach towel.
I’ve seen you change your mind as often
as I’ve watched turtles extend cherimoya legs
from the dark windows of their bellies,
which is to say I’ve seen turtles do this once,
at a carnival, and it made me glad I was smooth.
We took the bus across Honolulu and let a retired monk
shave your arm, drill an enormous sparrow into it,
let him slap your back and say good luck over there
like the difference between blood drawn on vacation
and blood drawn in the desert is little more

than a matter of timing, of words between men.

~ ~ ~

Abby E. Murray is the director of the Binghamton Poetry Project and poetry editor for Harpur Palate. She's a big fan of tattoos done by Tracy Zumwalt in Seattle and Joe Vegas in Atlanta.

Thanks to Abby for sharing her awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday's Tattooed Poets Project!

This entry is ©2015 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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.