A King on the C Train (Tattoosday Plays the Alphabet Game)

In our continuing journey on the New York City subway one day last month, I set my sights on the C train. Please see the summary post here for the first part of the challenge.

9:20am, I'm on a southbound C that I grabbed at West 4th Street.

I am trying to get a woman's attention on the C. She has a small Keith Haring tattoo on her forearm, but she is buried in her phone and has earbuds in. And a Basquiat tattoo, which I only noticed when she got up to get off at Chambers Street. :-(

9:27am, back at Fulton Street, switching over to a northbound C train.

9:30am Northbound C train, I meet Jeffrey, who is kind enough to share this cool "suicide king" tattoo:

Although the heart symbol is not in the tattoo, one is instantly reminded of the King of Hearts playing card, commonly referred to as the "Suicide King," because of the way he is holding his sword, it appears as if he is driving it through his own head.

Jeffrey told me he just "liked the idea of" the tattoo, and credited artist Phil DeAngulo (@midwestphil) from Behind the Circle (@behind_the_circle) in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Thanks to Jeffrey for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday as we ride the rails and play the Alphabet Game. Tune in tomorrow to see what we found on the D train!

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.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Chip Livingston

Our next tattooed poet is Chip Livingston, who shared several pieces with us:

Chip's Tarot cards, Ace of Coins and Ace of Cups

La Sirena fresh and Jack of Clubs, part of spiral

Lila tattoos Chip's Sirena at Rock City Tattoos in Barre, Vermont

Chip tells us:

"Seeking to remember the advantages I might carry into any situation, I had Lila at Rock City Tattoos (in Barre, Vermont) put these 'cards up my sleeve.' The Jack of Clubs represents 'the man in the woodwork,' the secret admirer working on my behalf without my knowledge. The Ace of Cups represents abundance of emotional resources; the Ace of Coins represents abundance of physical resources. La Sirena from the Mexican Loteria reminds me of Iemanja, the goddess of the sea, who nurtures me in many ways. And with those charms under my skin, I feel prepared for anything. Above the cards on the right shoulder is a rough spiral, from the Egyptian hieroglyph for the verb 'to be.' And around the left bicep is a feather armband to represent my Creek heritage."

Chip sent us the following poem, “To Remove Anger” from his book CROW-BLUE, CROW-BLACK (New York Quarterly Books, 2012):

TO REMOVE ANGER

That man of black wood, that man with the blankets, give him a place to rest his
thundering headspin. Let him see an all-red man removing the venom from the
spider. Remaking tobacco with his right hand. To pacify the coiled serpent.

That man of black wood, that man with the blankets, wrap him a stick of red cedar
and build him a fire to heat the rocks he carries. Offer those stones creek water and
watch them crack into jewels. Help him dig a cave under the wet roots of a cypress
tree. Help him bury them.

That man of black wood, that man with the blankets, make him a supper of sofkee
and sweetcorn, roast him the red fish you call from the river, feed him ripe
scuppernongs picked with your fingers.

That man of black wood, that man with the blankets, remind him he is a kinsman, a
red man, a great wizard united with another great wizard, to fail in nothing.
Remake tobacco with the left hand in a counterclockwise direction.

~ ~ ~

Chip Livingston is the author of two poetry collections, CROW-BLUE, CROW-BLACK (NYQBooks, 2012) and MUSEUM OF FALSE STARTS (Gival Press, 2010), and a short story/essay collection, NAMING CEREMONY (Lethe Press, 2014). His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, New American Writing, and on the Poetry Foundation’s and the Academy of American Poets’ websites. Chip teaches in the low-rez MFA program at Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, and at Regis University’s Mile High MFA in Denver, CO. Visit chiplivingston.com.

Thanks to Chip Livingston for sharing his poem and tattoos with us here on the 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.

Dana's Straight Flush Honors Her Dad

Early last week, I ran into Dana outside of the Third Avenue Starbucks in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. She had some cool black and gray work on her calf:

The tattoo honors her and her father. "He's a huge card guy," she told me. Each card has a symbolic meaning.

She pointed out that the hand is a straight flush, but not a natural one - the ten of hearts sees to that. The King and Jack are karma cards and the Ace represents her father. She said that the Queen of Clubs is a Sagittarius card for her, and is the prettiest card in the deck. 

She walked into Brooklyn Made Tattoo and the shop owner Mr. Kaves (a friend of Tattoosday who makes occasional appearances here) took her concept of the card idea and turned it into the final product which she loves.

Thanks to Dana for sharing her 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.

Vince's Half-Sleeve: One Dragon, Lots of Skulls

I met Vince last month on Broadway in Lower Manhattan last month and I asked him about his half sleeve. He was more than willing to share it:

The sleeve includes an old gnarled tree, a dragon clutching a skull, a rose, smoke additional skulls and a moon and stars.

Vince also has this section on his inner bicep:

The playing card, aflame with a skull-faced suicide king, is bright in the center of the inner arm. You also can see another flower with a skull peeking out.

Vince had the dragon inked twenty years ago at The Tattoo Shoppe in Carlstadt, New Jersey, but all of the surrounding work was done by Charlie at Lola's Tattoos in Bogota, New Jersey.

"There's a lot of skulls in there," he told me, "I just like skulls."

Thanks to Vince for taking the time to stop and share his cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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.

Repost: The World is Full of Kings and Queens

In lieu of something new, something borrowed, or something blue, I am offering up a post from three years ago, in Tattoosday's infancy, from January 2008:

I've been relying heavily on Tattoos I Know since the end of summer, but today, in the chill of January, I spotted a cool tattoo on a stranger and added him to the Tattoosday gallery:


It was in the mid-30's when I asked Frank about his tattoo. He gladly offered up his newest piece, this playing card queen.

Frank is heavily-inked. He briefly flashed a leg and an arm covered with tattoos. But we stuck with this one. This particular piece, his newest, was done by Mike Profetto at Designs by Michael Angelo in Brooklyn.

When I asked him why he had this queen of hearts, he said it only made sense to complement the king of diamonds on the right side of his neck:


Incidentally, that's a spider on the back of his neck, between the two royal tattoos.

The queen, being the newer piece, is much brighter and crisper.

Frank is the first Tattoosday subject to offer up side neck pieces. He gave me his contact information, so I hope to feature Frank's work again in the future, with more detail about his tattoos, and the stories behind them.

Thanks again Frank!

*******

February 26, 2011: Alas, we never heard from Frank again....

The Queen of Clams

One year ago today, I posted about meeting a couple of Kansas City burlesque performers outside of Penn Station (recalled here).

Since then, I had the pleasure of meeting another local performer, Legs Malone, and documenting one of her tattoos here.

Coincidentally, I am sharing here today, a tattoo on the ankle of one Miss Clams Casino.

It would be one thing if I was catching these performers in their natural habitats of burlesque shows, but my encounter with Clams was so fleeting, I was fortunate enough to snap a photo and take her card.

A brief ride on the F train (two stops only) afforded me enough time to spot a tattoo above her ankle, introduce myself and take a picture before necessity required I transfer to the R train.

So, here's the tattoo that so intrigued me:

As I mentioned previously, I barely had time to snap a photo, let alone get the story behind this cool tattoo. Thankfully, Miss Clams Casino was generous enough to send me the story at a later date:

"Every year I go to the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in Las Vegas and play in the official Burlesque Hall of Fame Poker Tournament. I enjoy poker, but I know that I'm probably not going to win, so I like setting little goals for the game with fabulous rewards...in 2009 I decided that if I won a hand with a pair of Queens I would get a tattoo to mark the occasion. Long story short, a few hands in I was dealt a pair of Queens and won the only hand I won that tournament. A few months later, my friend Scarlet Sinclair was getting started as a tattoo artist and was looking for willing guinea pigs. I told her the story and that I'd like some ink involving Queens and hearts and she came up with this incredible design. I went to see her at Matt's Tribal Dragon Tattoo in Bethpage, NY and was her 7th tattoo ever. She's incredible and I love the queen living on my ankle."

Thanks to Miss Clams Casino for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Please feel free to check her out on these sites:

http://www.MissClamsCasino.com
http://www.GameShowSpeakeasy.com
http://www.casinoofortunecookie.com
http://www.burlesqueonthegogo.com

Austin's Sleeve Pays Tribute to His Grandmother

Austin was visiting New York when I stopped him on 7th Avenue right in front of the Fuse studio.

He offered up this sleeve on his left arm:


























This was inked by Amanda Grace at Truth and Triumph Tattoos. She now works at Smartbomb Tattoo. Both shops are in Dayton, Ohio.

The playing cards are a tribute to his grandmother, who was a card player. She also tended roses, so these flowers also pay homage to her.

Of the other elements, Austin says he just likes skulls, artistically. Also, the words "Never Again" are there to remind him to remain strong his sobriety, and not to go down that same road of dependency.

I appreciate Austin stopping and chatting with me, and thank him for his forthrightness, and for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Sheldon Shares Two Tattoos

One of my tricks for locating tattoos is to walk by the Borders on Penn Plaza and see if anyone's reading tattoo magazines.

On Thursday, I spotted Sheldon in the store in the checkout line. He had two sleeves worth of ink, but I am trying to steer clear of big, wrap-around pieces, because I don't think I can give them a lot of justice in a blog format. There are exceptions of course (here and here, for example), but one generally needs a little more time to do it right.

Anyway, I settled on the left inner forearm (above) that had two distinct pieces.

The top piece was inked in Pensacola, Florida, when Sheldon was in with the Marines. It is a design of a Native American looking out off of a cliff.


The one below it is a King of Spades, but will skulls instead of faces. A friend of his had the Jack of Hearts, so he went with the King of Spades.


He credited this tattoo, along with all his other work (the Native American piece, excluded) to a custom artist in Japan named "Augie". Sheldon was stationed there with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and had a lot of work done before being deployed to a different theater of operations.

Most of his work on the right arm is traditional Japanese design. He started initially with the forearm and then went from the elbow up over the shoulder and onto his chest. He said is was a "yakuza design".

Sheldon told me that Augie didn't have time to finish the left arm, due to his re-deployment, but that he hopes to return to Ginowan, Okinawa to finish up his sleeve.

Thanks again to Sheldon for sharing his ink with us here at Tattoosday!