The Tattooed Poets Project: Kristin Ann Fahlbusch

Our next poet is Kristin Ann Fahlbusch, who sent us this glimpse of a tattoo on her ribs:

The tattoo reads: "The risk of sentimentality is a risk worth taking."

Kristin Ann explains:

"I lost my older brother, Brendan, in a freak bicycle accident when I was just a little girl. Many years later, I came to NYC to The New School to try to further process Brendan's death through my poetry. But once I actually got there, I felt very 'blocked' creatively and struggled to create the collection of poems that I had dreamed of writing most of my young life.

The first serious poem I ever wrote about my brother, 'Something I Never Told You', I edited with the help of my professor, the incomparable poet, Paul Violi. Paul's only comment on my poem was, 'The risk of sentimentality is a risk worth taking.' After meeting with him after our poetry workshop one night, Paul told me that this poem would surely be my gateway to my first collection of poems--and he was right! My first collection of poems is still on its way to fruition but I never would have had the courage to explore my feelings surrounding Brendan's death and create this collection without Paul's constant support and encouragement.

When Paul passed away four years ago from cancer, I tattooed his wise words ('The risk of sentimentality is a risk worth taking') on my rib cage and promised myself never to give up on my goal of becoming a published poet because Paul never gave up on me."

Kristin's tattoo was done by Andrew "The Kid" Farnsley at Mark Mahoney's Shamrock Social Club in Hollywood, California.

Here is the poem Kristin Ann mentions above:

Something I Never Told You


This small scar
on the palm of my right hand,
near the heel.

Like a memento
of our childhood.

I played with my Barbie dolls
in your Castle Greyskull.

I’ve grown up without you,
in the shadow of their expectations
for their first-born child,
I dressed your Alf in doll clothes.

I’ve tried to live my life
for the two of us,
making more mistakes
than the typical underdog;
Learned my lessons
from the sidelines
and old photographs.

Then there are moments
when childhood smells play their tricks on me—
and I catch your scent.
Like cold oatmeal at breakfast,
or the Sound in September,
or baby shampoo.

~ ~ ~

Kristin Ann Fahlbusch was born January 20, 1983 and grew up in Bayville, New York. She received a BA in English from The George Washington University in 2005, an MS in Adolescence Education with a Specialization in English from Long Island University in 2008 and is currently at work finalizing her thesis for the MFA in Poetry program at The New School. Kristin Ann's writing has been published by: Pirene's Fountain, TimeOutNewYork.com, The NY Post, West View News, THE SOURCE  magazine and Jones Magazine. Her photo work has appeared on: ModernBride.com and The Foundation for Photo/Art in Hospitals, as well as on Scallywagandvagabond.com. She lives and works in New York City.

Thanks to Kristin Ann for sharing her tattoo with us here on the 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.

Ryan Shares an Amazing Portrait of His Mom

I know we've been a little sparse with our posting of late, but we're coming back with a bang.

Last February, I met Ryan in my local laundromat and he shared some of his old school ink here.

I've seen him around since, but today when he walked into the laundromat, he had a stunning new piece.

A couple months ago I had run into my friend John (who shared new ink, which is also forthcoming) who tattoos out of Brooklyn Made Tattoo and he had told me that the legendary Freddy Negrete was going to be in the neighborhood doing guest spots at Brooklyn Made.

A few weeks later I was walking down 93rd Street in Bay Ridge and spotted Mr. Kaves outside of his shop. I stopped to say hello and he pointed out that Freddy and his son Isaiah were hard at work inside. They are both based out of Mark Mahoney's Shamrock Social Club in Los Angeles. I was meeting family for dinner so I couldn't hang around, but it was cool to get a glimpse of a legendary artist at work.

Which brings us back to Ryan this morning in the laundromat. I knew it almost as he told me, he got this sweet portrait of his mother from Freddy Negrete himself that week:

Ryan explained that this portrait is based on a photo of his mother from when she was in her early twenties, when he was around two years old. He elaborated:

"My mother died ... about an hour before her fortieth birthday, so this tattoo means a lot to me. It's the most beautiful work I have on me and I wouldn't have let anyone else do it. Freddy Negrete is a great guy ... he's a humbling guy and he's very humble himself and I am grateful to have met him and his son."

It really is an astonishingly beautiful piece of portrait work, and done by one of the true masters of the art here in our own little slice of Brooklyn.

Thanks again to Ryan for sharing this amazing 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.

Mr. Kaves Shares a Mark Mahoney Portrait

A couple weeks back, I ran into Michael Kaves on 3rd Avenue, a couple blocks away from his shop, Brooklyn Made Tattoo. Kaves is also one of the founding members of The Lordz of Brooklyn. I know Kaves from around the neighborhood, and although I've never been tattooed by him, I have been under the needle in his shop and have had the pleasure of seeing him work first-hand and close-up on other clients.

He's familiar with Tattoosday and wanted to share a tattoo with us here on the site. Check it out:

Located on Kaves' upper right arm, this brilliant tattoo was inked by the legendary Mark Mahoney.

Kaves explained he had gone out to Los Angeles a couple months back and worked at Mahoney's renown shop, the Shamrock Social Club. They had a big launch for a limited edition tattoo pigment - "Mark Mahoney's Shamrock Green". He was there, working on St. Patrick's Day for the official launch.



Mahoney, known to many as the " founding father" of single-needle black and gray tattooing,  tattooed this portrait for Kaves, which took about twelve hours from start to finish.

And who is the woman tattooed on his arm? "It's my grandmother, Marie," he explained, "from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, right here on Third Avenue, 1945."

Kaves' own tattooing work first appeared on Tattoosday back in 2008 here. Most recently, his work has appeared here. This is, however, the first time we have been honored to share a tattoo by Mark Mahoney.

Thanks to Kaves for sharing this phenomenal tattoo by an American master, here with us 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 contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.