Jessica's Gecko (Tattoosday Goes to Philly)

As I was wandering the aisles of the 20th Annual Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention (@villainarts) last month, I saw a lot of work in progress. I was excited to see one artist tattooing a gecko on the back of one woman's leg. 

I loved the design and asked them to please follow up with me, so I could share the finished work with Tattoosday readers. I was thrilled when the recipient of said tattoo, Jessica, emailed me a photo the following week:

This awesome gecko tattoo was created by Angel Caban (@angelcabanartwork) from Guardian Art Gallery (@guardianartgallery) in Orange, Connecticut.

Jessica explained a little bit more about the tattoo:

"I got the gecko because they are supposed to be lucky for rock climbers and it also has a knot, which we use a lot when we are rock climbing, in the design. Besides that, it had the bonus of a higher chance of being accepted by my parents because my mom likes geckos and lizards."

 Thanks to Jessica for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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Tom Shares His Escher and Hokusai-Inspired Sleeves

Back in June, I rode my bike out to the Coney Island boardwalk and did a little inkspotting. One of the several tattooed individuals I met was Tom, who had some cool work to share.

It was his M.C. Escher-inspired sleeve that first caught my attention:

Among the designs from which Tom drew inspiration were Escher's "12 Birds"

and his "Lizard."

Tom credited his artist Haun Duong, located in Queens, with this work.

His other arm has a compilation of the works of the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai:

This is based primarily on his most recognizable work, The Great Wave of Kanagawa:

Tom told me that the koi fish represent the fact that he is a Pisces and that he has a twin sister. And there are additional elements from the Japanese master lower on the arm that represent him and his wife, along with three turtles (not pictured) which represent his kids. And inside the bicep:

The falcon and the snake represent the good and the bad within him.

Thanks to Tom for sharing his great 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.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Raffi Ciavatta's Trio of Amazing Tattoos

Today's tattoos were submitted by Brazilian-born, New York-based poet Raffi Ciavatta. They heard about the Tattooed Poet's Project earlier this month from Jackie Sheeler at a local reading. Jackie's tattoos were featured earlier this month here.

Raffaela sent three photos:

Raffaela says that this is "my own design mixing a Chinese dragon, representing strength, and the lizard, for the soul's search of awareness, so that it could protect me and guide me through the eternal pursuit of knowledge."

This piece on the lower left side of their back/hip was their first tattoo, done at Studio Tat 2 in Brazil.

Next is a piece on the right side of their chest, near the collar bone:



The "mater" is the Latin word for mother who, Raffaella proclaims is "done for the most important person to me in this world, my mother, father, best friend!" This piece was inked at Fabio Tattoo, also in Brazil.

And finally, this last tattoo, which you get a small glimpse of in the first picture above, is just breath-taking:

These are their angel wings, "done to achieve my dream of reaching New York." They add, "I definitely flew from Brazil to NY." They were tattooed over six months. The tattoo was started by Eric Codo ("just the outline...he had to move to Rio de Janeiro) at Steel Star Supply in Sao Paulo and was finished by the "Amazing Fabio Renato".

Head over to BillyBlog to read one of Raffaella's poems.

Thanks to Raffaella for sharing their amazing work with us here at Tattoosday!