A Sugar Skull for Beth

Yesterday we shared our late cousin Beth's tattoo (here).

After her funeral, my wife Melanie was talking with her tattoo artist Thomas "Thomi Hawk" Hickey, and she knew she wanted a new tattoo paying tribute to her cousin.

Although she would have loved to have something from Thomi, it was logistically challenging, as we do not have a car and Thomi works out of New Jersey. The idea for a tribute evolved to include several ideas and, eventually, Melanie knew what she wanted. The question was, who would be the best artist for the job?

In the end, the answer was simple, and we headed back to Three Kings Tattoo in the East Village to meet with Alex McWatt, the artist who did Melanie's previous tattoo,

She consulted with him first to come up with a basic concept and talk about the elements she wanted incorporated into the piece, and then a few weeks later, she was back in the shop, with that old familiar sound of a tattoo machine buzzing in her ear.

Alex McWatt in Action

And when she first saw it, she was pleased:

This is the tattoo, as it was first completed:

And a healed version, from a different angle:

Melanie wanted a Sugar Skull to honor Beth. Beth's favorite holiday was Halloween, and the sugar skull is associated with the Mexican celebration of Día de los Muertos, which coincides with Halloween,and All Saints' Day in early November, when people gather together to remember, honor and celebrate friends and family members who have died.

Because we are Jewish, Alex replaced the cross often found in sugar skulls with a Star of David. The paw print in the middle of the star is an homage to Beth and her wrist tattoo, shared yesterday, which Alex used as a reference to add to the design.

Melanie also asked for the spider, perched on top of the rose, also as a nod to Beth and her love of Halloween. One of Beth's sisters told us that, when they went to Beth's house after the funeral, there were a lot of spiders around the house, and that they had never noticed spiders there before.

Melanie loves her new tattoo and wears it proudly as a fitting tribute to Beth.

Thanks to Alex at Three Kings, who we cannot praise enough, for his fine work.

We miss you Beth, but Melanie's sugar skull makes us smile and think of you. We know you'd love it too.

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.

Simply The Beth

Everyone's reeling from a year that took so many celebrities from us. 2016 will be remembered as a devastating year from that perspective, and yet there are many of us who lost people near and dear to us - family members that left our lives too soon.

Last June, we attended a family event in New Jersey, and spent some time catching up with cousins. One of those cousins, Beth, has always been interested in Tattoosday, and we always talk about ink, inevitably, when we get together. She even appeared in these pages five years ago, here.

Anyway, at this latest gathering, Beth shared one of her new tattoos:

It's a simple tattoo, but Beth was very proud of it. The open hearts form a type of infinity sign. She summarized it saying that the open parts of the symbol allow "the good shit to come in, and the bad shit to go out." It was a marked note of optimism from her, as she elaborated that she was not letting the bad things in life bother her, and she was welcoming in the good. The musical notes are a nod to her love of music, and the paw is a tribute to her dog, Tiki. Beth loved animals and dedicated a lot of her time to dogs, even fostering puppies in her own home.

The piece was tattooed by Thomas "Thomi Hawk" Hickey at K&B Tattooing and Piercing in Hightstown, New Jersey.

Like a lot of Tattoosday encounters, I didn't post this tattoo right away. I hung on to it as the summer started and I had loads of material. This is a normal part of our "organic" process at Tattoosday. Looking back, I wish I hadn't waited.

My wife woke me up early one morning in August, in tears. Beth had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly overnight in her home. She was way too young and our hearts were broken. The photo of her tattoo sat on my phone. I had recently thought about messaging her to tell her I hadn't forgotten about it, that I was going to get to it soon.

That's an apt metaphor that we all know too well. We often take for granted that the people in our lives will be with us for a long time, and then, in a moment, they're gone.

Beth's funeral was heart-breaking, but it did afford our family the opportunity to start healing. We also got to meet Thomas Hickey and my wife and I chatted with him and his wife about Beth and her love of tattoos.

It is easy to forget in the midst of the wave of "celebrity" passings in 2016 that so many of us lost people near and dear to us. Cherish those memories. Remember the message in Beth's tattoo - let go of the bad shit in your life and allow the good shit in. We remembered Beth knowing that when she was taken from us, she was happier than she had been in years.

Thank you Beth, for your love and for your tattoos, and for being part of the Tattoosday family, always.

Beth was a huge supporter of Southern Paws Inc., a non-profit animal rescue group that rescues dogs and finds them new homes. Learn more about the organization here.

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.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan

In the first post of this year's Tattooed Poets Project (here), Vicki Iorio described watching today's tattooed poet, Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan, recite verse while being tattooed. Here is that tattoo, along with some others:

Photograph by Mark Wells

The word "poet" in the center of the back is self-explanatory and was inked by Syxx, at Wyld Chyld Tattoo Studio. Above that is the name "Joey," who is Tammy's husband. That was done by an artist named Kenny at a shop called Z Connection. The piece on the right is a rose, with the names of Tammy's three children and their birth dates, inked by Bob at Tattoo Lou's on Long Island. Dave at Tattoo Lou's also did the memorial cross for Tammy's son Mike, who was killed in 1995. Tammy also has this tattoo on her foot:

That cat paw is for Tammy's cat, Maude, who passed away last October 10, and was done by Jimmy at Wyld Chyld.

Tammy also shared some of her poetry:

POEM#6

I am not the coca cola girl,
the Cheez-It tidbit waiting for you to taste,
the limo ride to the Yankee’s game,
the wrangler jeans chick baking in the New Mexico sun,
and I never was or will be Sunday mornings in spring.

I am the time-ticking-away second hand,
the flat tire on the side of the road,
the too high door jam,
the worn-out tooth brush,
the 59 cents in the ashtray,
the Lunch Poems dog-eared book,
and the who never forgets to tell the truth.

~ ~ ~

SPOONS

I remember when you spoon-fed me ice-cream as we lay in bed on that rainy afternoon
and the way your fingers tasted and your neck had a hint of sweat and I closed my eyes
and you drove away the dark and I called your name in a low, soft moan.

I remember when you spooned sugar into your morning tea on that sunny Tuesday
and I watched you drink as if you were a foreign film I could not understand
and your smile told me my poetry made you hunger for more than a nine-to-five life.

I remember when you spooned dirt into the flower pot and filled it with mums for me
and I was peeking out the window seeing you bent down working away humming
and I decided then that I was not who I wanted to be without you in my days and nights

And I remember how after you left I packed away all the silverware, including those
spoons and I gave the box to the Salvation Army, hoping for some salvation of my own
and I drove away from our town knowing I would never see another sunset like you.

~ ~ ~

Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan is a very busy woman. She was appointed Suffolk County Poet Laureate for 2009 – 2011. She is founder and president of The North Sea Poetry Scene, Inc. and The North Sea Poetry Scene Press. She was nominated for Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for her poetry book, Let Me Tell You Something. She is
listed in Poets & Writers, has penned 4 chapbooks, is Poet-in-Residence at Southampton Historical Museum, an adjunct Professor at Briarcliffe College, the editor of the Long Island Sounds Anthology. She hosts TNSPS’s Arts Forum TV Show on Channel 20 on Cablevision in Riverhead, N.Y. and serves as the Lead Poetry Jurist for the East End Arts Council, Riverhead, N.Y.

Currently, Tammy is creating an archival/arts center (www.lipoetryarchivalcenter.com) for Long Island poetry that will be a gathering place for poets. She is also currently working toward an M.F.A. at Southampton Stony Brook University.

Thanks to Tammy for sharing her work, both written and tattooed, here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. The poem is reprinted here with the permission of the author.

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.

Chris's Tattoos Motivate and Inspire

I met Chris earlier this month in Penn Station and he shared his 3/4-sleeve. He is the owner/operator of the Muscle Maker Grill at 92 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea.

His sleeve is a collage of designs that motivate and inspire him, with a skull design thrown in, to boot.

He has the phrase "Live Now. Shoot for the Stars" inked on his biceps. This motto is a nod to his ambition as a business owner.

The three pawprints tattooed below the elbow, on the left side of the photo, above, represent his three dogs (2 Cocker Spaniels and a mutt).

The cross and the prayer, "Lord, Protect Me" are based on his Catholic faith.

In all, Chris figures he's had about 10 hours of work done.

He also gave me permission to share this photo from his Facebook page:

Photo Courtesy of Christopher Almazan

I had hoped to show a better shot of the peacock that is on his back, with feathers that come up over his shoulder, but could not get a clear enough picture. The shot above gives a great idea, however, of his tattoos.

All work is credited to Rick Schreck at the House of 1000 Tattoos in Middlesex, New Jersey. A piece from Rick appeared earlier this Fall on the site here.

Thanks again to Chris for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Visit the Muscle Maker Grill website here.