Wednesday, March 20, 2019

The Stories of Raquel's Tattoos

A couple years ago, at a family bar mitzvah in Florida, my wife suggested I talk to Raquel, her aunt's sister, about her tattoos. Raquel, an attorney in Puerto Rico, was kind enough to let me take some photos and tell me about her work.

Her first tattoo was this rose on her back:


Raquel related the following story:
"I was always impressed by women with tattoos because tattoos meant that these women were ... strong women ... at that time when I was a little girl - I'm not going to tell you my age - I'm very old ... women that did tattoos ... were women that came out from jail, and I remember ... these women, they impressed me so much, strong with personality and things like that. In those days, having a tattoo was bad for women and for men. So finally, when I'm like fifty, having a tattoo was fashion, for both men and women, but particularly for women, so I saw it as an opportunity to be able to have my own tattoo ... I used to do triathlons, I was very heavy into triathalons, and in that world, ... they do a lot of tattoos ... so when I was over 50... I went to this place to have my tattoo done and I got cold feet and I left ... so I went to more than one place, about two more places, before I finally did a rose on my back ...I was very pleased with that ... it was small that one I have now, now it's a little bit bigger. Anyway when I got home and my husband saw me he almost had a heart attack, says 'are you crazy?' - not only my husband but my children, they said 'Ma? What are you doing? There's something wrong with you!'
Raquel also has this butterfly on her wrist:


She continued telling me about her tattoos:
"I always wanted to have a butterfly. So, recently, maybe a year and a half ago, probably maybe less, I don't know. So, I was feeling sick, I was, you know I'm a lawyer, so I was in a seminar, and I was feeling really bad, so I had to leave the seminar and on the way to my home, I guess I felt a little bit better and I remembered I wanted a tattoo, so I stopped at this fancy place in San Juan that I know that did tattoo, and it was the same place, so I went to that place to have my butterfly done and then I went home and, later on, at nighttime, I felt really worse, so they had to take me to Emergency, to the hospital, and I was in the hospital for two days, so when I was in the hospital, I had this tattoo, tried to cover it, because I felt kind of stupid that, you know, being so sick, doing a tattoo on my hand and I didn't even want to tell the doctor or the person who took me to the hospital, that I had this tattoo done, so I had it covered ... so embarrassed that, here I'm so sick and that I got the tattoo, that's the story of my butterfly.
The thing is that, when I went for that tattoo, I kept telling the guy, here is an old lady doing tattoos ... he says, "it's okay, old ladies also need tattoos!"
Muchas gracias to Raquel for sharing her two tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Rosie the Dead Riveter

Sometimes posts sit idle in my draft folder for ages, for one reason or another. This is one example, from a woman named Adele, who I met at a Wegman's in New Jersey in the fall of 2017:


Unfortunately, the front part of the skull is blurry, but you can really tell from the photo on the left what a great tattoo this is.

It was a busy Sunday in Wegman's, so we didn't have much time to chat, but the post sat under the misleading moniker "Rosie the Dead Riveter," because the bandana on the skull reminded me of the famous "We Can Do It" poster from the World War II era.

I do know from my notes that Adele is a truck driver and loves skulls, and that the artist is Thom Boyle (@tattoofrenzy) from Tattoo Frenzy in Amityville, New York.

Thanks to Adele for sharing her tattoo 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.

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Repost: Steve's Phenomenal Celtic Cross

This post appeared originally back in May, 2011, but is worth revisiting on Tattoosday today!

I spotted this at the now-defunct NYC Tattoo Convention at the sadly-departed Roseland Ballroom.

Happy St. Patrick's Day all!

~ ~ ~

Among the many amazing tattoos I saw last Saturday, this cross belonging to Steve was among my favorites:



There's really not much to it, other than amazing colors and craftsmanship.

Steve explained that the design is a nod to his Irish heritage, inspired by the Book of Kells, as exemplified by the Celtic knot in the center of the piece. He estimated that the half-sleeve, which circles the whole arm, represents about 30 hours of work.

He praised the work of Agent at Screamin' Ink Tattoos in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. For those familiar with our annual NYC Tattoo Convention recaps, Screamin' Ink was the shop that featured my favorite tattoo from last year (revisit it here).

Thanks to Steve for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011, 2019 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.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Natalie, Fire, Lotus

I met Natalie last summer at the Cortlandt Street subway station. I noticed she had these cool little tattoos on the backs of her legs:


The fire on the left leg is credited to artist Sarah Gaugler (@sarahgaugler) from Snow Tattoo in Manhattan and the lotus on the right is by Hugo Andres (@xallitic_tattoos) from  Xallitic Tattoos in Bushwick.

Natalie explained that her tattoos are grounded in yogic philosophies:
"[The lotus] is all about the attachment to negativity and staying grounded ... the lotus flower is at the bottom of the water and when they come up every morning out of the water, they break free of all the dirt and often live in very swampy areas ... [The fire represents] a light that's burning inside ... in the yogic philosophy ... you pay attention to your light and do things and move in a way that brightens your light ... it's a reminder to focus on my light and meditate more ... also, passion, the fire inside, heat, essentially."
Thanks to Natalie for sharing these awesome tattoos 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.

Friday, March 8, 2019

Avii's Tattoo, Driving Out Judgments

Last July, I met Avii (@john_wayne_racy) on the Broad Street subway platform in lower Manhattan. She shared this cool tattoo on her arm:


Avii credited tattoo artist Seth (@paralysis.or.death) from Kartel Studio in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
She said he had posted this flash and told me "I'm game for whatever, as long as I like what I see." She noted that this design is based on 15th century art, depicting the Holy Trinity - the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost "as one person, driving out judgments."

Thanks to Avii for sharing her cool tattoo 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.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Sandra's Platform Bloom

Last summer, I met Sandra on a subway platform in south Brooklyn. She shared this colorful flower:


We only spoke briefly, but Sandra explained that she wanted a flower that was somewhat "non-traditional," adding that it reminded her a little of a Rose of Sharon, which makes sense, as a rose of Sharon is often attributed to different flowers, and this one recalls several types.

She credited the work to Jon Jon (@jonjontattoo) from Triple Diamond Tattoo (@triplediamondtattoo) in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn.

A peek at Jon Jon's Instagram shows that this was the first part of a floral half-sleeve that he recently added to:

Via @JonJonTattoo Instagram 
Thanks to Sandra for sharing this lovely flower 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.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Amy's Lucky Little Tattoo

I spotted this tattoo on Amy while passing through the Brookfield Place/World Financial Center last summer:


Amy, who is from the United Kingdom, explained that she got this on her 21st birthday, along with her sister. "When we were younger," she explained, "we used to horse ride." They got the matching horseshoe tattoos "for good luck for both of us," she noted.

The lucky little tattoo was tattooed at Kids Love Ink (@kidsloveink_london) in the Deptford district of southeast London.

Thanks to Amy for sharing her lucky horseshoe 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.