Keikikalani

You may recognize this from the bottom of the page (or for long-time readers, it once served as the masthead).

This is my second tattoo, inked in July 2005, by Peter Cavorsi at Body Art Studios in Brooklyn. I brought him this art as reference, and he ran with it, customizing it to more closely reflect my younger daughter's blonde hair, and her affinity for Green Day, at the young age of six.
It's my birthday today, and I'm fresh out of new material, so I thought I'd fall back on me. Thanks for reading Tattoosday!

Tom's Arthurian Tattoo

I ran into Tom coming off of the subway at 86th Street in Brooklyn. He had several tattoos (four, to be exact), and he offered up the above one as a special piece. Do note that he said, as many people do, that all of his tattoos are special.

Tom told me this piece, on his right bicep, is a representation of one of the more famous aspects of the King Arthur legend - the sword in the stone. The sword of course, is Excalibur. Tom's parents, when raising him, gave him a thorough teaching of the Arthurian stories and the lessons from these tales carried with him through to his adult life.

He indicated that the colors of the stained glass behind Excalibur are significant in that the blue represents courage, the red represents honor, and the purple represents valor. He had this inked the year that his father passed away from cancer, in part, as a tribute to the morality with which he was raised by his parents.

The tattoo artist was Mike at a shop that closed its doors many years ago (somewhere in the vicinity of 18th Avenue and 77th Street in Brooklyn).

Thanks to Tom for sharing this tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!

Fabiana's Saraswati Tattoo

First of all, let me first thank all my visitors who helped me get 10,000 hits in the month of June alone. That's more than the first five months of Tattoosday (September '07 to February '08, combined). I am grateful for your interest and hope you continue to visit us here.

Above is another one of Fabiana's tattoos. It is located on her inner left bicep and is the Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of arts, knowledge and music.
Fabiana first learned about this goddess while reading a Tori Amos book (probably this one) and thought Saraswati "was so beautiful....I knew she would bring me strength and knowledge".


This piece was inked by Lou Andrew, the owner and artist at Third Eye Tattoos in Brooklyn.

Fabiana's ink has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks again to Fabiana for sharing her body art here! If you like her ink, don't worry there's more appearing here later this month!!

Because She Said So

I spotted a woman on 86th Street in Brooklyn on Sunday with two visible tattoos. She had an intricate piece on the back of her shoulder, but she was wearing a lace shirt that would have required removal for me to get the photo. This picture above, however, was on her left bicep, and she was kind enough to let me snap a picture.

Some people can talk for hours about their ink, and some don't say anything. She gave me an approximate location of the shop where she had this done, 20th Avenue and 71st Street, which is very close to Kings County Tattoo Company, so I will make an educated guess and credit them for this piece.

When I asked the woman what was the significance of the phrase "Because I said so," she just looked at me with a sly expression and said it was a message "for my husband".

To see other work from Kings County Tattoo Company that has appeared on Tattoosday, click here.

Jessica Follows Up and Shares a Little More

Last Tuesday, I met Jessica outside of Madison Square Garden before a Pearl Jam concert. I posted a few of her 49 tattoos here.

Since then, we have exchanged e-mails, and I have updated the previous post, which now includes a link to her MySpace page (and photos of ALL her ink).

But for the purposes of Tattoosday, I am posting photos of three more pieces.

She told me "If I had had a tank top on ya coulda taken pics of my two favorite tattoos".


First, at the top of this page, is one of the seven crows she has inked. This is on the right side of her back and is called "Caw Caw Bird". The artist is Thomi Hawk from K&B Tattooing in Hightstown, NJ.

The second crow she sent me is on her left side, near her collar bone. She calls this "Hiya Kung Fu Karate Chop Crow" and she inked it herself, using a mirror. Quite impressive.

And finally, I featured a "sliver" of a sleeve on her right forearm. This is one of the finer pieces she has (that I personally observed). She passed it on for our appreciation here. They are her geisha and foo dogs.





Thanks to Jessica for sharing her ink here at Tattoosday. Remember, you can see all of her tattoos over at her MySpace page. We're hoping she'll let us know when she gets tattoo number fifty!

Introducing Fabiana's Ink

My wife, Melanie, in the course of her daily travels, has the chance to speak with lots of people. Occasionally, they will talk tattoos, and she often promotes Tattoosday by handing out fliers to The Inked.

One such acquaintance is Fabiana, who has a whole of slew of tattoos. She has viewed Tattoosday, and has sent me multiple photos of her work. The above detail is from a piece on her upper left arm.

Here's a section not visible in the long view, from the inner part of the top of the shoulder/bicep:


Fabiana gets her work done at Third Eye Tattoo in Brooklyn. This piece consists of a butterfly, a rose, a sunflower, and some other flowers.

Here's their story...

"The flowers I just got about 1 month ago are Lilies! I love lilies. They are so beautiful! They are my fav! Purple is my favorite color and orange is my girlfriend's...so I got purple and orange for her!

Underneath that is my butterfly!

That tat was actually from about 6 years ago when I was with a different girl....we decided one day to get matching tats! NOT a good idea, she broke my heart! So I decided after a couple of years to have it covered up! I love butterflies, so my tat guy made it into a big beautiful butterfly, and added a pink rose as well. Under that tat I have my giant sunflower.

The sunflower I got for my ex-girlfriend Jill! We were together for 5 and a half years. All throughout our relationship she would call me sunshine...In that sunflower I also have a ladybug, that is for my twin sister... she loves ladybugs so I added one in!"

Thanks to Fabiana for sharing her ink here on Tattoosday! Stay tuned for more of her tattoos in the future. There's more to share!

An Elaborate Sugar Skull Reminds Chris That Death is Part of the Fabric of Life

Last Friday, I did my civic duty and served jury duty for Kings County Supreme Court. We were assembled and shown a video. They collected our cards and the first group of 30 citizens were called. I was among them. A court officer walked us several blocks to a different building. We passed through the lobby and broke into small groups to enter the elevators up to the 19th floor. In the elevator, I noticed I was standing next to a guy with with sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm. His right arm had an amazing sugar skull tattooed on it.

As luck would have it, the tattooed individual sat next to me on a bench outside a courtroom while we waited. And waited. And waited. Fortunately, we had something to talk about: tattoos (with a little surfing thrown in).

Chris and I talked for over an hour. Then, we were dismissed. No longer needed. Three hours of jury duty rather than three days. Since my camera had to be checked by security at the main courthouse, Chris walked back with me and let me take a couple of shots of his sugar skull.

This tattoo was inked by Adam Hays at Red Rocket Tattoo. There have been many sugar skulls posted here, but this one is among the most intricately done. The detail is phenomenal.


Chris, who is heavily inked, values this tattoo because the sugar skull's symbolism reflects the fact that he doesn't like to mourn death. It is a part of the natural cycle of life, and this piece helps him deal with life's problems.

He followed up with an e-mail expanding on his philosophy:

"...In my childhood/teenage years, a lot of close friends and family passed away in a short period of time - and yes - I was devastated, but couldn't just tie myself up in the mourning process, because that's what people do - they live and they die. And when I was first introduced to the concept of the sugar skull and it's meaning, [I came to understand] it's really all about embracing the power of death into the fabric of life. The symbolism of the sugar skull to me is kind of a way of transforming the painful 'miseries' of death into a source of nurturing and internal strength. It's a way for me to cherish my fallen dead and a way for their memory to live on in me (or, on me, for that matter). In any case, I feel that it's kind of ingrained in our culture that we need to feel grief and despair when someone dies, but you don't always have to follow the trend. The sugar skull is a way to remember, honor, and feel closer to the dead. And that's what it reminds me of each time I see it."

For prior posts with sugar skulls, click here.

For prior posts with work from Red Rocket Tattoo, click here.

Thanks to Chris for sharing his Sugar Skull tattoo here on Tattoosday!