Ariel's Elm: Rising Upward, but Steadfast

I met Ariel last month in the soon-to-be-shuttered Borders bookstore on Penn Plaza and of her three tattoos, she shared this tree on her upper right biceps:

Ariel explained that this tattoo

"was originally an actual photograph of a maple tree, but it was too difficult - you can see the shading is relatively delicate for it ... it looked better with a cloudier image ... so it looks more of a cherry blossom but it was originally a maple...

As for the reason she included the roots of the tree in the design, she specified,

"I really wanted it to be something that represents being rooted and grounded and steadfast, but still growing upwards and moving towards the heavens, something that is strong and can withstand the wind, but is adaptable and changes with the seasons ... so it's just kind of, who I would like to be."

She credited Randall Muntz at Divine Machine Tattoo in Buffalo, New York with this work. Coincidentally, Randall started full-time (according to their website) at Body Electric Tattoo in Hollywood, California, just this week.

Thanks to Ariel for sharing her lovely tree tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Mike Sikkema's Tattoo Blends Natural with Mechanical

Today's tattooed poet is Mike Sikkema, a friend of Gina Myers (whose tattoo appeared here), who sent him my way. His piece is not fully completed, but it is still completely interesting:


















Mike explains the piece:

Eva Huber began my birds at Divine Machine Tattoo in Buffalo, NY, in the fall of 2008. The combination of real and chrome apples, of real and mechanical birds points at where we’re at: the age of remote controlled spy beetles and “vegetarian” meat made from cloned cells.

The apples and particular types of birds also point to my birthplace, northern Michigan. Another fully robotic bird, as well as a musical staff are on the way.

On a side note, Eva Huber appears to now be tattooing at Off the Map Tattoo in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

Mike didn't mention this, but the but his mechanical bird reminded me a lot of Haruki Murakami's wonderful novel The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.


Thanks to Mike for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday. Please head over to BillyBlog to read one of his poems.