Butterfly tattoos can be a dime a dozen (no offense, butterfly fans), but moths, on the other hand often get a bum rap, taking a back seat to their more flamboyant insect cousins. To the chagrin of some inked lepidopterists, you don't see as many moth tattoos. This, however, is a lovely exception, perched on Claire's forearm:
This is Hemaris Thysbe, more commonly known as the Clear Wing Hummingbird Moth, a beautiful insect that gets its name from its large size and rapid wing speed.
Claire, who I met in Borders at 2 Penn Plaza, is originally from Vermont and this moth reminds her of back home. There are certainly no Hummingbird Moths fluttering about New York City!
She found a picture she liked and took it in to Yoni Ziebler at Brooklyn Adorned where he recreated this lovely specimen.
Work from Adorned appears here often and can be seen together under this tag.
Thanks again to Claire for sharing her Hummingbird Moth with us here on Tattoosday!
I ran into Anthony after work while passing through the Amtrak section of Penn Station.
He was in town to perform in Brooklyn and was waiting for his ride. He performs under the name "Xrin Arms," which he pronounced as "Your-in-arms". He's a techno punk musician currently on tour. Here's the flier for the gig he was playing that night:
He had an unusual series of tattoos which he allowed me to photograph, after he explained them to me.
The tattoos cover a significant part of his upper right arm, as well as one side of his forearm.
First and foremost, as a writer, he had his pen inked on his arm.
and he produced one to show me, holding it up to the piece to show me that it was tattooed to scale.
The next element of his inked arm is a legion of sperm directed at his elbow. Some of the sperm are traveling from the pen, representing the knowledge that flows from the written word.
At the center of the elbow is a moth in a circle. He said that it represents a "moth in a beehive". When I questioned that image, he acknowledged that that was how he feels a lot of the time.
If you picture a moth in a beehive, you envision many things: solitude and violence. Of beauty and alienation. The sperm heading toward this image reinforce that the creative experience is a birthing process fraught with danger.
Lastly, on the back of the bicep, is an owl with its wings outstretched.
The owl represents to him that he is noctural, and stays up all night.
He has 2 other tattoos but we stuck with these because they played off one another.
