Meister's Memorial Sparrows

Last month, I was leaving the Muhlenberg branch of the New York Public Library when I spotted a woman with two birds on the backs of her calves:

These two sparrows belong to Meister, who is also known as The Nervous Cook.

I love how these are not your typical tattoo sparrows, but are more lifelike than the traditional bird flash that is much more common.

She explained that these, two of her eight tattoos, are memorial tattoos, that she has "for three people that I lost, roughly around the same time." Meister elaborated:

"A best friend of mine passed away in a scuba accident - she's the female sparrow [on the left calf] ...

 

...and then two good friends of mine died within two weeks of each other ... totally just a a devastating series of unfortunate accidents."

These, along with most of her other work, were tattooed by Myles Karr, who works out of Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn. Meister indicated that these sparrows were done a while back, when Myles still worked out of the now-defunct 334 Bowery Tattoo. Work from Myles has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Meister for sharing her beautiful sparrows with us here on Tattoosday! Be sure to visit her over at The Nervous Cook.

This entry is ©2012 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.

Kyle's Industrial Sunflowers

Riding uptown on the 3 train, I see a sleeve half way across the car that just looks amazing. I can't make out the specifics, but the color and detail tell me it's a fantastic piece.

The problem is, it's a crowded express train during rush hour, and unless this guy gets off when I get off, I won't get a chance to talk to him.

As luck would have it, he does xit the train at the same stop, and as I am trying to catch up with him as he heads upstairs, and across Broadway, I recognize his left sleeve. His name is Kyle, I interviewed him in 2008 (using a borrowed camera, no less) and his post appeared here.

This is new ink, however, and when I finally catch Kyle on the north side of 72nd, it takes a moment, but he remembers me, and is happy to share his new work, which bears a similar theme to the tattoo I spotted last time our paths crossed:

It is by the same artist, Myles Karr, who had done the tattoo from the original post when he was at Saved Tattoo. Myles is now at Three Kings, also in Brooklyn.

Like the prior encounter, from over three years ago (May 2008), the right sleeve is a dichotomy. The left sleeve is a city vs country tension. This piece is dominated by a burst of sunflowers, which travel down the arm and circle the elbow.

On the flip side is another cityscape, this time more silhouetted, and he explains that his near-pastoral umbringing was punctuated by the sunflowers he and his mother harvested. This, juxtaposed by the industrial city, is the center of the tension between the two aspects of the tattoo.

As an afterthought, I snapped a shot of the murder of crows lining the inside of his arm. "I just love crows," he told me.

He also offered up this shin piece, also by Myles Karr:

He explained it is an old-time traditional circus strongman, as old circus and sideshow imagery being another style of designs that he likes.

It was great seeing Kyle again and appreciating the amazing work he had added since our paths last crossed three years ago. Thanks to Kyle for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 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.

Leigh's Skull with a Mouthful of Blossoms

Last month, I ran into Leigh, getting off the C train at 34th Street in Manhattan. She estimates she has 40% of her corporeal canvas covered, and she offered me this tattoo on her left forearm:

We've had  a lot of sugar skulls here on Tattoosday, but everyone is different and unique. This one, inked by Myles Karr at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn, stands out from the bow at the top of the skull, and the open jaw full of cherry blossoms, both items not generally associated with the traditional sugar skull design.

"I'm always talking," Leigh told me, "and it's always positive, so I wanted something that would keep the mouth open." She collaborated with Myles on the piece, saying she wanted a skull, but didn't want a "cliche," and pointed out it's also "kind of a take on the Suicidal Tendencies skull."

Thanks to Leigh for sharing this great tatoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 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 can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Garrett's Peacock Recalls the South

I met Garrett back in June in Penn Station when I was still reeling from the loss of my camera.

I had yet to replace my photographic equipment and I had yet to receive the loaner from my awesome friend Jill.

So, I did the best I could with a flash-less BlackBerry camera to capture Garrett's awesome sleeve:

Yes, folks, it's another peacock in our midst, in a summer during which we have been treated to a variety of peafowl.

Garrett's choice to get this tattoo stems from his love of these birds, combined with an appreciation of fashion, and how the peacock speaks to that sensibility. He also likes how the males are the fairer of the two sexes.

What's especially remarkable is that this is a black and gray tattoo, with no plans to take on any color ink.

The inclusion of magnolias, azaleas and violets, all in homage to the South, make this potentially dizzyingly colorful tattoo more remarkable in its basic palette. Rather than explosions of color, we are rewarded with subtleties of shading.

Credit goes to Myles Karr at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn. Work from Myles has previously appeared here on Tattoosday.

Thanks to Garrett for sharing his amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Cenk's Skeleton Tattoo Pays Homage to Yukio Mishima and St. Sebastian

I met Cenk where I meet so many Tattoosday volunteers, outside of Penn Station on the plaza adjacent to Madison Square Garden.

He shared this, one of his four tattoos:

This is an interpretation of the depiction of St. Sebastian, as seen by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima, one of Cenk's favorite writers. A variation of the St. Sebastian imagery graced one of the many covers of Mishima's Confessions of a Mask:


Mishima even posed for a publicity photo as the martyred St. Sebastian:


This piece was tattooed by Myles Karr at Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn. According to his website, he has since left Saved, and opened Three Kings Tattoo Parlor. Mr. Karr's work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here and here.


Thanks to Cenk for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!