Jasmin's Phoenix Keeps Her Grounded

As the year winds down, I am clearing out the cobwebs - a hodgepodge of posts that just didn't make the grade. What causes an encounter from May to be delayed over seven months? Several things, like, in this case, a photo that just didn't make the grade. Further problematic is a subject's non-working e-mail address, and a credited artist who is not listed on the attributed shop's website.

Still, I hate to just totally abandon a piece, so we'll just go with what we have...

I met Jasmin just outside of Penn Station and she let me photograph this tattoo:

This is a phoenix that Jasmin got in 2010. It doubly keeps her grounded and represents her rise from the ashes.She told me she wanted the "girliest-looking phoenix," something "light and wispy".


The two phrases in the banners are "Ut prosim aliis" and "Il buon tempo".

"Ut prosim aliis" is the motto on her family (Jennings) crest and translates to "that I may be of use to others," or, in Jasmin's words, "that I might profit others".

She told me that "il buon tempo" meant "each new day is bright," but it is more commonly translated from the Italian as "good times".

She credited the work of this tattoo to an artist named Zack at Psycho Tattoo 2 in Atlanta.

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

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Gabby Celebrates the Beautiful Life

I met Gabby in the laundromat down the street.

She had this lovely tattoo at the base of her neck:


This translates, in the Italian, to "the beautiful life".

Simply, Gabby has Italian heritage and she had this done at Psycho Tattoo in Georgia at a particularly "good time in [her] life".

Thanks to Gabby for sharing her three words with us here on Tattoosday!

UPDATE: Right around the time I posted this, I had heard Ina Saltz discuss typographic tattoos (see my recap here). I have since discovered a cool website tool called WhatTheFont which helps identify typefaces based on samples that can be uploaded. Using this new tool, I have identified the font in Gabby's tattoo as Commerical Script Regular. That probably doesn't mean much to a lot of people, but it's pretty neat for those who may be interested.

Tiger Versus Viper

I had the good fortune of meeting Burton in Penn Station as he was headed back to Georgia.

He was in town because his friend had won tickets to the MTV Video Music Awards the night before, and he got to tag along.

Burton is a tattooist with thirteen tattoos, and the one he shared with me is truly spectacular:


He collaborated on this design with his friend Richard Nunnaly at Psycho Tattoo in Marietta, Georgia.

Burton wanted something traditional, that represented an inner struggle.


They developed the tiger fighting the viper (and winning), but modified it to give the design a cartoon-like spin.


He explained that they had the original design, but that it wasn't that exciting to their creative sensibilities, so they started sketching directly on the arm. The whole piece took approximately 14-16 hours.

I especially love how the tiger's fur spirals at the elbow.


Thanks much to Burton for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!