Lori Shares Some Peonies, and a Fairy Mermaid

When I post here at Tattoosday, there is no definite chronological order. I tend to follow a variety of factors, which can often result in older encounters waiting in the wings for a very long time.

Take Lori, for example. At the beginning of May, while my wife was at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, fighting a bout of appendicitis, I walked over to a pizzeria on 50^th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway for a quick bite for lunch. On my way out, I noticed  two women at a table, one of whom, Lori, had some pretty nice ink. Generally, one of my unwritten rules is not to bother people while they are eating, so I handed the woman my card and asked her to contact me if she was interested in contributing to Tattoosday.

Lori e-mailed me shortly thereafter, and a few weeks later, she sent me some photos. Since then, she has been patiently waiting for the post. E-mailed submissions tend to get a little lost in the shuffle but, finally, thanks to a little nudge on our Facebook page, we’re finally seeing them here on the site.

I’ll let Lori explain what we’re seeing:

“Here are 2 peonies, one is a flash stencil, done by Mike B. at Studio Enigma on Avenue U [in Brooklyn] .... the other peony (my favorite), was hand drawn by Pablo Barada, who is from Argentina [also at Studio Enigma] …

The Fairy mermaid was a picture I found just surfing the internet,  so I printed it out. I wish I still had the black and white photo before Mike B. colored it in. Now that I look at it, I think the B&W was much prettier. By the way, she took 18 hours to do, six three-hour sittings.”

Thanks to Lori for sharing some of her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Out With the Old.....

As we wind down 2010, and look ahead to 2011, I wanted to take care of one of my several loose ends from the past year.

Back in July, I met a guy named John on the D train. He had tattooed arms and we chatted a bit. He said he'd send me photos and he did a few weeks later.

I never posted the photos because the resolution was low, and when I tried to increase the size, they blurred. I was going to include these in the Christmas housecleaning post, but the work is just too good.

So hear you have them, small photos, but recognizably amazing:

I mean, what is there to say? This work is quite excellent. The koi, the tiger, the sailing ship, sugar skull, nautical stars - it's all quite a body of work!

The artist is Nacho, who appeared once before on the blog here. You can check out Nacho's work here. in New York, he tattoos out of Studio Enigma on Avenue U.

Thanks to John for sharing these amazing tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

And thanks to all of our fans and contributors for making 2010 a successful year of inkspotting!

Madison's Classy Bicycle

I met Madison last month on the 59th Street subway platform in Brooklyn.

She has "9 or 10" tattoos and selected this one to share:

I don't generally describe the people who volunteer their tattoos here, but it's worth noting that Madison is petite, which ties into this tattoo. She rides a bicycle, although the one pictured here is more of a vintage-style two-wheeler.

When I asked why it says "stay classy," she laughed and said, "I'm a tough little chick, but I stay classy".

This tattoo was inked by Victor at Studio Enigma in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Thanks again to Madison for sharing her classy tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Neal's Foo Dog

This winter has been an especially cold one here in New York and, as any loyal reader can confirm, I haven't reported on many tattoos that I have glimpsed in the city.

However, last night at the grocery store around the corner, I met Neal, who let me take a quick snapshot of his foo dog on the left side of his neck:


Foo dogs are traditional Asian-style tattoo designs, and have various meanings and interpretations. Click here to see some other posts on the site that have featured foo dog designs.

Neal told me that this was inked by Koji at Studio Engima on Avenue U in Brooklyn many years ago. Work from Studio Engima has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Neal for sharing his foo dog with us here on Tattoosday!

Ashley's Trio of Tattoos

I've always said that Tattoosday is 50% about the tattoos and 50% about finding them. But once in a while, tattoos just present themselves and I can't contain myself.

Ashley is a case in point. She was at the laundromat the same time as I was, and she had two small tattoos inked on her feet. Out on the street, I likely would have let her walk by without stopping her, but there, as we stood around waiting for clothes to wash and dry themselves, it struck me as negligent NOT to ask her about the tattoos.

Ashley has three tattoos in all. The first one I noticed was this peace sign on her right foot:


It's a popular symbol, of course, and not simply because of what it stands for, but for the aesthetics of the shape.

Similarly, she has a small heart on her left foot:


What's interesting to me about this simple tattoo is the duality of the colors. Ashley says that the colors represent the "two polar sides" of her personality - the "mellow" green and the more exciting pink.

Both tattoos were done in the same sitting by an artist named Taz.

Ashley has a third tattoo, her first, which she was kind enough to share with me:


This star was inked by Joe at Studio Enigma (whose work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here). This is purely decorative, at the base of her neck, and she had it done with a close friend, who had the same design inked on her shoulder blade.

Thanks to Ashley for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Matt Wears His Heart (of Bacon) on His Sleeve

I first met Matt a year or so ago when he and his wife Allison opened the gourmet grocery Robicelli's in our neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (there's more on Robicelli's here).

It was only recently, however, when I popped in to pick up some of their incredible gourmet cupcakes (the "Irish Car Bomb" is my favorite), when I spotted this amazing tattoo on the inside of his left forearm:


So it makes sense that a chef and a businessman running a gourmet grocery might have a food-themed tattoo, but what's up with this one?

Matt explained that, well, he's a chef, and he loves bacon, and several years ago when he was prepping for an event he was catering, he and a colleague were wrapping rabbit hearts with bacon. He remarked that he ought to get a bacon heart tattoo and his friend challenged him, laughing "You'll never do it!" That was just the incentive Matt needed, and he went with the idea
to Nacho at Studio Enigma in Brooklyn.

It was done all in free-hand and Matt hopes that some day it will be the cornerstone of a food-themed sleeve.

Thanks again to Matt for sharing his bacon heart with us here on Tattoosday! If you're ever in Bay Ridge and have a hankering for fine foods (especially their amazing weekend cupcakes), stop by Robicelli's ( 8511 3rd Avenue) and perhaps you'll catch a glimpse of this great tattoo!