Cogito Chuck Robbins (Literary Ink)

Sometimes I abbreviate post titles and they seem nonsensical, like one of those captcha messages, or a subject line in a morsel of spam.

So I'm sticking with this title "Cogito Chuck Robbins" because I like the way it sounds. So there. It will all make sense eventually.

I met Chris outside of Penn Station one Friday afternoon, intrigued by his forearm tattoo:


"Cogito ergo sum" is a Latin phrase that means, in English, "I think, therefore, I am." It is attributed to the 17th Century French philosopher René Descartes.

This was the first of Chris' three tattoos. He is a philosophy and creative writing major at SUNY New Paltz. This phrase is the "missing link in a belief system," or, in his words, "what I always knew, but never knew".

The tattoo was done at a shop in East Meadow, New York.

Chris also has this dead bird near his right elbow:


Inked at Skin Deep Tattoo in Levittown, this is inspired by the art on the cover of Chuck Palahniuk's Lullaby.

Work from Skin Deep has appeared previously on Tattoosday here. Palahniuk also has quite a cult following, and his work is the most often represented in ink here on Tattoosday. Check out other Palahniuk tattoos here.

And Chris' third tattoo is based on the cover art from one of my favorite authors, Tom Robbins:


This echoes the front of the great book Still Life With Woodpecker, which has made many people a fan of the writer.


The piece, which was inked by Mike Vlad at Triple X Tattoo in Manhattan, is a subtle nod in appreciation of Robbins and his great book. Work from Triple X has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

If you like these pieces, and are a fan of literary tattoos, you should certainly check out Contrariwise, a site dedicated solely to contributors' literary ink.

A hearty thanks to Chris for sharing his tattoos with us here on our site!

Christina's Flawed Tattoo is Just Right

I spotted this interesting tattoo while in Penn Station last month:


Christina, to whom this piece belongs, called this a "reverse tattoo," in that the main focal point of the piece is the word "Flawed".

The word is empty of ink and is created by the artist using negative space.

But why "flawed?" Christina explained that "we all have a weakness" and that "only God is perfect." It"s a reminder that "everyone has need for improvement" and that no one is ever perfect.

This is one of four of Christina's tattoos.

Thanks to Christina for sharing this with us here on Tattoosday!

Mike's Amazing Back Piece

I had just exited from the subway station in Bay Ridge when I spotted an extremely-inked couple.

I talked with both of them, but Mike was gracious enough to share this phenomenal back piece:


Mike, a musician, has been on the receiving end of the tattoo machine for many years. He is currently lead singer/bassist for The F.T.W.'s, a New York-based rock band.

He even speaks nostalgically about the mid-90's, when tattooing was still illegal in New York City. He has a critical eye and like many people with a commitment to old school tattooing, is dismayed by the skyrocketing popularity of the art, and the subsequent deterioration of the overall quality of tattoos.

For every great tattoo you see here on Tattoosday, there are two dozen others that were inked because they are trendy, and not out of appreciation of the art.

We had a lengthy discussion about this and I worried he might not be so down with the site because I don't always feature top quality tattoos, and am oftentimes just as interested in the story behind an average tattoo as I am in a convention-quality piece.

As for Mike's back piece, he credits Miss D'Jo at the fabulous Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York for the creation of this gigantic tribute.

See other work from Lark on Tattoosday here.

Mike spoke of a friend and tattoo artist, Chris Lewis, who committed suicide many years ago. Chris had given Mike a knife as a gift, and after his friend passed, Mike had this quasi-memorial back piece done. The knives in the tattoo are modeled after the blade in question.

The detail in this gigantic tattoo is simply phenomenal. Just take a look again at the handiwork on the knives:

Much thanks to Mike and his girlfriend Amanda for stopping and talking tattoo with me. Your contribution to Tattoosday is much appreciated!!

Amy Beckerman's Ink: Laughter and a Peony

It was Amy Beckerman's peony above her right ankle that first caught my attention:


This beautiful floral tattoo, designed by Dan Bythewood at Regeneration Tattoo in Alston, MA, is one of four tattoos she has.

Dan is a friend of Amy's from college who had studied art then went on to become a tattoo artist.

I thought this one was wonderful, as well:


The word "laughter" pefectly suits her, as Amy is a professional comic. This was also inked at Regeneration, but by Cathy Johnson.

You can see a segment of Amy performing below, as one of her characters, "Ida Felter":



Amy performs regularly in a show called "Dykes on Mics," the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at Comix (353 West 14th Street in Manhattan). It's a free show, starting at 9:00 PM. The next performance is Tuesday, September 28.

Amy's website is here.

Thanks to Amy for her enthusiastic participation in Tattoosday!

Elizabeth's Alphabetical Ink

Imagine me in Penn Station. I see a woman with a small letter tattooed on her. Interesting. Then I notice that she has them everywhere, in no apparent order, on her legs, on her arms, on the back of her neck. Not something you see every day. I had to ask her about them, and Elizabeth was kind to indulge my curiosity.

Elizabeth is a typographer, by profession, and she works with letters as part of her trade. Over the course of three years, she had the entire alphabet tattooed, two or three letters at a time, all over her body.

Here's the one photo I took that captured two letters in one frame:


I asked her if she went in alphabetical order and she told me she hadn't. Whatever letters she was working on at the time, she would have inked. In other words, she'd head into New York Adorned for her appointment with Stephanie Tamez, and whatever was at the forefront of her consciousness, that's what she had tattooed.

I was familiar with Stephanie Tamez for, most recently, this tattoo on the writer Eileen Myles. So I sent Stephanie an email and asked her to comment on this particular twenty-six part tattoo.

Stephanie wrote:

"I...remember the alphabet on Elizabeth, she is sweet and lovely as well. As you may or may not know I have had a reputation for tattooing many a letter, many a word, many a sentence and many a paragraph. I bet I have in all filled a few novels. Ha. Anyway from what I can recall with Elizabeth, it was very simple and fun and straight forward. I have done several alphabets throughout the years on mostly graphic designers who are captivated by fonts. I have done words on graphic designers from France to Mexico and done many a word on many a writer. I wish I could remember them all and had been logging all their tales..."

Elizabeth had also mentioned to me that she was meeting with Ina Saltz, an art director, designer, writer, photographer and professor at City College of New York. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Ms. Saltz had written a book called Body Type, which is a study of typographic tattoos.

Having since read the book (highly recommended to all), I related to Ms. Saltz's quest, that began with a chance spotting of a word tattoo on a crosstown bus several years ago. Of course, I have featured numerous word tattoos over the past couple of years, but Body Type's chronicling of the vast array of typographic tattoos is certainly entertaining to anyone who appreciates the art. In fact, Ms. Saltz goes out of her way to acknowledge Stephanie Tamez as one of the premier word tattooists. In all fairness to Ms. Tamez, one look at her website will reveal that, although she is acknowledged as a skilled tattooer of words, her skills and artistry go far beyond the inking of letters!

Anyway, back to Elizabeth, who followed up our encounter with an e-mail discussing the font she used for her tattoos, but also with (per my request) an alphabetical catalog of all her letters:

My tattoos are in Garamond (for the real font nerds out there, it's a few different cuts, mostly Garamond 3 and Stempel Garamond, a couple are in Adobe Garamond). I'm a typographer and I've always loved Garamond — the first Roman font to be used on Gutenberg's press. The typeface has been in existence since 1530, and still embodies so much of what we perceive as 'perfect' in letterforms today. Yes, they're all in lower case. No plans for capitals, or punctuation...no plans for any more tattoos, in fact.

Below is the catalog of letters. although I will say I didn't get them in alphabetical order, and I got them slowly over a few years. It was usually whatever letters I was drawing a lot at the time, or thinking about.

a: front-facing left shoulder
b: left thigh
c: inside left arm
d: right upper right arm/bicep
e: sternum
f: right calf
g: inside right wrist
h: inside right calf
i: inside left thigh, just above knee
j: inside left wrist
k: left upper left arm/bicep
l: left forearm
m: right forearm
n: collarbone
o: inside right bicep
p: inside right thigh
q: nape of neck [pictured]
r: top of right shoulder
s: top of right foot
t: left shin
u: back
v: back
w: back
x: shoulder blade
y: left calf
z: behind left ear [pictured]

Thanks to Elizabeth for her cooperation and participation here on Tattoosday. Also, much thanks to Stephanie Tamez (see her official website here) for her chiming in on the experience.

Do look into Body Type, as well. It's a lovely book indeed.

Camila's Inspirational Quote from Gandhi

I spotted an amazing tattoo-in-progress last month in Penn Station and I just had to stop and ask the young lady what it was about.

Camila has a piece that, among other things, represents the cityscape of Rio de Janeiro, circling her lower left calf. Alas, you won't see it here (yet), as it is not finished. [Update, November 16, 2009: Camila sent me photos of the tattoo which was subsequently finished. See it here.]

Some people are reluctant to have me photograph their works-in-progress, as they would rather the tattoo be complete before being displayed for all on the blogosphere to see. Others are indifferent and tell me to snap away.

There's pros and cons to both approaches, but one of the pros is that we see a tattoo in its pre-completion stage and then get to see it after it's done. The two versions are often quite interesting to compare and contrast.

But that's neither here nor there. Fortunately for me, Camila has ten tattoos, and she offered up this quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi on her inner left forearm:


The quote, "Be the change you wish to see in the world," speaks to Camila, as she is a social worker and, she says, "it represents what I stand for in life".

I thank Camila for taking the time to chat with us on Tattoosday, and look forward to featuring her other tattoo(s) in the future!

Kevin's Angel Tattoo Inspires

I spotted Kevin at the corner of 33rd Street and 7th Avenue and asked him about his incredible tattoo covering the majority of his left arm:


His upper arm has a cross on it, so Kevin worked downward on the arm. The angel is based on the sculpture of "The Angel of the Waters" in Central Park's Bethesda Fountain.



He subsequently added the banner that reads "Veni Vidi Vici" on the back side of the forearm:


This famous Latin phrase, attributed to Julius Caesar, means "I came. I saw. I conquered." In his mind, this sums up Kevin's life, having moved from a town of 70,000 people to a megopolis of over 7 million, attaining a senior position with a fashion corporation.

Kevin is particularly happy with the detail in the wings and the angel herself.


Ray Jerez at Inborn NYC on the Lower East Side of Manhattan is the artist behind this tattoo.

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

Austin's Sleeve Pays Tribute to His Grandmother

Austin was visiting New York when I stopped him on 7th Avenue right in front of the Fuse studio.

He offered up this sleeve on his left arm:


























This was inked by Amanda Grace at Truth and Triumph Tattoos. She now works at Smartbomb Tattoo. Both shops are in Dayton, Ohio.

The playing cards are a tribute to his grandmother, who was a card player. She also tended roses, so these flowers also pay homage to her.

Of the other elements, Austin says he just likes skulls, artistically. Also, the words "Never Again" are there to remind him to remain strong his sobriety, and not to go down that same road of dependency.

I appreciate Austin stopping and chatting with me, and thank him for his forthrightness, and for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Meredith Shares Two Inspirational Pieces for Tat-Twosday

Let's just say the third time's a charm.

It started with me getting off the subway in my neighborhood and noticing the woman walking several paces ahead of me. I saw that she had words inked around her wrists. As I generally shy away from tattoos that circle a limb (they don't translate well on a blog page, in my humble opinion), I made a mental note and we went our separate ways.

A few days later I was walking home, carrying dry cleaning (an activity that has delayed more than one Tattoosday post, for sure), when I ran into her again.

This time, we approached from opposite directions and I was able to introduce myself and maneuver my cleaning in order to give her Tattoosday info.

I was pleased to see, as well, two heretofore unnoticed pieces that she told me about and admired. Both were significantly original and very cool. We tentatively agreed to talk at a later date about featuring her work on the site.

A week later, our paths crossed again, and this time I was ready. So here are two of Meredith's tattoos, just in time for Tat-twosday!

We'll start with the wonderful piece dancing along the inside of her left forearm:


What we have here is the phrase "searching through the static" in an unusual font. With Photoshop, Meredith flipped the text to create a design with the phrase, base to base, almost zig-zagging across her arm.


Meredith is an artist (see her blog here) and she has lived in several places, trying to find her way through life. She did, here in New York City, and the phrase "searching through the static" resonates with her, as she has ventured through the chaos of life experiences to find her true path. She particularly loves this font because it resembles a cityscape, with some of the letters rising like skyscrapers over the street-like valleys between words.

The second tattoo she offered up is this stunning black and gray chest piece:


The center of the design is a broken snow globe, modeled after one that Meredith's grandmother gave her many years ago. Even though it is cracked, she has kept it as a treasure by which to remember her. She did change the snow globe design to contain a tree, not small people, like in the item on which this is based. The tree, she felt, was more appropriate for the tattoo.

The phrase that brackets the snow globe is "Keep going farther Beautiful Seeker." It is a mantra that she has adopted to keep her motivated and focused on a higher goal.

Both of these tattoos were inked by Alex Franklin at Brooklyn Ink. Work from Alex has appeared previously on Tattoosday here here and here. And clicking here will take you to all the posts from Brooklyn Ink that have appeared here on Tattoosday. As I've mentioned before, the proximity of the shop to my residence makes it the most frequently-featured purveyor on the site.

Thanks again to Meredith for sharing her wonderful tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Cody's Message of Recovery

These arms belong to Cody, who I stopped outside of Madison Square Garden on June 23.

What caught my eye was a beautiful religious piece on his forearm, but it was still healing, so we went with these tattoos instead.

Cody explained to me that he is in recovery, and that the strength he gets from this message, "Dealing with the Cards Life Dealt Me," is invaluable. "No matter what life throws at you," he told me, "We're powerless over life. We can't control it."

In other words, take things one day at a time, and face the challenges you meet as they rise up against you. Like in cards, you get dealt and a hand, and you make the best of it. And sometimes you win, and other times you lose.

This is the second recovery-themed tattoo we've seen recently (see Audrey's ink here) and I imagine we'll see more, as tattoos make great anchors for people, in recovery or not, as they face the struggles in life.

Cody's tattoos were inked by Justin at Skin Illustrations in Cookstown, New Jersey.

Audrey's Wrist Tattoos Keep Her Grounded

Last week I had a wonderful Wednesday of inkspotting, photographing four tattoos at lunch, and those of a fifth volunteer after work.

The run started with Audrey, whose tattooed wrist caught my eye in the plaza in front of Borders.

As it turns out, Audrey has both wrists done:


Her left wrist bears the slogan "Be Present" and the right wrist hosts a series of Roman numerals.

The "III.XX.MMVIII" refers to her sobriety date, 3/20/2008. I asked her then, if the phrase "Be Present" was from program literature. She acknowledged that it was and said she had no issue with my sharing these tattoos here on the blog.

When I asked if she found that her ink gave her strength in recovery, she nodded and said that the phrase makes her "mindul of what I'm doing in any given moment".

And the date? "It keeps me from making mistakes," she added.

These are two of her four tattoos. Recollecting my wife Melanie's surprise at the pain she experienced from the "13" on her inner wrist (recalled here), I asked Audrey if these strings of letters had been particularly painful. She smiled and said, "No, actually, it kinda tickled".

She could not recall the name of the artist that did these tattoos, but she did confirm they were inked at Lucky Dog Tattoos in the Fresh Meadows section of Queens.

It never ceases to amaze me how people use tattoos not only to decorate their bodies, but to give themselves the tools for survival. Whether it be a memorial piece that exudes comfort in periods of loss, or anchors used to ground the individual as they face the challenges of daily life, the tattoo can often be the center that makes life more bearable, that makes living each day a more pleasurable experience.

Thanks to Audrey for sharing these particularly personal tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Vince and a Word from John Keats

I'm a sucker for words.

Scrabble, crossword puzzles and, when I find them, words inscribed in flesh.

I recently spotted Vince, walking down 32nd Street in Manhattan. I caught up with him after he crossed Broadway, heading east.

He has eight tattoos, but I snapped a picture of this one:


And why does he have the word Beauty inked on the outside of his right forearm?

Vince is an artist and illustrator (see some of his work here) and he finds inspiration from the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats. The lines

When old age shall this generation waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou sayst,

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," -that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

resonate deeply with him. They are central concepts to him as an artist and a human being. The word "Truth" is inscribed on his left side to accompany the Beauty on his arm.

"I live for them," he told me, and I thank him for taking the time to talk with me.

The tattoo was inked by Kari Hamilton, a friend of his, in her basement in Michigan.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Eileen Myles - "Poet, Take My Measure"

For this, our penultimate post in the April Tattooed Poets Series, we present a tattoo from Eileen Myles.

Last week Thursday, I met Eileen on my lunch break at a Starbucks in Union Square. For a blog based on meeting people with tattoos, it was refreshing to sit and chat with a poet in person. It was only the second face-to-face meeting with tattooed poets. All others have been based on e-mail submissions.

Eileen is a fixture in the New York poetry scene, and has been a resident here since the early 1970's. She's also the first poet featured who I've actually heard read, so I felt like I was re-meeting with an old acquaintance.

Eileen has three tattoos, and I opted to talk to her about the one on the inside of her left bicep:


Eileen explained that she got this tattoo back in 2001 (before 9/11 - which led to a whole other conversation). The phrase is a quote from Dante's Inferno (translated by Robert Pinsky), the first part of The Divine Comedy.

In the Italian, the lines are:

"Io cominciai: "Poeta che mi guidi,
guarda la mia virtù s'ell' è possente,
prima ch'a l'alto passo tu mi fidi."

Dante Alighieri, Inferno, II. 10-12

Or, as translated by Mr. Pinsky:

"I commenced: "Poet, take my measure now:

Appraise my powers before you trust me to venture

Through that deep passage where you would be my guide."

Robert Pinsky, The Inferno of Dante, II. 9-11

Eileen got this line of poetry tattooed as a signpost for her embarking on a novel called The Inferno: A Poet's Novel.


The lines from the original work by Dante are spoken by Dante to the poet Virgil, checking to see if he can handle the journey on which he is about to embark.

Writing as a woman, she draws a parallel to the inferno of Hell with the life of a female poet.

This tattoo was inked by Stephanie Tamez at Porcupine Tattoo on the Lower East Side. Both Stephanie and Porcupine have moved, Stephanie to New York Adorned, and Porcupine from the Lower East Side to Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Thanks to Eileen for sharing this tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!

Please head over to BillyBlog to see one of her poems here.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Ruth Kohtz Shares a Poema

Today's tattoo comes from Ruth Kohtz:


Ruth explains:

I got the "poema" tattoo on my birthday, November 9, in 2007, by Nik Lensing at Fluid Ink in St. Paul, Minnesota. I made the appointment about 2 hours before I got it, and I had the design all printed out already.

I had been out of college for about six months and was struggling with lots of existential "what am I doing?" kind of stuff. I have spoken Spanish and written poetry for several years, and the word "poema" ("poem") expresses that I am writing my own life into existence - there's no one way a life has to be. It's a poem.

And I got it on the back of my neck so I wouldn't have to work a job where I couldn't have a tattoo on the back of my neck. Someday I'm going to get "Ruth-less" across my knuckles...

I also have a small blue star on the inside of my right arm because it is said that poet Dorothy Parker (of the Algonquin Round Table in the 1930s) had a similar tattoo back when it was not quite so popular...

Thanks to Ruth for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Please head over to BillyBlog here to see her performing one of her poems.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Cheryl Maddalena's Beautiful Tattoo

Today's Tattooed Poet is Cheryl Maddalena. Cheryl is a performance poet from Boise, Idaho.

Although the photo above is small, the tattoo is big, bold and beautiful.

Cheryl writes:

"It had occurred to me, as a performance poet, that I could never read other poets' tattoos from the audience. Mine is 200 point lowercase Times New Roman, the same font as all my poetry but a larger size."

The tattoo was done by Sean Wyett at Black Cat Tattoo & Piercing in Boise.

For a poem by Cheryl, not coincidentally titled Why I got the word “beautiful” tattooed on my arm in 200 point lowercase Times New Roman, head over to BillyBlog here. There's also a clip up of Cheryl performing.

Thanks to Cheryl for sending us her amazing tattoo!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Amanda's Tattoo Reminds Us that Life is Beautiful

Just a brief note...despite the Tattooed Poets Project for National Poetry Month, I still plan on spotting ink on the streets of New York, and posting photos here.

This is one of those posts....

On Saturday, April 4, my travels took me to the East Side of Manhattan, a part of town I don't usually frequent.

I had run an errand and was about to get on the train back to Brooklyn, when I ducked into a Duane Reade near the subway.

While standing in line, I noticed two young ladies talking to one another. One had the following tattoo inscribed above her left ankle:


"La vie est jolie," translated from the French, means "Life is beautiful."

As it turned out, Amanda, who shared this tattoo, was in great spirits. She was getting married later that afternoon. Several of her friends, presumably a bridesmaid or two among them, were standing nearby.

Amanda said that the expression encapsulated her outlook on life and that she loves France and French culture.

Her friend reminded her that she got the tattoo after her first visit to France.

Amanda also has a star tattooed on the inside of her left wrist, but just the two tattoos. A friend of hers, who is a tattoo artist, inked the inscription at his home in the Bronx.

Many thanks to Amanda for being up for talking with me on a day when she surely had bigger things on her mind!

We here at Tattoosday wish you a long, happy, and beautiful marriage!!

Only God Can Judge Him

A nice surprise last night when, out of the blue, a previous Tattoosday subject, John, sent me his latest tattoo.

I met John initially at the 3rd Avenue Festival in Bay Ridge, back in the earlier days of the blog, where he displayed a leg piece in progress here.

He later had the piece finished and we featured it, in all its glory, here. In addition, he sent me photos of his other three tattoos here.

But here is something new from John, who I haven't seen in a while. He explained this new tattoo via e-mail:

[It] says "Solo Dio Puo Giudicarmi" ... which means [in Italian] "Only God Can Judge Me"... I got the tattoo for religious reasons and for another one ... nowadays people give a shit too much about what other people think and try to conform to be like everyone else just to blend in. [The tattoo] is a reminder to me and to all that read it, regardless of belief: just be who you are. Because, in the end, it does not matter what anyone else think of you, but you.

Thanks again to John for sending this my way! We always appreciate return visits from previous Tattoosday subjects!

Kait, On Her Own Two Feet

While passing through Borders at 2 Penn Plaza, I spotted Kait's feet, both tattooed on their outside edges. She graciously allowed me to take pictures of both pieces.

On her left foot is a green bow, inspired in part by the fact that she is known where she grew up for always having a bow on her, whether it be in her clothing or in her hair. It's her trademark, of sorts, and the tattoo insures that she'll never be "bow-less".

Her right foot bears the following inscription:


"Think Happy Thoughts" is a tribute to her friend Max, a graffiti artist, who passed away a year or two back. The script is in her own hand, in emulation of a free-form style that reminds her of graffiti.

Kait has five tattoos in all, including two surnames inscribed on the insides of her wrists. One is the last name of her adopted family, and the other is the surname of her birth mother.

All of her work was done at Big Joe & Sons Tattooing & Piercing in White Plains, New York.

Thanks to Kait for sharing her tattoos here on Tattoosday!

Tattoos from the Blogosphere: CoccoRossie's Triple Play

I recently received an email from "Coccorossie" who blogs here.

She checks in on Tattoosday from time to time and offered to share a few of her tattoos.

Since she took the time to share them with me, I thought it was only fair to share them with you.



This "Omerta" tattoo is on her right side, on the ribcage. Omerta, traditionally understood as "Code of Silence," reflects her attitude:

"My omerta tattoo is the code of the mob. It means not to associate with authorities and not to snitch. It was my first tattoo. I got it when I was fifteen."

The photo at the top of the post is Cocorossie showing off her tear tattoo. She had this inked for an ex-boyfriend who was shot.

And her final submission was this finger tattoo:


In her words, the " 'love' on [the] middle finger means fuck love." She added, "That one hurt the most."

All of these tattoos were inked by a friend of hers out of his home. As a result, she chose to not give me any further details on the work.

Tattoo purists may turn their noses up at these tattoos. They may not be the most artistic, or most original, but I chose to post them because they clearly carry a lot of meaning for our inked friend and fan of the blog.

For every spectacular sleeve or elaborate back piece, there are a dozen samples of basic, rudimentary tattoos that carry with them vast emotional meaning.

Thanks to Cocorossie for sharing these photos with us here on Tattoosday.

Two Tattoos from Lara

Last Friday evening, on the steps of Penn Plaza, I spotted this simple tattoo on the right side of Lara's neck. It is the sign for someone born under the sign of Leo.

Even though it was a simple astrological squiggle, I said hello anyway and, as often is the case, she had another tattoo to show me:


Actually, she has five altogether, but this one, the word "heart" inscribed on the inside of her left wrist, has special meaning to her.

She and her best friend from Seattle have the same heart tattoo inked on the same spot. There's something particularly transcendent about tattoos that are shared between friends. When you look at your tattoo, you wonder if someone you care about far away is doing the same. It's a mark on flesh that produces a mental connection.

Not only did Lara explain that the dual nature of their tattoo is a "marking of our friendship," but that it is also a lifelong reminder to always, as she put it, "come from our hearts". That is, to follow their hearts when going through life.

All of Lara's work was done at Lucky Devil Tattoo Parlour in Seattle. Work from their shop has been featured previously here on Tattoosday.

Thanks to Lara for sharing her two tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!