There are no defined rules for asking folks to volunteer for Tattoosday, but I have alluded to some personal guidelines, like the reluctance to interrupt people who are talking, or my tendency to select individuals who are stationary and generally alone. I have also said I will not follow people. Too creepy, generally speaking.
However, when something spectacular presents itself, all bets are off.
Friday morning, around 11:30 am, I was facing North on the southwest corner of 34th Street and 6th Avenue, on the outskirts of Herald Square, when I saw a heavily-tattooed woman across the street, walking with a guy, heading West. When the light changed, I had already decided to go take a closer look.
About half-way down the block, in front of
Macy's, I caught up and without hesitation, tapped her on the shoulder and interupted her discussion with her companion. What inspired me to such boldness? Why this, dear readers:
Although not a completely finished back piece, it was breathtaking, especially if one admires quality ink. Click on the photo to enlarge. She also had tattoos running on both arms as well, neither of which I photographed.
I did my basic introduction and she was immediately receptive. Her name was Jill and she hailed from
Nebraska.
After agreeing to participate, I asked her to offer me a piece that she felt most sentimental about. She had a hard time answering. I elaborated, "What one do you have the best memories about?" She selected the one I would least likely have chosen, but I was thankful that she was letting me add her to Tattoosday.
At the top of her right foot, at the bottom of the leg, she had the word "Rad" tattooed.
Jill explained that she and five friends had gone out together and each had a word inscribed on them permanently. The memory of the event clearly had an impact on her. When I asked "Why RAD?" She shrugged, "It's just a word I liked. One of my other friends had
gnarly tattooed on her neck."
The tattoo was done in Omaha, Nebraska at
Liquid Courage Tattoo and Piercing by the artist
Jason Brown.
She said technically she only had 6 tattoos in all. She counted her 2 sleeves as one apiece. And I'm guessing she counted the back as one whole as well, despite the many components.
Well, I didn't want to take up too much of her time, standing in the sidewalk. In fact, while chatting with her, a couple stopped and the woman complimented her on her tattoos. With art like this, I'd imagine she gets that a ton!
I asked if I could take a shot of her back, she agreed. I thanked her and ambled off. I did notice when I uploaded the photo to the home computer later that the back piece still needs a little coloring which might be why she didn't offer it up right away as the tattoo I should photograph.
Of course, I want to dwell on the back a little longer. The script states "Traveler to the Grave".
I will take a stab at interpretation and attribute it as a reference to the lyrics of "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?", a song from
Morrissey's 2004 album
You Are the Quarry:
But even I, As sick as I am, I would never be you
Even I, As sick as I am, I would never be you
Even I, Sick and depraved, A traveler to the grave
I would never be you, I would never be you
I also love the image on the neck, which is traditionally known as a
calavera, attributed to the
Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead in Latin American cultures.
The heart on the left side of the back is, I am surmising, a tribute to her grandfather. The strap of Jill's top covers up the first date partially, but I am leaning toward 1927-2004 as the span at the bottom of the heart.
Thanks to Jill for so kindly sharing her art with me! If you're reading this, Jill, and feel like sending me any shots of your sleeves, feel free to
e-mail me. I hope you had a wonderful trip to New York City. Thanks for brightening my day!
but she was traveling with two friends. I have a harder time approaching people in pairs or groups, for some reason, perhaps because I fear not the rejection of one person but of two or more. Imagine: I approach a person and ask them about their tattoo. Their friend shoots them a "Who is this dork?" look and the tattooed is less likely to be forthcoming about their art. I also don't like to intrude on conversations and/or stop people who are moving. It's a courtesy thing, I guess. Although, if someone is sporting an incredible tattoo, I may suspend these "rules" for a shot of an amazing piece of body art.
Greg Simkins seems like a perfect match, then, for Losie's nightmare motif. If you look at his site, you can peruse dozens of his paintings, sketches, and drawings and they all resonate with a sense of the macabre, depicting spectacular, colorful visions of an imaginary world in which rabbits are terrifying and inanimate objects come to life.
Robin is in New York City working an internship as a Costume Designer on Broadway. She had attended the Art Institute of Chicago and obtained this tattoo there in the Windy City.
What struck me about this was its color. You see a lot of skulls in tattoo art, but they're seldom this shade, a pink that illuminates off of the skin. This was inked by Spiro at Superchango Tattoo Studio, just north of Houston in The Woodlands, Texas. Spiro is not listed on the shop's site currently, but his home page on Inked Nation here still shows an affiliation.
When I asked about it, Lindsay explained that she is creating a series of tattoos dedicated to her five senses, which she feels extremely connected to. Each sense is artistically represented with a different type of wings. This blue and yellow hand, on the outer left forearm, was barely visible in my attempt to photograph it, and represents the sense of Touch. This one is credited to Dave Boseman at Superchango.
This simple yin and yang symbol, inscribed on the left side of her lower back, was added in the East Village, we're guessing at Andromeda Tattoos Studios. It is a symbol, for Janet, of her striving for balance in her life.
The following excerpt comes from this past Sunday's (9/23/07) popular "On Language" column by William Safire in the New York Times Magazine.
Here's a bit of a blurry sleeve:
I like the script and the hourglass shape that molds perfectly between the shoulder blades. Even better, when I got home and used my photo editor, I was able to isolate the text and read what was so inspiring as to get someone to ink into their back:
tiger tattoo
