Not Seeing, But Knowing

Ashley has this tattoo on the back of her neck. The lines "I will not lose hope/I will not give in" are based on lyrics from a song called "The Crimson" by a band called Atreyu.

The lyrics were words commonly uttered by Ashley's best friend and cousin, who died a couple of years ago. He committed suicide after learning he had a serious illness. She and another cousin chose to honor his memory by having the lyrics tattooed on them as a reminder not only of someone near and dear to them, but because the message transcends death and affirms life. Even though her friend succumbed to suicide, the memory of him instills strength in her even though he is no longer part of the physical world.

As Ashley indicates, she chose the back of her neck because she "can't see it, but I know it's there," just as she can't see her departed friend, but knows that he is still with her.

This tattoo was inked at Body Designs in Bay Shore, New York.

As an extra bonus, here's the video for the song "The Crimson" by Atreyu:



Thanks to Ashley for sharing her tattoo and the personal story behind it, here on Tattoosday!

Honoring His Son

I ran into Alex at the laundromat and complimented him on the name inked on his left forearm.

The piece is a tribute to his son Julian. As a fellow father with tattoos honoring one's kids (see one of them here), I certainly appreciated the sentiment.

This piece was done by an artist named Salem, who is part of the DFM crew in San Francisco.

Another interesting fact about this piece is that it is on Alex's left forearm. Both he and his son are left-handed, and Alex's four other tattoos are on the left side of his body. He strongly believes in inking only on that side of his person and does not intend to ever ink the right side of his body.

Thanks to Alex for sharing his ink with us here at Tattoosday!

Pete's Pirate

I ran into Pete at the laundromat and he offered up this tattoo. He had this inked on his left side because he is infatuated by pirates, something he never grew out of from childhood.

This tattoo is about two and a half years old and was done by his friend Pee Wee at Cutting Edge Body Arts in Manhattan. Pete has seven tattoos in all.

Thanks to Pete for sharing his pirate here at Tattoosday!

Ladybug Luck

Bridget loves ladybugs. They represent luck because, whenever bad things are happening, she will inevitably see a ladybug, and she is convinced they help her luck turn around.

She went to her tattoo artist, Stacey Sharp at Ink Alternative Studio in Ronkonkoma, New York, and told her she wanted a piece with ladybugs and stars. Stacey put together this piece with the negative space utilizing her skin tone. The effect is a pretty cool tattoo.

Bridget also has a back piece which she couldn't show me, but hopefully she will send me a photo for a later post.

A tattoo from Ink Alternative appeared here last October here.

Thanks again to Bridget for sharing her ladybug ink here at Tattoosday!

Update July 27, 2009: Stacey now tattoos out of Inkpulsive Custom Tattoos.

Two Tattoos, Starry Reminders of Youth and Friendship

I met Randy in front of Penn Station, where he was talking with Cait.

I spotted what appeared to be a Chilly Willy tatoo on his inner right forearm, but he dismissed it as a youthful mistake that he eventually wanted to get covered up.

He did offer me the three stars on his right hand as a tattoo that had much more meaning:


He got the three stars to remind him of youth and romance, an allusion to how kids tend to draw on themselves, often scribbling stars. The piece was inked at Lotus Tattoo in Sayville, N.Y.

He mentioned to me that Cait also had a tattoo. I asked her if she'd be willing to share, and she did. She peeled back a little of her top to reveal this beautiful piece on the top left side of her chest:
Cait and her friend Michelle have birthdays two days apart. When they turned 18, they took a design that Michelle had crafted to Da Vinci Tattoo Studio in Wantagh, New York. The artist she remembered as "Yoshi" inked matching pieces for the two.


Cait says the heart that encases the colorful stars represents their friendship, and serves to remind them of the bond. In the event that life ever separates them, the tattoos will link them, no matter where they are.

Work from Da Vinci Tattoo Studio has appeared on Tattoosday before here.
Thanks to Randy and Cait for sharing their ink with us here at Tattoosday!

Fabiana's Most Important Tattoo

If you haven't met Fabiana's ink yet, you may want to check out her previous posts here and here before continuing. The above tattoo is on her right bicep and has a remarkable story behind it.

Fabiana was born in Italy. When she was three years old, a mirror belonging to her parents broke. Rather than throw the whole thing out, Fabiana's father, who loved to paint, took the wood on which the mirror had been mounted, and painted this cross:


Sadly, her dad passed away about a year later and Fabiana's mom, wanting her family to have a better life, moved them all to the U.S.

Years later, as an adult, Fabiana decided to honor her father: "I thought about the painting and said Wow, it would be great to have a piece of my dad on me . . . so I took the painting to my tat guy [Lou at Third Eye Tattoos] and he was like, Sure!"

Fabiana loves this remarkable piece. She acknowledges that it's a bit different from the original but it still carries great meaning. Both Fabiana and her twin sister have the same matching tattoo to honor the memory of their father.

Thanks again to Fabiana for sharing another piece of herself with us here at Tattoosday.

Time Flies When You're Living and Dying

"No," I explained to Heather, "I don't troll the post office for tattoos." She was asking why, of all places, I stopped her in line at the Fort Hamilton Post Office in Brooklyn.

Really, it was a series of coincidences. My younger daughter was sick today, so I stayed home. Otherwise, I would have been at the main post office in Manhattan. But there I was, after an eternal wait in line, when I looked back and saw Heather talking to someone before getting into the endless line. I gasped. Heather has a lot of ink. She has sleeves (I think one was 3/4 and one was 1/2, I could be wrong) and a back piece that looks to be of significant volume, with other tattoos scattered across her self from neck to toe.

When I asked her about her tattoo count, she gave me an answer that you generally don't hear, except from the heavily-tattooed. "I estimate I'm about 40% covered." Wow. A lot of ink, indeed.

Heather gets tattooed by two main guys, and the piece she offered for Tattoosday was done by Lou Andrew at Third Eye Tattoos in Park Slope. You may be familiar with Lou's work, from Fabiana, whose ink has been appearing recently on Tattoosday.

Heather explained the piece, saying that the girl in the artwork has been "zombfied" to represent death

and the hourglass, with the wings, is symbolic of the fleeting nature of time ("time flies"), and ultimately, life. The detail is vivid and very well done:

I love the grains of sand falling in the hourglass and the red cobwebs.

Heather explained that this tattoo, on the back of her left calf, will have a companion piece on the back of the right, but not until fall. She acknowledged that her practice is not to get tattooed in the summer, when fresh ink is most susceptible to sun damage and fading.

Much thanks to Heather for sharing her tattoo here on Tattoosday! I hope she will make a return appearance in the future, perhaps later in the year when she has the other piece inked.