Luis Shares Two Lotería Cards

I met Luis in Borders, Penn Plaza, last month and asked him about his tattoos. He has more than fifteen altogether, and three are based on Lotería cards, which are used as part of a Mexican bingo game, as well as in fortune-telling.



He shared two of these cards with me and explained that, as a first generation Mexican-American, these Lotería cards remind him of growing up.



The first one he explained is number 21, La Mano:

Luis explained that he relates to this card because "la mano" is Spanish for hand, and  he is a builder/electrician/carpenter by trade. He considers himself a "designer of ideas," and because he works with his hands, this is an appropriate card to have as a tattoo.



The second one he let me photograph is number 27, El corazón:

This card is appropriate, according to Luis, because "El corazón" means the heart and, Luis said, smiling, "I've got a big one".



There are a lot of different artistic representations of these cards out on the web, which tells me that they serve as inspiration for a lot of people.

Image courtesy of "The Lucky W" Amulet Archive by Cat Yronwode

Luis had these tattoos done by a tattoo artist named Fish, who was visiting Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn, but generally works out of Th'ink Tank Tattoo in Denver. Work from Th'ink Tank appeared here once before.



Thanks to Luis for sharing these two Lotería cards with us here on Tattoosday!

Marisa's Polychrome Calves

I met Marisa walking down 40th Street in Manhattan late one October afternoon. She had just crossed Broadway when I spotted her and asked her about her tattoos. Namely, these two gracing the back of her calves:

These tattoos are based on the work of artist John R. Neill, who illustrated L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz books. The female figure in both designs is Polychrome, the Rainbow's daughter.



Both legs were tattooed at Rock Star Tattoos in Honolulu. Conor did the left calf:

and Kazan did the right:

Marisa has 11 tattoos in all. Incidentally, having heard she grew up in Hawai'i, I played the small-world game with her and discovered we both had the same history teacher, two decades apart, when he taught at different schools.



Like many people who have Oz tattoos, Marisa loved the books and was inspired by the magic in them, vividly illustrated.



Thanks to Marisa for stopping on the street and consenting to share her wonderful tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Chris's Tattoos Motivate and Inspire

I met Chris earlier this month in Penn Station and he shared his 3/4-sleeve. He is the owner/operator of the Muscle Maker Grill at 92 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea.



His sleeve is a collage of designs that motivate and inspire him, with a skull design thrown in, to boot.

He has the phrase "Live Now. Shoot for the Stars" inked on his biceps. This motto is a nod to his ambition as a business owner.

The three pawprints tattooed below the elbow, on the left side of the photo, above, represent his three dogs (2 Cocker Spaniels and a mutt).

The cross and the prayer, "Lord, Protect Me" are based on his Catholic faith.

In all, Chris figures he's had about 10 hours of work done.



He also gave me permission to share this photo from his Facebook page:

Photo Courtesy of Christopher Almazan

I had hoped to show a better shot of the peacock that is on his back, with feathers that come up over his shoulder, but could not get a clear enough picture. The shot above gives a great idea, however, of his tattoos.



All work is credited to Rick Schreck at the House of 1000 Tattoos in Middlesex, New Jersey. A piece from Rick appeared earlier this Fall on the site here.



Thanks again to Chris for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!



Visit the Muscle Maker Grill website here.

Darya's Bi-Coastal Peacock and Cherry Blossoms

I met Darya coming out of the subway in Bay Ridge and asked if I could take a picture of her tattoo. She kindly allowed me to do so and share it here with everyone on Tattoosday:

Darya explained that she always wanted a peacock tattoo, and she has fourteen tattoos in all (not all peacocks). Joe Maggs at Brooklyn Ink tattooed the peacock.

The cherry blossoms, symbols of regeneration, were added by Illya at Studio City Tattoos in California.



Thanks to Darya for sharing her tattoos from both coasts here on Tattoosday!

They Call Him Mr. Spades

I met Matt in Penn Station last month and he was happy to share a couple of his eight tattoos. The coolest one was this heart on his left arm:

A closer look shows just how intricate this design is:

Matt explained that the idea behind this tattoo is simply that there are two sides to everything. He collaborated on the design with the tattoo artist Sean Malone, who works out of Rose City Tattoos in Rahway, New Jersey.

Readers may notice that, in the top photo, there is a distinct outline of another tattoo on Matt's arm in the shape of a playing card spade. What started out as a random tattoo of another spade ended up giving Matt the nickname "Mr. Spades" and it stuck. Here's a shot of the coolest Spades tattoo, straddling both of Matt's inner forearms:

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

Melissa's Feather of Memory

Back in October, I reviewed Kat Von D's The Tattoo Chronicles (here).



I also went to a book-signing and met Ms. Von D.



As you would expect, there was a long line to see the author, who is indisputably the most famous tattoo artist in the world.



Despite the long line, I did have a chance to chat at length with several other people at the event. We talked tattoo as we queued along 46th Street, around the corner onto 5th Avenue, up an escalator, and through a maze of book stacks.



One such fan was Melissa, a student, who was accompanied by several friends. Talking with Melissa and her friends made the two-hour wait much more bearable, indeed.



Melissa offered to share this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday:

This white feather on the inside of her right wrist is tied to the memory of her mother who passed away a couple of years ago.

Melissa's aunt often said that a floating white feather represents the soul of someone who's died. That said, whenever Melissa sees one, she thinks of her mother. By tattooing it on her wrist, she is assured that the memory of her mom will always be close at hand.



The tattoo was inked by Kerry O'Neill at Shotsie's Tattoo in Wayne, New Jersey. Work from Shotsie's has appeared previously here on the site.



Thanks to Melissa (and her friends) for keeping me company on that long day in October, and a special thanks to Melissa for sharing this poignant tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

A Quartet of Art-Inspired Tattoos

When I asked Brian how many tattoos he had, back in October when I met him at Borders in Penn Plaza, he kind of shrugged and said "I don't even know". A great answer, in my opinion.



Brian is an interior designer and many of his tattoos are inspired by the art he admires.



Three of the tattoos I photographed are on his right arm. First is this red tattoo:

This, Brian explained, is a piece that pays homage to Dada, or Dadaism, a cultural movement from the early 20th Century that included one segment of the arts. Brian is inspired by this movement from an artistic perspective.

On his upper arm, Brian has this Buddha image, which he says has an Andy Warhol-inspired perspective:

That is on the outer part of the upper arm, on the inner side is this item:

This is a take on the "Egg Chair," a piece of furniture whose style became popular in the forward-looking 1960's. The form above is more like the Scandinavian Ovalia style of egg chair.

And finally, Brian showed me one of his favorite tattoos, just above his waistline:

As mentioned above, Brian is inspired by Dadaism, and one of the figures that became most associated with the movement was the artist Marcel Duchamp. This tattoo is based on his work Fountain, which caused quite a stir in 1917.

These tattoos were inked by Texxx at Flying Monkey Tattoo in Pittsburgh.

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