Chelsea's Pisces Tattoo

I met Chelsea over the summer in Penn Station and she shared this tattoo from her upper back:

As many might guess, this tattoo is astrological in its origin, and reflects that Chelsea is a Pisces.

She said that tattooer is a free-lance artist in Brooklyn named Vega.

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

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Laici's Astrological Cluster

I met Laici last month outside of Penn Station, near the corner of 33rd Street and 8th Avenue. I was intrigued by this design on her upper right arm:

This design consists of several symbols from the Zodiac.

Laici explained, "My dad's a Cancer, my mom's an Aries, my sister and I are Scorpios, and my brother is a Sagittarius."


She designed this piece herself by combining the four symbols into a cohesive design:

The four elements combined on her arm to represent her family unit. It's a neat concept and it is executed rather nicely. I especially like how she combined the last two parts, Scorpio and Sagittarius, to form one fluid symbol that encapsulates her and her siblings together.

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


This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

The four Zodiac symbols illustrated above were linked from TattooSymbol.com.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Phoenix's Sleeve is Out of This World

Back on August, I met a man named Phoenix in Penn Station who shared the sleeve on his right arm.

The work starts near his shoulder, with a traditional-style pin-up girl straddling a rocket in an outer space motif:

The cat perched on the rocket in front of the woman represents Phoenix's love of animals.

The centerpiece of the sleeve, however, is lower on the arm and represents his love of astrology:

From a practical purpose, he had his natal astrological chart wrapping around his limb. In theory, he told me, anyone who knows astrology could come up and read his arm and gain insight into his astrological makeup.

Phoenix was born with the Sun in Aries rising in Leo and with his moon in Gemini.

This work was done by Lou at Third Eye Tattoo in Park Slope, Brooklyn, about six years ago. Lou's handiwork has been featured many times over the years here on the site and can be seen here.

Thanks to Phoenix for sharing his spectacular sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Katie's Astrological Ink: Cancer, with Aries Rising

One of the unexpected joys in inkspotting is approaching someone about a tattoo and having them reveal one that is so much better than the piece you approached them about. It's like receiving a bonus for being curious.

Such was the case with Katie, who I spotted in Penn Station when I noticed a tattoo on her ankle.

When I asked her about it, she laughed and said it wasn't even close to being her favorite tattoo and she took off her jacket to reveal, on her upper left arm, one of her eight tattoos:

This is an astrological tattoo and features the signs for Cancer (the crab) and Aries (the ram). Katie explained that she is a Cancer, with Aries rising.

What this means, astrologically, could take pages and pages of analysis, but Katie explained that the two personalities are both strong and that they traditionally don't get along, which is why she has this relationship depicted as the two symbolic creatures battling in a stormy landscape. It is one interpretation of an astrological description that lends itself to her personality. Here's another.

Of course, as a Cancer myself, I cannot help but love this tattoo, especially my old friend the crab:

Katie credited the artist Christian Masot at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey, for this tattoo. She estimated it took about seven hours total in three sittings to create the finished product. Work from Silk City has appeared on Tattoosday several times before (see this tag), but this is the first piece we've seen by Christian.

Thanks to Katie for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Tattoosday Goes To Hawai'i - All in the Family, Part 4 (Lehua's Eternal Tribute to Poppa John)

Closest of my Hawai'i nieces and nephews is Lehua who, in essence, is a third sister in my Hawai'i ohana. My wife and I had the tremendous honor of  Lehua dancing hula at our wedding reception in 1995, which many guests still recall as the highlight of the post-ceremony festivities.

In honor of Poppa John, who passed away suddenly on the fifteenth anniversary of our wedding and that memorable hula, Lehua had this touching memorial inked on her foot:

Lehua explains that this infinity symbol represents eternity in the context that Poppa John will be remembered forever.

What I love about this relatively simple design is that each circle contains an astrological sign, giving more significance to the tattoo.

Looking at the photo, the sign on the left is Gemini, and the sign on the right is Sagittarius. The Gemini sign represents Lehua's son Raycn (Poppa John's great-grandson) and, of course, Sagittarius was the sign of Poppa John. The tattoo thus bridges four generations and is a reminder of the eternal ties that will carry on the memory of John Ferreira.

Coincidentally, Raycn shares the same sign as my mother (his great-grandma), Diane, whose birthday happens to be today, May 23. So, even though I know the meaning for Lehua is the link between John and Raycn, through Lehua, I interpret a second unintended meaning: the love of John and Diane, woven together, 25 years in this world, and the rest of time beyond.

The tattoo was inked by Nick Nakashima at Heart & Soul Ink in Waipahu, Hawai'i.

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

Previously in the Tattoosday Goes to Hawai'i - All in the Family series:

Part 1, A Preface
Part 2, Keali'i's Sleeves
Part 3, Ikaika, In Progress

The Tattooed Poets Project: Erica Rivera

Today's tattooed poet is Erica Rivera from Minneapolis. She sent along this lovely photo:


Erica explains:

"This tattoo was both a 24th birthday present to myself (and perhaps a mini-rebellion after my divorce as well). It is the astrological symbol for Gemini, which I chose because I embody the twin personalities Geminis are infamous for.

The tattoo was done at the Ink Lab in Minneapolis by a man whose name I know longer remember but recall as being very gentle, especially since this was my first time. I’ve since gone on to get four more tattoos: another astrological symbol on my forearm and three emblems from the marathons I’ve completed on my ankles."

Erica Rivera is the author of Insatiable: A Young Mother’s Struggle with Anorexia (Berkley, 2009). She is the former first-place winner of the Powderhorn Writer’s Festival and her poetry has appeared in Moon Journal, The Mirage, and Writer’s Journal. She blogs at http://www.maneaterbook.com/blog.htm.

Head on over to BillyBlog to read one of Erica's poems here.

An Aries Neck Tattoo

I met Stephen walking south on Sixth Avenue this week and I asked him about his neck tattoo:


This is a symbol for the astrological sign Aries. Check out another Aries tattoo on the blog here.

He had this done at Tattoo Nation in the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, New Jersey.

Stay tuned, he may be sending us more ink in the future. He has six tattoos in all.

Thanks to Stephen for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Danielle's Stars and Signs Forever

Despite great inkspotting weather earlier this week, I found myself walking in Chelsea at lunch, marveling at the absence of tattoos.

I like to remind myself from time to time that Tattoosday is 70% tattoos and 30% about finding them.

So, I had walked down to one of our vendor's offices at lunch (13 blocks away) to get some forms we needed. I was on the elevator heading back downstairs when I noticed the woman next to me (who worked for the company I had just visited) had this interesting set of tattoos:


On the street, I may not have stopped her, but in an elevator, it seemed foolish not to.

Danielle had these tattoos (one of three total) inked at a shop in Long Beach, New York. She didn't recall the name of the shop or the artist who did the work, but she did mention that her fiance has a matching set of the three colored stars on his left bicep.

These stars and signs, tattooed on Danielle's inner right wrist, are decorative and, the three symbols represent Danielle, her mother and her sister.

From left to right, the three insignia stand for Libra (her mother's astrological sign), Gemini (for her sister) and Aries (her own Zodiac affiliation).

What I have found interesting about astrological tattoos, is that each sign of the Zodiac has a simple line representation, but that these symbols can be modified artistically in so many different ways. The whole range of astrological signs as interpreted by subjects of this site can be seen here.

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

Jason's Astrological Ink: Three Taurus Brothers

I met Jason and his father Charlie (see his ink here) at Penn Station while they were in between trains on a Miami-Boston journey.

Charlie caught my attention first, but he proudly indicated that Jason had tattoos as well. After talking to the father, I turned to the son and took this photo:


In the astrological race on Tattoosday, Taurus clearly has the lead. It helps that bulls make for such great tattoo art. Check out previous Taurus ink on the blog here.

Jason explained that, of his four tattoos, this one on his left bicep is particularly special, not just because he was born under the astrological sign of Taurus, but because his two brothers were as well.

The DJD under the bull represent his and his brothers' first initials (Dakota, Jason, Derry).

This piece was tattooed at his house in Florida by a family friend, "Crome," who specializes in tattoo and graffiti art in Miami. Check here to see Crome's work in Miami. He apparently is one of the trailblazers in the form of "MSG," or Miami Style Graffiti.

Thanks to Jason for sharing this astrological tribute to him and his brothers 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!

Mercedes Honors Family Members with her Ink

Mercedes doesn't remember the specific shops where she got her ink, but each piece honors members of her family, both living and gone.

Mercedes is a make-up artist that has very close ties to her family, and these relationships have manifested themselves on her tattoos.

The piece I first noticed, on her right arm, was this one:


This is actually comprised of two parts, the rose and the ankh. The rose was her first tattoo, inked because her mother and grandmother were both named Rosa. The ankh and the name "Iggy" were done as a memorial for her brother who had passed away.

Her neck/upper back piece is actually three tattoos inked in succession:


Mercedes started with the top segments, which she described as tribal dolphins. They are in honor of her niece, who is a Pisces.

Next is the piece below the dolphins, which is a representation of fire that corresponds to Mercedes' birth sign Aries, whose zodiac element is fire.

Below that are flames rising from the number 3. This is for her nephew. The flames correspond to his sign, Leo, whose zodiac element is also fire, and the number represents that he is third in the family line.

Thanks to Mercedes for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Michael's Taurus Tattoo

I ran into Michael at Borders in Penn Plaza. He has five tattoos, including a large koi sleeve on his right arm. He offered up the bull tattoo above on his left arm.

The piece was inked at Mike's Tattoo in Peterborough, Ontario, north of the border in Canada.

Michael is a Taurus, and this bull tattoo represents the astrological sign in the Zodiac. I have featured a Taurus tattoo before in the blog here.

Michael is an artist and traded one of his prints to the tattooist, in exchange for this piece on his left forearm. Check out Michael's website here to see his art. It's pretty amazing.

Thanks to Michael for sharing his tattoo here on Tattoosday!

Two of Tawni's Tattoos

It seemed appropriate to take pictures of two of Tawni's tattoos on Two-for-Tattoosday, and she was accommodating.

The first piece was the one that caught my eye initially, a snake on her left bicep that actually represents an "astrology marriage," in her words between Eastern and Western astrology.

The tattoo represents that she was born in the Year of the Snake and, it is positioned to mimic the sign for Leo (July 23 - August 22). It was inked at a shop called Camden Chameleon in Bellingham, Washington. The shop is now known as Chameleon Ink & Body Piercing.

Her other piece that I liked was on her inner right forearm:


The phrase ("Be the wind, not the cloud") is her own interpretation of a passage in the I Ching, or book of changes. Tawni used to do castings and this phrase resonates with her so she carries it with her on her skin. This was inked by Andre Ortego at the House of Tattoo in Tacoma, Washington.

Thanks to Tawni for sharing her interesting work with us here on Tattoosday!

Karen's Ink Balances the Physical and the Intellectual

Monday was a good tattoo day. I met Karen on Sixth Avenue in the 20's after her right ankle caught my attention and we chatted for a bit about tattoos.

The piece above is about 10 years old and is based on Northwestern Native American art. Karen studied art history in college and felt that this style of art is "smarter" and speaks in "more intelligent visual dialects" than other art forms.

This tattoo is based on "the dance of the wolf hunter". The following piece is similar in design.
It represents the physical aspect of her self.

Around 10 years ago, Karen finished college and drove up to Valdez, Alaska. She had no immediate purpose to go there, but she was just exploring, seeing that part of the country.

It was there, in a town so small that the grocery store often ran out of bread, that she found an amazing tattoo artist working out of a place called, appropriately, Valdez Tattoo. She didn't remember the artist but could recall that he was Hawaiian, which struck her as remarkable.

A quick call to the number listed on the net for Valdez Tattoo was a wrong number and the person who answered the phone wasn't aware of any tattoo shop nearby. So finding a link met with a dead end.

On the other hand foot, the physical aspect of the wolf tattoo seems, in her opinion, to balance the intellectual qualities of her other tattoo (on her left foot), which was inked somewhere in Chicago over 10 years ago.
Karen explains that the moon represents the feminine, and that the symbol within the moon is the astrological sign for Jupiter, which stands for knowledge and expansion of the mind.

Thanks to Karen for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Kara's Astrological Ink

In the post above (or here), I met two hair stylists this past Monday, who both had tattoos. The photo above is of one of three tattoos on Kara.

Kara is a Pisces, born on March 3, and she found a design that she liked to represent that aspect of her.

This tattoo was inked about six years ago at Allstar Tattoo in St. Louis, Missouri.

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

On the Cusp

I was on my way home when I spotted Lisa, who was with a friend, in the hours before Bon Jovi's second night at Madison Square Garden.

It was only when she stopped to explain, that I was able to grasp the tattoos meanings (two for Tattosday, no less!).

Lisa had a wrap-around musical staff on her right arm, a nod to her being a musician, but the pieces that circle limbs are hard to do justice for on the web.

I asked instead, about the two I had spotted, the ink that was on the back of her legs, down by the Achilles' heels.

Lisa stated she was "on the cusp," so she related to both astrological signs in proximity to her brithday, July 23.

Cancer, on her left leg, for those of us born June 21 to July 22, and Leo, on her right leg, for those in the July 23 to August 22 range.

Alas, Lisa was in a hurry, and my still-working-the-kinks-out camera was stuck in sunrise mode. The end result is a little blury - Lisa, don't forget to email me better pictures!

These tattoos were inked by Christian DiMenna at Lovecraft Tattoo in New Haven, Connecticut.

Thanks to Lisa for taking the time to chat about her tattoos!

Cathy's Cat-toos

I ran into Cathy at our local Rite Aid store where she was working replenishing the greeting cards stock.

Her short sleeves allowed her to more than adequately show off two tattoos on her upper arms. The first I saw was this astrological depiction of her birth sign:


That was, in fact, her first tattoo, inked back in 1993 at a shop in Philadelphia. No real explanation necessary. She is a Leo and wanted her sign depicted on her biceps. Leo was on the left.

Cathy has 8 tattoos in all. She has two on the upper part of her chest, 3 on her lower back and behind, and 1 below her navel along the waistline.

The tattoos on her chest were inked in London, and the one on her waistline was the only New York City tattoo.

The three on her lower back and the one on her right biceps were done at the same shop in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. She cannot recall the names of any of the shops or artists who tattooed her.

The one on her right biceps she's not completely happy with:


"It was supposed to be a female lion," she said, to go with the Leo, but it didn't come out quite right. She loves lions and other big cats.

She laughed and said, now that she thinks about it, she got the lioness on her right arm "the same time as I got my husband's name on my butt."

I did not ask about all of the tattoos that were completely covered. The tattoos on her chest are florals. She did say she would try to send me photos of the others.

Thanks again to Cathy again for sharing her lions here on Tattoosday!