Born on the Third of July (Dispatch from the Urban Tattoo Convention, Part 2)

When I went to the NYC Urban Tattoo Convention last weekend, I was expecting a lot, but I wasn't anticipating walking out with a fresh new tattoo. It was an early birthday surprise, to say the least.

My night changed for the better when, turning a corner, I ran into Phil Phlash aka Phil Sheridan aka inkone aka Flex Sinatra. Phil and I worked together years ago, before he left for bigger and better things. He left the office and picked up a tattoo machine, but before he did, we had many office conversations about tattoos, and he was an early fan of Tattoosday.

Fast forward to Saturday night at the UTC, Phil and I were catching up, and he asked me if I wanted to get tattooed. I knew he had recently started working at Tuff City Tattoos and was trying to figure out how to make it to the Bronx, when he clarified, "No, tonight."

I've been following Phil's work on the various social media and have seen his talents develop over the years. It had always crossed my mind that, one day, he might be adding to my collection, but it was not in my immediate plans. Until now.

Phil brought me back to his booth, and he showed me a flash book of some classic old-school traditional designs. If you check him out on Instagram (under Flex_Sinatra), you'll see that his traditional work is solid, and his tattoos are done with confidence and passion. My head was spinning as he suggested designs, I kept wanting to defer to his better judgment. This wasn't going to be a tattoo with great, complicated meaning. It was, however, going to be my first tattoo inked by a friend.

He turned a page and showed me an eagle. His face lit up. Mine did as well. It was decided. We figured out the particulars and the placement, and when I came back a bit later, the stencil seemed to have grown. This was no little Sailor Jerry shark; this was a big piece going on the side of my calf.

When all was said and done, this was the final result, a traditional American Bald Eagle:

What better way to celebrate my upcoming birthday, on the eve of Independence Day, than with a traditional  piece of American flash?

I even captured a snippet of the convention chaos while getting tattooed:

And, after we were done, Phil and I went around showing our work off to fellow convention-goers. Despite his expression below, he was fairly pleased with the end result:

Self-Inflicted Photo with Phil Phlash

I still have lots more to report from the UTC, so stay tuned. This moment, however, was the high point of the show, for obvious reasons.

Thanks to Phil Phlash for this awesome new tattoo in my collection!

This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing 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.

Tyler's Bald Eagle

I spotted Tyler outside of my office building on Seventh Avenue last month.

Actually, the first thing I noticed was Tyler's eagle:

One of three tattoos he has, Tyler explained that he really likes traditional designs, and that eagles, in his opinion, are among the coolest animals.

He also likes the way feathers look in tattoo designs, and this eagle's plumage is inked exceptionally well.

He credits Jeremy at Imperial Tattoo in Portland, Oregon with this piece.

Thanks to Tyler for allowing his eagle to fly here on Tattoosday!

The Eagle and the Parrot

We here at Tattoosday have been biding our time over the past week, a seven-day drought of posts to match the scarcity of ink visible in the Frozen Apple of a brittle New York winter.

So today I am posting work not spotted in the streets, but work on the legs of Pete, who meticulously crafted this lovely piece on my upper back last year.

I snapped this shot of an old-school parrot on his left leg late last summer:


And then, last week, on January 2, while peeking on the Year of the Tiger hullabaloo at Thicker than Water, where he is tattooing when not at New York Hardcore, I photographed this cool bald eagle on his right leg:


with this skull in the eagle's talons:


Both tattoos were crafted by old-school Brooklyn tattoo artist Steve Delgado.

I thank Pete for his outstanding work, and for sharing some of his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Cody's Eagle Braves the Storm

On the day after Thanksgiving, I was passing through Penn Station and I spotted this tattoo:


This depiction of an eagle flying through a storm belongs to Cody, who was in town visiting from Key West, Florida.


This symbol of strength and courage enduring the dangers of a powerful storm is fitting, as Cody began work on the piece as a tribute to his father, serving in the Armed Forces in Afghanistan.

Cody has already had three sittings for this wonderful tattoo, and is close to finishing it with "Tattoo" Mike Haugh at Key West Tattoo Company.

Thanks to Cody for sharing this great tattoo! We look forward to seeing the final product!

Two for Tattoosday: Some Traditional Work Imported from California

Last week I spotted a young tattooed woman chatting with a friend outside of the Chelsea Whole Foods store. I hesitated because I was running late, but doubled back across the street and introduced myself. As it turned out, Krista and her two friends, Ryan and Jake, had recently moved from San Francisco to New York. All of them had tattoos.

Her friend Jake shared his first, but I am deferring that one to a later, more appropriate date (hint: check back on Father's Day).

After seeing Jake's tattoo, I turned to Krista and Ryan. "Who's next?" I asked hopefully.
Fortunately, I didn't get the "Wasn't the one tattoo enough?" attitude.

Krista deferred to Ryan and he offered, with his friend's assistance, this amazing piece:


I was surprised, to be honest, to see such a huge, traditional sailor tattoo on a tall young man with a finely-waxed handlebar mustache, so I had to ask what was behind this amazing piece.

He had a simple answer, "I'm American." And the logic computes on different levels. The eagle is our national bird, and the art of tattoo, which was discovered by British sailors on the indigenous populations of the South Pacific, didn't really explode in popularity until American servicemen started bringing their body art home from overseas.

There is something purely American in the naval tattoos that have embedded themselves in our cultural psyches and, although other cultures may argue the uniqueness of such art to U.S. citizens, that is the perception that has been re-enforced by our society.

This amazing tattoo was completed in four four-hour sessions by Zach Johnson at Idle Hands Tattoo Studio in San Francisco. Mr. Johnson is no longer listed on staff there but, according to his MySpace page, he occasionally pops back in from time to time.

Chest tattoos are notoriously painful and Ryan concurred: the pain, he said, especially over the diaphragm, was the worst he's ever felt ("worse than that from accidents" he has been in, he insisted). And he has seven tattoos, to boot, so he is no novice.

I turned to Krista, inquiring, and smiled when it was clear she was contributing as well. I believe it was the first time I got three people together to participate, with three very different tattoos.

She offered up this unique tattoo, also by Zack Johnson:



Krista explained that Zack had drawn up a whole series of flapper-esque, gypsy-style profiles, putting his personal spin on each one. This one has a feline appearance and, as a lover of cats, she took a shine to the design. The tattoo, as a result, has a traditional feel, but with a modified spin that makes it more unique. I particularly like the collar with the bell attached to it:


Thanks to Krista and Ryan for sharing their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!