Celebrate the Brooklyn Bridge at Brooklyn Tattoo and Urban Folk Art® Gallery!

The Brooklyn Bridge, an icon that represents our borough, was completed 130 years ago and the good folks at Brooklyn Tattoo and Urban Folk Art® Gallery are hosting their fourth annual celebration in honor of the anniversary.

Owners Willie Paredes and Adam Suerte (who recently tattooed yours truly - here) are hosting the Brooklyn Bridge tattoo special - $30 Brooklyn Bridge tattoos - today, from 12 Noon to 7PM. From the shop's event page on Facebook:

"Those interested in receiving a Brooklyn Bridge themed tattoo can show up at the shop-Brooklyn Tattoo®, 99 Smith Street, Brooklyn, and pick from several flash (pre-drawn) images that evoke the spirit that has defined New York’s iconic skyline. Tattoos will be done by several of the Brooklyn Tattoo® staff on a first come, first serve basis. Also, for those not committed enough to join ink to skin, copies of the flash design sheets will be available for purchase as well as a limited edition book Adam Suerte put together showcasing 50 Brooklyn Bridge tattoos he’s done in the past."

Here's what you can expect from past year's designs:

If you're not down for a new tattoo, you should definitely consider attending the opening of the art show, tomorrow, May 24, 2013.

Again, from the Facebook event page:

"Urban Folk Art® Gallery will be honoring the 130th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge with a group show of over 30 local artists of varying mediums. In their third show of this type, artists will be showing their homages to the bridge with one common element. In February 2013, curator and contributing artist Adam Suerte aquired five 5 gallon buckets of surplus paint from the NY Department of Transit that was used to do touch ups on the Brooklyn Bridge (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/surplus-paint-from-the-brooklyn-bridge-now-could-be-yours/).

As an undying fan of the Brooklyn Bridge that is evident in his artwork, he was compelled to get some. Each artist in the group show will be using the 'Chocolate Brown Enamel' in some way within their piece. Painters, comic artists, graphic designers, photographers, screen printers, tattooers, graffiti artists, toy designers and artists of other mediums will be contributing. Suerte, as one of his pieces, has repackaged some of this paint in a limited edition quart size cans that will be for sale at the show. 

If you ever wanted to own a piece of the bridge, this could be considered pretty close.

The show opens May 24th from 7-10."

 Here are a few of the pieces on display:

by Dave Tree

by Steven Weinberg

by Paul St. Savage aka Angry Eel

Even if you can't make the opening, the work will be on display through the end of June, so, if you find yourself in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, you should definitely stop by and check out the amazing art!

Also, if you get a tattoo, feel free to e-mail us a photo at Tattoosday@gmail.com, along with a sentence or two about why you wanted to get this Brooklyn icon inked on you, and we'll share it on the site some time in the next few weeks.

Happy Birthday, Brooklyn Bridge!

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.

Contest Updates!

Congratulations to our reader Amy, who won the Brooklyn Tattoo contest!

Amy gets this cool tee from Brooklyn Tattoo:

You can check out all the shop merchandise here

.And, remember, we are giving away copies of Phil Padwe's Mommy Has a Tattoo and Tattoo Coloring Book #2.

You have until Thursday to enter by leaving a comment on the original post here, or on the Tattoosday Facebook page (here), or by e-mailing tattoosdaycontests@gmail.com.

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.

I'm Just a Bill, Yes, I'm Only a Bill

Last summer my small birthday gathering was punctuated by an unexpected gift from friends, Ronni and Wayne, and their kids Emma and Eric: a gift certificate for Brooklyn Tattoo, on Smith near Atlantic in downtown Brooklyn.

I was no stranger to the shop, in theory, having passed it many times and featured work by several artists (reviewable here).

Getting new work done is a cerebral process - I tend to think about it on different levels, and I pieced together a concept of a piece and then matched it up to Adam Suerte, based on what I knew of his style. The fact that I had a gift certificate made it easier, but it was this abbreviated exchange of messages that clinched it:

Me: Are you familiar with the "I'm Just a Bill" character from Schoolhouse Rock?

Adam: Oh yes, I am a product of Schoolhouse Rock and Saturday morning cartoons in general! ... Absolutely, i'd be honored to [do that].

That's all I needed to know that Adam was my guy so we met once to discuss layout and earlier today, the eponymous "Bill" was tattooed on my outer left ankle:

Photo by Adam Suerte

This is a raw, fresh shot from Adam's phone, and I must commend him for his excellent work, especially in light of my overactive nerves that sent my foot a-twitching throughout the process. I was a bit embarrassed because I've prided myself on sitting well, but when you don't have control over some reflexes, it can be stressful. However, Adam handled it well and did a great job. I'm extremely pleased.

Lest you not know what "Bill" is all about, he premiered in 1975 as part of the "America Rock" series is Schoolhouse Rock. Please, enjoy:



To celebrate my new tattoo, Adam has donated a t-shirt for Tattoosday readers:

It's a men's large, and if you post a comment below, or on the Tattoosday Facebook Page, or e-mail your name and address to tattoosdaycontests@gmail.com, you can win this awesome shirt.

The shop is also having a Brooklyn Bridge 130th anniversary group show in a couple weeks, which includes the $30 Brooklyn bridge tattoo specials. More on that when we get closer to the event.

In the mean time, be sure to enter to win the t-shirt by leaving comments.

Thanks to Adam for doing such a great job with the design, and to my friends Ronni, Wayne, Emma and Eric for helping make it all happen!

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.

This Little Piggie ... Runs Up Peter's Arm

Earlier this month, I headed to the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn on a mission - Melanie had sent me to Shelsky's Smoked Fish on Smith Street to fetch her some, well, smoked fish. Shelsky's has amazing lox, herring, and other tasty treats that cater to that refined palate. They also make some amazing sandwiches, flavored cream cheeses, and salads. I enjoyed their horseradish cream cheese and their citrus-roasted beet salad. Melanie's still kvelling about the thinly-sliced pastrami lox and house mustard herring. But, I digress.

Peter Shelsky, the owner, was gathering my order and I couldn't help but admire the pig tattoo on his arm:

He even rolled up his sleeve to show me that the tattoo had two parts:

Since the shop was busy when I was snapping the photos, I later asked Peter to tell a little more about the piece:

"My tattoo is an old-fashioned butcher's diagram of a pig.  He is running into my Nenox chef knife which is above the elbow.

I got them done in 2009 after eating pork every day through 2008.  I decided on New Year's eve 2008 that I wanted to make a resolution that I knew I would gladly commit to.  Eating pork every day of 2008 was that resolution, and I did it.  Pork is my #1 favorite meat.  The pig is a miracle animal. You can use every single part of the pig.  So, naturally, the tattoo just made sense to me.  The juxtaposition of me owning a Jewish appetizing shop, and working behind the counter with a pig tattoo on my arm is great.  It's a conversation starter, and I really like that.  I'm sure some folks are offended by it, but that's life."

Peter's tattoos were inked by Robert Bonhomme at Brooklyn Tattoo. I reached out to Adam Suerte at the shop, since Peter told me that Robert had moved on. Adam informed me that Robert is now working out of Hand of Glory in Park Slope.

Today is the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and it seemed appropriate, or inappropriate, depending on your perspective, to share this during the holidays. After all, as Peter reminded me, Shelsky's has "tons of smoked fish, salads, and platters to offer for Break Fast on
Yom Kippur!" Check their full menu out at www.Shelskys.com!

Thanks to Peter Shelsky for sharing his porcine tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! And Happy New Year to  all!

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.

Daniel Gives Us a Lady Liberty Update

Last May, we featured this great tattoo, courtesy of Daniel:

Read the original post here.

Daniel recently sent me updated photos of his sleeve, which I thought we'd share here. This work is all by the amazing Guido Baldini. He tattooed Daniel during a recent stint at Brooklyn Tattoo here in New York.

Photo Courtesy of Daniel Valvano and Guido Baldini

Photo Courtesy of Daniel Valvano and Guido Baldini

Photo Courtesy of Daniel Valvano and Guido Baldini

As Daniel explained it, he worked with Guido and

"We wanted to keep the theme going so I said I wanted a creepy background and he just free handed the clouds and lightening. The rotten apple was thrown in there at the very end."

Thanks to Daniel for updating us on his Lady Liberty tattoo!

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.

Sarah Channels Emma Goldman

I recently had the intense displeasure of discovering that my camera had broken. For someone whose spare time is spent taking pictures of other people's tattoos, this was a harrowing experience, especially since my BlackBerry's camera is flash-less and takes good pictures under only specific lighting conditions.

So what's a poor inkspotter to do? Pass out his card and hope for the best.

And despite dozens of cards distributed to many people with cool tattoos, the only one who has really come through for me is Sarah, who I met last Friday on the subway platform at West Fourth Street, as I waited for the D train to Brooklyn.

Possessor of several tattoos, the one of Sarah's I spotted was on her inner left forearm. My photo was blurry and, as the D pulled into West Fourth, she handed me her card so I could follow-up with her. Thankfully, she is a woman of her word, and sent me this photo yesterday:

Since Sarah is a writer and journalist, I'll let her do the talking. You can check out her work at  her website ohyouprettythings.net and/or read her blog at champagnecandy.tumblr.com. Sarah explains:

It says "It's not my revolution if I can't dance to it"

The tattoo is my most recent, and it's a paraphrase of a possibly-apocryphal Emma Goldman quotation. It's a line that spoke to me the first time I heard it. I'm a political journalist and a feminist activist, and Goldman's always been someone I looked up to. Also, I became a political person through music, and dancing and music have a particular significance for me.


It was done by Ryoko at Brooklyn Tattoo [who we most recently saw inked Julie Powell's tattoo here] and she's super-awesome...

As a lover of type tattoos, I had inquired about the font used and Sarah did not disappoint: "the font is Garton and the words revolution and dance are in Miama".

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

Julie's Crazy Tattoo

Inkspotting can be impulsive, but I also like to approach each volunteer after some consideration.

Rather than rush up on someone and barrage them with questions, I like to make sure the tattoo(s) in question are not only interesting to me, but will be interesting to others.

When I spotted Julie's back in Penn Station, for example, I hesitated:

It wasn't initially clear what her tattoo said and I was struck by its uniqueness. A huge fan of word and type tattoos, I couldn't recall ever seeing anything quite like it.

So my curiosity got the best of me and I introduced myself to Julie.

The tattoo "Loufoque," which is a slang term in butcher jargon for "crazy person". Julie explained that she apprenticed with a butcher shop for six months and it was a word she often heard tossed about by the staff, occasionally used when referring to a customer who might be difficult or, let's say, insane.

The term Loufuque derived from 19th Century butcher slang and it became part of the vernacular. Julie thought that this tattoo would be a great way to commemorate her experience.

The tattoo was done by Ryoko at Brooklyn Tattoo. I asked the artist where she came up with the letter design and she kindly gave me a little more perspective:

"I recall Julie requesting the letters themselves to express lunacy. The final design in the photo is my own interpretation of what she had asked for and I think my intention here was to make the phrase look chaotic and disorderly, yet somewhat maintaining it's legibility. It's what I was able to put together by trying to depict what she might have been imagining in her head at the time."

So, this post was written and prepped and I was online doing some final research when I stumbled upon this tidbit of information from "Of Meat and Men" by Rachel Kramer Bussel over on The Daily Beast:

Her goodbye present from the Fleisher’s staff is a set of knives inscribed with her name and “Loufoque,” French-butcher Pig Latin for “Crazy Lady,” a term she now has permanently tattooed across her back. Yet Powell now sounds much surer of herself than the lost woman whom we find in the early pages of Cleaving. Next up is a stab at a novel: “I’ve written quite enough memoirs for a 36-year-old.”

Was this coincidence? Or were we talking about the same person?

Scrolling back in the article, I discovered that the Powell here and the Julie that I met in Penn Station were one and the same person.

The same person who crafted The Julie/Julia Project, in which the author blogged her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which became a book, which in turn became the film Julie and Julia. All of this Julie never once mentioned. Then again, I never asked. And it is all about the tattoo, after all.

That being said, thanks to Ryoko for sharing her thoughts about creating this tattoo, and a hearty thanks to Julie Powell for sharing this interesting tattoo. I'm glad my curiosity got the better of me!

Tracy's Indian God

I approached Tracy in Penn Station to ask her about the large Shiva tattoo on her right arm.

However, the piece wasn't finished, so she rolled up her left pant leg to display this intricate tattoo:


She couldn't remember which god this is, in the Hindu pantheon. I'm going to guess it is Brahma, the Creator, but I will entertain corrections, especially if I'm wrong.


Tracy loves Asian art and similarly loved this design.

It was inked in about four hours at Brooklyn Tattoo by Robert. Work from Brooklyn Tattoo has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

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

Vincent Bears the Spear of Longinus

I met Vincent Corrigan on the way to the subway on 33rd Street between 7th and 6th Avenues. It was a giant arm piece that crawled up under his shirt and onto his shoulder that first caught my eye.

However, he offered up the piece above and, in the course of speaking with him, I took pictures of three other tattoos that were notable. I am going to discuss them in reverse order.

First, this piece may be familiar to many:


That's the Guinness harp, a trademark recognizable to beer connoisseurs:


Not to overstate the obvious, but Guinness is a dry stout beer that originated in Dublin, and is thus a matter of pride for the Irish. Mr. Corrigan, as one might venture from his surname, is of Irish ancestry.

The harp is on the top of his left bicep and is one of his older pieces. In fact, he credits Ryoko at Brooklyn Tattoo for taking what was previously a bit of shoddy inkwork, revitalizing it with some excellent restoration and making a respectable tattoo out of it.

Further down the arm, on Vincent's inner left forearm, are two symbols I recognized immediately:


The top one is the logo familiar to fans of the band Audioslave. The fiery emblem appeared on the band's debut album cover.

Vince is a singer and a huge fan of the singer Chris Cornell (lead singer of Audioslave, and more famously, Soundgarden).
I also am a fan of Cornell's (although I haven't seen him in concert,
unlike Vince who guesses he's seen him twenty times).

Below the Audioslave logo is one of the four runes representing band members from Led Zeppelin:


These runes appeared first on the band's fourth album. The rune tattooed on Vincent's arm is the one on the far right and according to Wikipedia:

Robert Plant's symbol is the feather of the Egyptian goddess Ma'at, representing truth, justice, fairness and writing, encapsulated by an unbroken circle representing life. According to Egyptian mythology, Osiris, the god of judgment and death, would take the heart of those who died and put it on a balance with the feather of Ma'at. If the heart outweighed the feather, the person's soul would go to hell, but on the other hand, if the heart was lighter than the feather, the soul would go to heaven.

However, Plant's rune is significant to Vincent because he is the lead singer.

And now to the amazing piece at the top of this post, well worth another look:


Vincent indicates that this is the "Spear of Longinus," one of the many names given to The Holy Lance, which was the weapon used to pierce the side of Jesus Christ during the Crucifixion.

The name Vincent has an origin in the meaning of the word conqueror and the surname Corrigan
derives from a root word which means "spear" or "lance". It is this primary parallel that gave Vincent the urge to ink this relic of Christianity onto his arm. It appears that the tattoo is modeled after the Hofburg Spear which is kept in Vienna.


This spear is an object of fascination in literature and the arts, often as the subject matter for narratives pertaining to the Crusades, with a link in some cases to Ireland. This brings the spear of Longinus an additional link to Vincent's pride in his Irish ancestry.

The spear tattoo, along with the Audioslave and Robert Plant tattoos, was inked by artist Eric Wigger at The Devil's Rose Tattoo in Blue Point, New York, on Long Island.

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