Matthew Shares Some Autumn Ink

Sometimes some people's tattoos are just destined for Tattoosday.

Case in point: this past July I was traversing the Brooklyn Bridge with family and some out of town friends. On the way down the bridge into Manhattan, a guy passed me walking toward Brooklyn. He had an amazing, colorful tattoo on his left arm. Under normal circumstances, I would have stopped him, but we were going different directions and the bridge was crowded.

It was a hot day, so we paused for some water at the bottom of the bridge before crossing into City Hall Park. There were seven of us in all and we were hanging by the Jacob Wrey Mould fountain when, who should I see, but the guy with the tattoo I so admired. Rather than crossing into Brooklyn, he had returned to Manhattan.

His name was Matthew and he was visiting from Utah. Check out his amazing tattoo:

It seemed appropriate to save this tattoo for the first full day of fall (I know it started yesterday, but technically not until 10:49 a.m. E.S.T.).

Matthew explained that this tattoo represents "where I've started [and] what I've grown to be."

He added,  "I got the colors because my birthday is in the fall ... so autumn colors, as well as, it looks more like a Dr. Seuss, so it's different than anyone else's tree tattoo." I couldn't agree more!

The artist is Craig Secrist at Ironclad Electric Tattooing in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Thanks to Matthew for sharing this awesome 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.

Domenic Helps Tattoosday Usher in Autumn

We've saved this one for today, the first day of fall:

This half-sleeve of falling leaves belongs to Domenic, who I met in Penn Station back in early July.

He credited the artist Laura Usowski at Lovecraft Tattoo in Hamden, Connecticut. He says he wanted something representing fall and Laura designed the tattoo. She did a great job!

Thanks to Domenic for sharing this tattoo which we here think is a perfect tattoo for the first day of fall!

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.

Steve's Sleeve of Leaves Ushers in the Fall Season

Earlier this month, I met Steve on the D train, as we headed home to Brooklyn.

He had a veritable panorama of fall foliage on his left arm and he happily shared his autumnal tattoos with us here at Tattoosday.

It only seemed fitting that, as summer has ended, we celebrate the new season with some fall colors.

Behold, Steve's sleeve o' leaves:

The eleven maple leaves on Steve's arm were all inked free hand by Mark Harada at Manhattan's East Side Ink over four sittings.

Steve acknowledges that the leaves changing colors represent a change, and these colorful symbols remind him that change is good.

Happy Autumn to all! And thanks to Steve for sharing his fallen maple leaves with us here on Tattoosday!

First Day of Autumn Tattoo Blues

To celebrate the end of summer (farewell, tattoos aplenty!) and welcome the beginning of fall (come out, come out, wherever you are!), I am posting this appropriate tattoo celebrating the new season.

I was fortunate enough to meet Brian on Friday, right in front of Borders on Penn Plaza.

As the last weekend of summer was upon us, it seemed bittersweet to find his tattoo above. Brian told me that it is a depiction of Sahmin, who is the god of Autumn in Irish mythology. When I went to research this further, I could not find a reference to such a deity, but I do believe that Brian was referring to Samhain, a traditional Celtic celebration after the end of summer.

As for the actual deity in question, let's just say it is perfect for the season, the arboreal face bestrewn with leaves. Perhaps my friend over at NeoPagan Ink can shed some light on this.

This piece was inked by Joe Ferzola (click for nice bio at About.com) at Inklinations in Copiague, New York. The link to Inklinations takes you to the Devil's Den in Copiague, run by a long-time associate of Joe's, Tony Lafemina.

Thanks to Brian for sharing his autumnal tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!