Kris Shares An Original Tattoo That Embraces a Love of Wine

Although the tattoos on Tattoosday come, for the most part, from people I've met on the streets of New York City, I occasionally get submissions from surprising sources.

Take, for example, this awesome tattoo:

Photo Courtesy of Kris Wilson

This tattoo came to me from Mary, an old friend from high school who discovered Tattoosday through the wonders of Facebook. This isn't actually Mary's arm, but that of one of her friends. I'll let Mary explain:

"I love your blog about tattoos, and wanted to share one of my favorite tattoos with you. It's from a friend [Kris] who lives in California who is passionate about food and wine. She was married in an old barn in Healdsburg (Napa Valley region) last year. On her wedding invitations, she had a wine glass stain. She took that same stain and had an old tattoo artist in San Francisco bleed the ink to make it look like the wine stain. She had an old tattoo of two tusks made into old fashion wine openers. The French words la vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin mean life is too short to drink bad wine."

I can see why Mary loves this tattoo so much. There's a lot of meaning in it and it's done exceptionally well. I reached out to Kris to get some more detail.

She credited the artist Rob Merrill at Goldfield's Tattoo Studio in North Beach, San Francisco. Kris told me that she "brought in a really loopy French font that would have been too thin to do in the space needed so Rob actually drew this font on his own." She acknowledged that Mary pretty much described the origin of the tattoo above, but added, "The quote has a double meaning for me, with the other meaning being live your life however makes you happiest."

Thanks to Kris for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday, and to Mary for sending it my way in the first place!

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.

Bastille Day Special - Jessica Loves "La Tour Eiffel"

It's Bastille Day in France, so I thought we could celebrate by sharing a tattoo from Jessica, who I met last month at the end-of-season gathering for the Brooklyn Crescents lacrosse club here in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn:

This lovely tattoo of the Eiffel Tower, France's most recognizable landmark. Jessica got this from an artist named Kurt in Wilmington, Delaware. It just reinforces her love of the Eiffel Tower and French culture.

Thanks to Jessica for helping us celebrate Bastille Day here on Tattoosday!

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.

Kate's Marie Antoinette Tattoo (and a Look at Something New)

Looking back to May, I wanted to share this tattoo from Kate that I photographed at the New York City Tattoo Convention:

You can tell from the photo that Kate has simply incredible sleeves. These and the pistol shown in my convention recap here were tattooed by Becca Roach at North Star Tattoo in Manhattan.

It was this back piece, however, that really interested me:

Kate explained that this was her first large tattoo and it depicts Marie Antoinette. She told me, "I always felt a connection with good old Marie A, and felt she was an ordinary girl put in extraordinary circumstances."

The banner below Ms. Antoinette reads, "l'amour pour moi qui je suis, pas qui vous voulez etre a moi," which translates to "love me for who I am, not for who you want me to be."

She credited this tattoo to Jef Wright at Wealthy Street Tattoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In subsequent conversations with Kate, she told me that Marie now has company. Artist Becca Roach has started a new piece lower on Kate's back:

Can't wait to see the final product!

Thanks again to Kate for sharing her work 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.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Amanda's Tattoo Reminds Us that Life is Beautiful

Just a brief note...despite the Tattooed Poets Project for National Poetry Month, I still plan on spotting ink on the streets of New York, and posting photos here.

This is one of those posts....

On Saturday, April 4, my travels took me to the East Side of Manhattan, a part of town I don't usually frequent.

I had run an errand and was about to get on the train back to Brooklyn, when I ducked into a Duane Reade near the subway.

While standing in line, I noticed two young ladies talking to one another. One had the following tattoo inscribed above her left ankle:


"La vie est jolie," translated from the French, means "Life is beautiful."

As it turned out, Amanda, who shared this tattoo, was in great spirits. She was getting married later that afternoon. Several of her friends, presumably a bridesmaid or two among them, were standing nearby.

Amanda said that the expression encapsulated her outlook on life and that she loves France and French culture.

Her friend reminded her that she got the tattoo after her first visit to France.

Amanda also has a star tattooed on the inside of her left wrist, but just the two tattoos. A friend of hers, who is a tattoo artist, inked the inscription at his home in the Bronx.

Many thanks to Amanda for being up for talking with me on a day when she surely had bigger things on her mind!

We here at Tattoosday wish you a long, happy, and beautiful marriage!!