Tattoosday Blog: Three Kings Tattoo

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Familiar Ink: Meister Returns to Tattoosday with an Awesome NYC Tattoo

✓ birds, Central Park, hawks, Myles Karr, New York City, Peacocks, pigeons, Squirrels, Three Kings Tattoo

There's something therapeutic about running posts of work I spotted over the summer. The warmth from these encounters is brightening these winter days.

Case in point, on a bike ride out to Coney Island, I was cruising along the boardwalk when I spotted a woman on a bench, reading a book. She had tattoos so, naturally, I stopped.

It was after I introduced myself that she recognized me, and I saw the sparrows on the backs of her calves. This was Meister, who had contributed back in January 2012 here.

Meister blogs at The Nervous Cook and is a food writer and coffee columnist. Now, she is a repeat subject on Tattoosday. I first met her in December 2011 on 23rd Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan. Here we were, 19 months later, in another borough and another season.

What would have been impossible to see in the winter, was now visible in the summer, and Meister rolled up her shorts and shared this awesome tattoo on her thigh:

This is, if you look at it closely, an aerial view of world-famous Central Park. Meister explained:

"It's a map of Central Park, with some birds, and a little squirrely-o ... I love Central Park, it's my favorite part of New York City and I wanted to honor it ...it's my home. And on the other [thigh] I plan to get a lake in my husband's home town, which is Oklahoma City, to finish it off, my last piece, but I've been hesitating because it will be my last piece of work..."

In addition to the red-tailed hawk and the New York City pigeon, there's a peacock because, as Meister explained, "I was running past the park the day that the peacock escaped" from the Central Park Zoo. You can re-visit that newsworthy event here.

Like her previous work featured here, Meister had this done by Myles Karr. If you're going to stick with one artist, Myles is among the best to choose from. He's currently with the amazing shop Three Kings Tattoo, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Myles and the good people at Three Kings have had work featured on Tattoosday many times before. Click here to see everything from Myles on Tattoosday and here to see all the work from Three Kings we've showcased.

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.

Erica's Tattoos Help Her Through a Difficult Ordeal

✓ Brooklyn Made, flowers, Literary Quotes, Literary Tattoos, Three Kings Tattoo, Wicked Garden Tattoo, Yoga

I spotted Erica in my neighborhood earlier this month when I noticed a tattoo on her upper right arm. She was actually having some work done later in the week on it, so she offered up this quote on her forearm instead:

When I asked her about these lines, "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars," she explained it was a quote from Khalil Gibran. The original source is unclear, as it is also attributed to a writer named Edwin Hubbell Chapin.

When I asked her why she chose this quote, she elaborated, "I'm going through a divorce right now ... it was a lot of emotional abuse [and] this represents that."

She had that done by an artist at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn.

She also had this on her inner left arm:

She got this done by a visiting artist named Rebecca at Brooklyn Made Tattoo. This, too, has its roots in her past problems with her marriage. "Yoga," she told me "brought a lot of comfort and peace" to her during these difficult times. The flowers and the om on the petal represent that.

She followed up with me the following week with this photo:

The photo is a bit blurry, but you can see the differentiation between the older, larger piece, and the new work that Mr. Kaves from Brooklyn Made added to both the top and bottom of the tattoo. The original work she credited to Vic at Wicked Garden Tattoo in Clearfield, Utah.

Erica is a photographer, whose work can be seen on her website here.

Thanks to Erica for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

My First Sailor Jerry Tattoo, in Honor of His 102nd Birthday

✓ Events, Ink and Dagger (Atlanta), Jason Monroe, Sailor Jerry Tattoos, Sharks, Three Kings Tattoo

If Sailor Jerry were alive today, he'd be a ripe 102 years old.

If you don't know who Sailor Jerry is, you likely don't know much about tattoos.

It's an oversimplification, but Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins, who died in Honolulu in 1972, is the godfather of modern American tattooing. Based in downtown Honolulu, Sailor Jerry was credited for "modernizing" American tattooing, and was a mentor to Ed Hardy, among others.

Sailor Jerry has become a brand, and the savvy folks who are behind the brand, are masters at celebrating the name of Sailor Jerry, and distributing Sailor Jerry rum. Just check out their website if you want to know more.

On Tuesday, I learned that, as they have in years past, the good folks at Sailor Jerry were celebrating the master's birthday with a free tattoo giveaway.

This multi-city event was landing in Brooklyn, which piqued my interest and, since I was not working on Wednesday, I thought I'd give it a shot.

Now, I've been to events with bargain-priced tattoos (see my Friday the 13th event reporting here), and I wasn't willing to show up at dawn, but aimed for a 12:30 arrival at The Gutter, the Bowling Alley/Bar in Williamsburg that was housing the event.

When I turned the corner, I was prepared for a horde of ink-seeking enthusiasts. There was no one in sight. In fact, the venue didn't even open until five p.m.

I decided to walk over to Manhattan Avenue and say hi to the good people at over at Three Kings Tattoo, where I ran into Alex McWatt and met Jason Monroe, one of the artists who would be doling out the Sailor Jerry ink.

After grabbing a quick bite, I headed back to the Gutter where, much to my chagrin, there was someone standing outside, waiting. I was happy to learn, however, that he was merely having a cigarette in the shade. It was 1:00, the bar didn't open until five, the event didn't start for six more hours, and I was alone. Not only was I first in line, I was the line.

Fortunately, it was a beautiful day and I was on the shady side of the street:

I was hoping to pass the time by interviewing passing tattoo aficionados, but some technical issues limited my true interactions. Nonetheless, I was joined by a woman named Gloria after about an hour, and she was kind enough to provide me with an extra beach chair.

After four p.m., the line had grown to a handful, and by five, when the Gutter opened, we had a couple dozen people waiting along North 14th Street.

Ever the skeptic, and not knowing how the event would be organized, I deputized myself with gathering a list of names, in arrival order, of the handful of us that had arrived so early. No one likes to stand in line for hours only to see late arrivals pop up out of nowhere and jump to the head of the class. Plus, it killed time and allowed me to pass out Tattoosday cards, plugging the site.

From the head of the line looking toward Berry Street and Nassau Avenue

Once the Sailor Jerry rep arrived and politely told me the list (now 29 people long) wouldn't be needed, I stopped running back and forth collecting names. Several times before the event started, people came out explaining the rules, handing out drink tokens and pins to redeem for free hot dogs.

I was the first one in, so things moved pretty quickly. Those of us in line were trying to do the math - how were three artists going to do 102 tattoos in a 7-hour span? "They're small," I was told by the woman running point from Three Kings, "and we have a good system in place." Still, that's four to five tattoos per tattooer every hour, allowing time to break-down and set-up after each piece.

So, here's how it went down:

After eating a delicious hot dog from Bark Hot Dogs, eschewing the onions to spare the tattooer, I signed a release form and headed to the dart board:

If you look closely, you can see the five options of Sailor Jerry flash that were part of the promotion. Whichever design your dart was closest to, that was the design you got. I would have been happy with anything, except perhaps the cherry, so I aimed low and hit the left side of the bottom monkey - Bingo! I wanted the shark most of all!

Alas, the burden of being first is not having the time to think about where to put the tattoo - which is ironic considering I had six hours to think about it.

Jason Monroe was waiting for me, poised to launch the event with the first tattoo of the night. "Where do you want it?" he asked. I froze and stared as I considered all the options. He broke the spell, "C'mon, arm or leg?" These events usually limit location to limbs because they are generally the fastest parts to tattoo. I blurted out "arm" and sat down. After a brief discussion we agreed to put it up flush against my bigger tattoo on my upper left arm. It seemed to fit there, although if I had to do it over again, I might move it. Then again, I might not.

Jason asked me what color I wanted and I did what I always recommend - defer to the artist. Let them use their best judgment to determine what looks best. He worked quickly and efficiently as I stared out the windows of the Gutter at some of the people still standing in line.

Jason Monroe tattooing me efficiently, photo courtesy of Igor at DrivenByBoredom.com

I did learn that Jason had just recently moved up to Three Kings from Atlanta, where he worked at Ink & Dagger Tattoo Parlour.

He finished the tattoo, by my best estimate in a hair under ten minutes. Here it is, two days later:

Afterwards, I wandered over to the bar and traded in my token for a Sailor Jerry rum and coke, and wandered about, talking to a lot of the folks I had met earlier in the day, many of whom were waiting patiently for their turn.

Matt Van Cura, from Invisible NYC was tattooing, as well, and I later learned that he was also in charge of VIPs, who had some additional options to choose from.

I chatted with the photographer, Igor, who did a brief write-up and posted over 100 photos from the event over on his website Driven By Boredom. Did I mention there was free bowling, too?

I wasn't long for this party, however, as I was tired out by my marathon goal to be number one. Why show up early? This sums it up:

Photo by Igor at Driven By Boredom

I did meet some really great people and, who knows, maybe you'll see some of their tattoos in the days to come. I did snap a cool photo on a young lady named Ashley, who shared a particularly unusual tattoo.

Thanks to the awesome folks at Sailor Jerry - do check out their website here. There's a lot of great tattoo history there, and they are involved in some pretty great ink-related events. You can sign up for e-mail alerts and check out some of their archival photos and video.

And thanks to the artists and staff at Three Kings Tattoo, as well, with a special "mahalo" to Jason Monroe, for my giving me my first Sailor Jerry tattoo.

Inkspotting in the Media: Daisy Shares a Horse Tattoo

✓ Annie Lloyd, Horses, Inkspotting in the Media, taxidermy, Three Kings Tattoo

Way back in January 2012, I was reading an article in The New York Times called "Continuing Education, At the Bar" which reported on the growing popularity of educational events in NYC watering holes, citing "The Secret Science Club" as one of the more popular of these phenomena.

The club's Carnivorous Nights annual Taxidermy Contest was the event that really stood out, and the Times article was accompanied by a slide show, featuring club members posing with their contest entries.

Several participants were sporting tattoos. As it was January, a "slow" time of year for Tattoosday, I thought it would be cool to perhaps reach out to some of these individuals and see if anyone might be interested. It could be a new series of sorts, say "Inkspotting in the Media," for lack of a better term.

One person I selected was Daisy Tainton:

I noticed she had a tattoo on her arm and, well, she looked pretty cool, so I found her on Facebook, and sent her a message inviting her to be on Tattoosday.

I didn't hear back from her until eight months later, last September, with a note apologizing that it took so long to respond, but my message had been delegated to one of Facebook's sub-folders.

To make a long story longer, the passed time had addled my memory, and I thought Daisy was a straggling tattooed poet, who was responding to one of my inquiries for the Tattooed Poets Project, for which I send out numerous inquiries every year. I politely told her I would reach out to her in the winter, when I started working on the following April's installment.

Well, ultimately, this was all sorted out, but only after Daisy had sent me photos of a tattoo on her upper left arm, just shortly after it had been inked:

Here's the tattoo in better detail:

Daisy explains:

"I saw a lamp in the window of Housing Works, snapped a photo through the grate (they were closed and the items in the window were to be sold upon store opening) and sent it to my good friend Nathan Burke. He drew it as a tattoo, and my boyfriend at the time fine-tuned it before I took it to Annie [Lloyd] and Three Kings Tattoo [in Brooklyn]."

Daisy tells us:

"I am an Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural History. I love insect jewelry because it showcases nature's beauty and bounty -- and I feel good about using beetles that were farm raised instead of harvested wild. This way they get to live their full lives in peace and then live on as exquisite adornments in loving homes.

In addition, I have the pleasure of being a yearly entrant and award-winner in the Carnivorous Nights Brooklyn Taxidermy Contest, where in years past I have displayed many ridiculous and whimsical items ranging from beetle dioramas to antique fur coat sculptures to jewelry."

Here are some more great links about the Carnivorous Nights events:

This is a great video from Daily Motion:

New York hosts annual taxidermy contest by afpenglish

And a piece in The Wall Street Journal online.

And this post which has a photo of one of Daisy's dioramas.

Thanks to Daisy Tainton for sharing her tattoo and introducing us to the art of competitive taxidermy!

A New Tattoo on Friday the 13th, or, the Templar of My Familiar

✓ Alex McWatt, Friday the 13th, Knights, Templars, Three Kings Tattoo

People familiar with Tattoosday have seen my Friday the 13th tattoo posts. Melanie has two and I have one, and I remember watching enviously when she got her first (here), but it was her birthday, so it didn't make sense for me to get one then.

Someone commented on the site back then that I should check out Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn, that we wouldn't have to have to wait all day like at Dare Devil, but when the next opportunity came along, we were already looking at Hand of Glory, which was a little closer to home.

This past January, we missed our chance and as our turned out, HOG was packed and a late arrival would have been for naught.

But there are three Friday the Thirteenths this year, and in April, I called Three Kings. "Sorry," I was told, "we're not doing it this month." Well, I thought, there's always July.

However, it didn't look good for July. My company is closing and as head of Human Resources, I have been coordinating and overseeing layoffs. We had twenty separations scheduled for Friday the Thirteenth.

I didn't want to wait until next May, so I reached out to Alex Mcwatt at Three Kings to see if maybe they could squeeze me in. Not really following the first-come first-served rule, but I thought having showed his work on Tattoosday before (here, here, and here) and showcasing a lot of work from the other amazingly talented artists at the shop (a full history here), he might consider it. The worst he could do was say no, right?

Alex promptly replied, but he had an unexpected response. My heart sank when he told me they were no longer doing the event. However, he did say he would tattoo me with a piece of old flash if I wanted, just without the Friday the Thirteenth mayhem.

I was, as you might imagine, completely stoked. I got why they decided to stop doing the event. most likely why Hand of Glory also skipped this month as well. Its a great deal if you want a cheap tattoo experience, but who can blame artists for tiring quickly of people wanting cheap experiences? Especially when many of the people getting these novelty items were not always loyal customers, but merely bargain hunters who would only show up once or twice a year to zip in, zip out, and that was that. I totally got it.

It just so happened we were in the neighborhood last Sunday, so Melanie and I stopped in to meet Alex and nail down the details. We confirmed I'd come in on Friday, after a brutal day of work, and I'd pick something off the walls. I had also invited Alex to draw up something new, if he wanted, and that I would be very open and receptive to it, as long as it didn't "gross out my daughters or piss off my wife".

I had once been told by someone I once interviewed that he liked to go into a shop, ask an artist what they were drawing, and ask for that to be tattooed on them, if he dug the art. The concept is, an artist will be much more excited about doing something new and fresh than doing something they modified or have done before. The more enthusiastic the artist is about the design, I believe, the more care and passion they'll put into their work. That's not to say they'll do a poor job on an old piece, but they'll be happier doing something more interesting, and that can only positively impact the final product.

So, I arrived on schedule Friday and Alex showed me something new he has drawn up, a profile of a knight in armor. Way cool. I love the image and I immediately started relating to it. My name, "William," has etymological roots in Europe and derives from Wilhelm, which is a compound of will (or desire) and helm (protection).

I had also been doing some work earlier in the week, looking at my family ancestry on my mother's side. I descend from Englishmen on one branch of the family tree and the Scottish clan Graham on another branch. The design, which he had only recently drawn up resonated with me. When I told Alex this, he nodded and said, "it was in the ether".

From his perspective, when they had been toying with the idea of doing more Friday the 13th flash, Alex said he had been considering drawing from Masonic and the Knights Templar. There's a lot of 13 imagery in those deep mysterious traditions, and back in 1307, there was even an infamous event when a French king had many of the knights arrested on Friday, October 13. See the 13's in the date? I am oversimplifying here, but these arrests led to a wave of anti-templar frenzy in Europe and in the Catholic Church. Many of these knights were tortured and executed, and that initial date of Friday the 13th has often been cited as one of the earliest example of the superstition surrounding the unlucky thirteenth day.

But, I digress. Let's cut to the chase. Alex did a phenomenal job:

This is just above my right ankle, on the outer side of my leg. The lines and shading are brilliant. The photo above was taken by Alex on my Samsung Galaxy IIs, so it is still a little bloody, but you can see what a great job he did.

I also got the opportunity to further support the shop by purchasing t-shirts for me and Melanie - it was her consolation for not getting new Friday the 13th ink.

I got this classic Dan Trochio-designed tee:

photo courtesy of Three Kings Tattoo (that's not me modeling)

and I got Melanie this cool new shirt designed by Josh Egnew:

photo courtesy of Three Kings Tattoo (that's not Melanie modeling)

You can check out a lot of other cool merchandise at the shop here.

I found the shop clean, friendly, and I saw some amazing work being done. The line-up of artists in house is one of the most talented groups in New York City. I would highly, HIGHLY recommend Three Kings to anyone looking for great custom work in Brooklyn.

Thanks again, from the bottom of my heart, to Alex McWatt, for making this an awesome Friday the Thirteenth to remember!

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.

Remembering the King of Pop, Three Years Later

✓ Alex McWatt, Friday the 13th, Michael Jackson, Three Kings Tattoo, Zombie

It's hard to believe that it has been three years since Michael Jackson's tragic passing. It only seems fitting that we pay our respects by sharing this tattoo, which illustrates the King of Pop in one of his most famous incarnations: a zombie in Michael Jackson's Thriller.

This piece belongs to Bjorn, who I met earlier this month, out on the Coney Island boardwalk.

The tattoo is inked by Alex McWatt at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn. It was part of one of their Friday the 13th tattoo extravaganzas.

Thanks to Bjorn for sharing this timely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

And just because it is such a timeless video, here is Michael Jackson's Thriller:

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The video is (C) 1982 MJJ Productions Inc.

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.

Blaise & A Unique Sugar Skull

✓ Alex McWatt, Sharks, Sugar Skulls, Three Kings Tattoo

I met Blaise on a sunny spring day near the corner of 8th Avenue and 33rd Street.

He has a lot of ink, the majority of which was tattooed by Alex McWatt of Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn.

Blaise pointed out the sugar skull in the center of his arm:

This is a sugar skull with a twist - note the rainbow spilling forth from the jaw and, in case you can't tell from the photo, that's a shark riding the rainbow wave.

Blaise singled this out because the tattoo was conceived in partnership with his little sister. It refers to a project they had done together.

Thanks to Blaise for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 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.

Meister's Memorial Sparrows

✓ 334 Bowery Tattoo, birds, Memorial, Myles Karr, Sparrows, Three Kings Tattoo

Last month, I was leaving the Muhlenberg branch of the New York Public Library when I spotted a woman with two birds on the backs of her calves:

These two sparrows belong to Meister, who is also known as The Nervous Cook.

I love how these are not your typical tattoo sparrows, but are more lifelike than the traditional bird flash that is much more common.

She explained that these, two of her eight tattoos, are memorial tattoos, that she has "for three people that I lost, roughly around the same time." Meister elaborated:

"A best friend of mine passed away in a scuba accident - she's the female sparrow [on the left calf] ...

...and then two good friends of mine died within two weeks of each other ... totally just a a devastating series of unfortunate accidents."

These, along with most of her other work, were tattooed by Myles Karr, who works out of Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn. Meister indicated that these sparrows were done a while back, when Myles still worked out of the now-defunct 334 Bowery Tattoo. Work from Myles has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Meister for sharing her beautiful sparrows with us here on Tattoosday! Be sure to visit her over at The Nervous Cook.

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.

Kyle's Industrial Sunflowers

✓ Circus, City versus Country, Crows, Myles Karr, Sunflowers, Three Kings Tattoo

Riding uptown on the 3 train, I see a sleeve half way across the car that just looks amazing. I can't make out the specifics, but the color and detail tell me it's a fantastic piece.

The problem is, it's a crowded express train during rush hour, and unless this guy gets off when I get off, I won't get a chance to talk to him.

As luck would have it, he does xit the train at the same stop, and as I am trying to catch up with him as he heads upstairs, and across Broadway, I recognize his left sleeve. His name is Kyle, I interviewed him in 2008 (using a borrowed camera, no less) and his post appeared here.

This is new ink, however, and when I finally catch Kyle on the north side of 72nd, it takes a moment, but he remembers me, and is happy to share his new work, which bears a similar theme to the tattoo I spotted last time our paths crossed:

It is by the same artist, Myles Karr, who had done the tattoo from the original post when he was at Saved Tattoo. Myles is now at Three Kings, also in Brooklyn.

Like the prior encounter, from over three years ago (May 2008), the right sleeve is a dichotomy. The left sleeve is a city vs country tension. This piece is dominated by a burst of sunflowers, which travel down the arm and circle the elbow.

On the flip side is another cityscape, this time more silhouetted, and he explains that his near-pastoral umbringing was punctuated by the sunflowers he and his mother harvested. This, juxtaposed by the industrial city, is the center of the tension between the two aspects of the tattoo.

As an afterthought, I snapped a shot of the murder of crows lining the inside of his arm. "I just love crows," he told me.

He also offered up this shin piece, also by Myles Karr:

He explained it is an old-time traditional circus strongman, as old circus and sideshow imagery being another style of designs that he likes.

It was great seeing Kyle again and appreciating the amazing work he had added since our paths last crossed three years ago. Thanks to Kyle for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Ashley's Scarabs

✓ Jason June, Scarabs, Three Kings Tattoo

I met Ashley a couple months ago, over the summer, on a Friday afternoon at the Broadway-Lafayette subway station.

She had two tattoos on her upper left arm that jumped out at me:

These two scarabs were tattooed by Jason June, from Three Kings Tattoo, in Brooklyn. Why scarabs? Ashley explained that they have "a family significance from the scarab bracelet that I have." She showed me the bracelet and two of the stones matched the colors in the tattoos. Pretty neat.

Check out posts tagged Three Kings here to see the work we've featured from the shop on Tattoosday.

Thanks to Ashley for sharing these scarabs with us here on Tattoosday!

Leigh's Skull with a Mouthful of Blossoms

✓ cherry blossoms, Myles Karr, Skulls, Sugar Skulls, Three Kings Tattoo

Last month, I ran into Leigh, getting off the C train at 34th Street in Manhattan. She estimates she has 40% of her corporeal canvas covered, and she offered me this tattoo on her left forearm:

We've had a lot of sugar skulls here on Tattoosday, but everyone is different and unique. This one, inked by Myles Karr at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn, stands out from the bow at the top of the skull, and the open jaw full of cherry blossoms, both items not generally associated with the traditional sugar skull design.

"I'm always talking," Leigh told me, "and it's always positive, so I wanted something that would keep the mouth open." She collaborated with Myles on the piece, saying she wanted a skull, but didn't want a "cliche," and pointed out it's also "kind of a take on the Suicidal Tendencies skull."

Thanks to Leigh for sharing this great tatoo with us here on 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 can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Two Peacocks for a Tuesday

✓ Eight of Swords Tattoo, New York Adorned, Peacocks, Tattoo Culture, Three Kings Tattoo

Back in June, I met two women on separate days who had peacock tattoos.

First was Charlotte, a filmmaker who I spotted on the uptown 3 train. I snapped these pictures when we got off the subway at 72nd Street:

Charlotte credited Daniel Albrigo as the artist, who did this when he worked at Brooklyn Adorned. He now tattoos out of Three Kings in Brooklyn.

She explained that she "wanted something beautiful to offset the Kali tattoo on her right shoulder".

A week later I met Emily near Penn Station, who had this different perspective on the peacock, inked on her calf:

Emily explained:

"My mother used to work at a school in Dallas, Texas, where I'm from, that has peacocks that roam wild on campus ... when I was a child I used to go play with them (or just watch them)."

Emily told me she "drew it and designed it with the help of Dave Wallin." Dave tattooed this when working at Tattoo Culture in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, but he now works out of Eight of Swords Tattoo Studio.

Thanks to both Charlotte and Emily for sharing their very different peacocks here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

Jenna Shares Two - A Lionfish and a Gustav Klimt

✓ Grez, Gustav Klimt, Kings Avenue Tattoo, Lionfish, Three Kings Tattoo

I met Jenna last month outside of Penn Station last month and took a few pictures of her tattoos, one of which is based on the work of the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt.

As today is the anniversary of Klimt's birthday, 149 years ago in 1862, I felt it would be a good day to share Jenna's work.

This tattoo is on her upper left arm:

This is based on a work called "The Blood of Fish" (1898):

Jenna explains:

"...The print is a pen and ink done by Klimt called The Blood of Fish. I've always been a very big fan of Klimt's work but alot of it has all been done before in terms of tattoos. When I saw The Blood of Fish I just kind of knew that it was for me, there was something very beautiful and fluid about it and I knew I wanted it to be a part of me ...

...The only adjustments added were the little feet at the bottom and I opted out of nipples on the women, I babysit and am around kids alot I'd rather keep things PG. Either way my mother and grandmother had a heart attack, supposedly women arent supposed to get naked women tattoos, I didn't get that memo."

She credits Dan Trocchio at Three Kings in Brooklyn with this incredible tattoo.

Jenna also shared another phenomenal piece, on the upper right portion of her back:

This lionfish tattoo was inked by Grez at Kings Avenue Tattoo in Massapequa, New York.

Again, I'll let Jenna explain:

"The Lion Fish was my first real tattoo. For years I had wanted a Lion Fish. I used to sit the marine biology lab during middle and high school and just draw and paint fish. Like all of the creatures on the earth, saltwater fish are really remarkable and incredibly beautiful. My father (who originally got me into salt water tanks) used to tell me that god hand painted every stripe on the lion fish. While I'm not a very religious person, it doesn't change just how much of a miracle that the oceans and the beauty they hold are. I just feel like sometimes people don't stop and look at how amazing these creatures are. My lion fish isn't only a symbol of my passion for marine life but also a piece of art that was originally hand painted by god."

Thanks again to Jenna for sharing her amazing tattoos with us here on Tattoosday, and for taking the time to share her thoughts about the work. And a happy 149th birthday to Gustav Klimt!

Four from Christine

✓ Asylum Studios, Brooklyn, butterflies, Om, Three Kings Tattoo

I met Christine at the Trader Joe's on the Upper West Side yesterday evening and she shared these four tattoos:

Moving clockwise from the upper left in the photo above, we start with an outline of Brooklyn, in honor of the borough in which Christine was born and raised.

At the top of the other forearm is an om symbol, which captures her focus and has occasionally "helped with panic attacks."

The two butterflies on opposite arms were inked in honor of her nieces, who both love these colorful insects. The shade of each represents their favorite colors.

The Brooklyn piece was inked at Asylum Studios in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The om and the butterflies were done by artists at Three Kings Tattoo. Both shops are in Brooklyn and have had work appear on Tattoosday previously here (Asylum) and here (Three Kings).

Thanks to Christine for sharing these four of her eleven (!) tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Megan's Empress Impresses

✓ Tarot, Three Kings Tattoo

I spotted Megan at the end of September walking down West 23rd Street in Chelsea.

She has an amazing sleeve-in-progress but, because it is still unfinished, she offered up this tattoo, on her upper right arm, instead:

This tarot card is significant because her mother is from the Caribbean and she grew up with Santerían religion in her household.

She has a profound respect for tarot cards and based on the time and date of her birth, has what she refers to as a "weird numerology".

This card is known as L'Impératrice,or The Empress, and has a very positive meaning. As interpreted by one site (here):

The Empress seems to be sure of herself, calm, intelligent, worthy. This major arcana represents the capacity, the Empress clothing is luxurious and invaluable.

This arcana is extremely positive...
...In the right position the Empress represents the intelligence, dignity, the authority, the mother, the wife, the right decisions.

The detail in this tattoo is amazing:

The art was inked by Annie Lloyd at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn. Work from Three Kings has appeared previously on Tatoosday here.

Thanks to Megan for sharing this lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Garrett's Peacock Recalls the South

✓ Myles Karr, Peacocks, Three Kings Tattoo

I met Garrett back in June in Penn Station when I was still reeling from the loss of my camera.

I had yet to replace my photographic equipment and I had yet to receive the loaner from my awesome friend Jill.

So, I did the best I could with a flash-less BlackBerry camera to capture Garrett's awesome sleeve:

Yes, folks, it's another peacock in our midst, in a summer during which we have been treated to a variety of peafowl.

Garrett's choice to get this tattoo stems from his love of these birds, combined with an appreciation of fashion, and how the peacock speaks to that sensibility. He also likes how the males are the fairer of the two sexes.

What's especially remarkable is that this is a black and gray tattoo, with no plans to take on any color ink.

The inclusion of magnolias, azaleas and violets, all in homage to the South, make this potentially dizzyingly colorful tattoo more remarkable in its basic palette. Rather than explosions of color, we are rewarded with subtleties of shading.

Credit goes to Myles Karr at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn. Work from Myles has previously appeared here on Tattoosday.

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

Recap of Matty No Times Fundraiser at Yes Gallery

✓ Art Shows, Bound for Glory Tattoo Studio, Fundraisers, Sweetpea, Thomas Hooper, Three Kings Tattoo

My trip to the Yes Gallery in Williamsburg on Saturday for the launch party of the Matty No Times benefit was complicated by the weekend suspension of the G train.

Rather than a 1-transfer commute from South Brooklyn, the trip involved a lengthy trip on the R train which took me through Manhattan and into Queens, where a shuttle bus skirted me back to Brooklyn. Are you kidding me?

But I didn't want to miss this event, not only because it was for a good cause as the NY tattoo community rallied to help one of their own, but because it would give me the chance to see some amazing art and possibly meet some of the artists behind the work.

I shed my backpack and just brought my notebook, stuffed with fliers, although I didn't necessarily expect to do the Tattoosday thing at the event. But you never know, and it was a long (1 hour, 28 minutes, according to HopStop) trek. Who knows who I might meet along the way?

I arrived relatively early, just in time to catch Thomas Hooper exiting the gallery. I have long admired Mr. Hooper's work (even his web site is art) and was hoping to meet him.

I introduced myself and he was soft-spoken and polite. I would have loved to chat with him further, but he was headed elsewhere and seemed to be in a hurry to go.

Inside, the Yes gallery's air conditioning was a welcome relief, as I started looking at the hundred-plus works of art that had been donated by artists from all over to help Three Kings' artist Matty No Times recover from staggering bills that resulted from an emergency liver transplant last Fall.

I introduced myself to Matty (Mr. No Times sounds weirdly formal) and chatted briefly as he ran the table where people paid for the art, left donations, and entered the raffle. He is a very nice guy and seemed genuinely appreciative of the turnout.

The list of artists who contributed their work was staggering. Check it out:

One of the bonuses in going to the event, for me at least, was seeing the work donated by Peter Caruso, who is the artist who created my third tattoo.

And whereas, I had discussed with Matty and several other guests the etiquette of taking close-up photos of the art hanging on the walls, I did have Pete's permission to post his painting, which we were all excited to see sold early on.

I was pleasantly surprised to run into one former Tattoosday contributor, Elizabeth, along with her husband. We chatted awhile as they made their way around the gallery.

I also talked with Magie Serpica, who I ran into last year at a Needles & Sins event, and who made her own Tattoosday contribution here. An artist at Bound for Glory Tattoo on Staten Island, she had contributed a painting, as well:

As the crowd swelled, I began to become overstimulated. Do I look at the art on the walls? Or do I look at the amazing art on the bodies? Most folks would have assumed I would have gone hog-wild taking photos of peoples' tattoos, but remember, I tend to embrace the random encounter aspect of the Tattoosday mission, and just like one doesn't see a lot of photos from conventions and tattoo shops, I avoided interviewing people about their tattoos. It just didn't seem sporting to do so. I did however, take a couple of shots of Peter's tattoos, to be unveiled at a later date here on the site.

I didn't receive a call from Matty on Sunday, so I will assume I didn't win the raffle. No worries. I wasn't in a position to invest in any art, so I did my part to help raise funds for this worthy cause.

You can support Matty through Three Kings Tattoo, where he works, and you still have time to visit the Yes Gallery, at 147 India Street in Brooklyn, and check out the art through Friday, July 23.

Thanks to all the artists who participated and made for such a wonderful visual experience, and to all the extended friends of Tattoosday who made the event more enjoyable for me, especially Pete and his wife Maria, who let me tag along with them at the gallery and spared me the subway after the show with a much-quicker ride home!