Arts And Entertainment

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

NYC Tattoo Convention Spotlight: Caroline's Death's-head Hawk Moth and The Silence of the Lambs

Sending an inkblogger into a tattoo convention, is like sending a kid into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory - we just go into sensory overload.

It's always interesting to see who I will interview first, as nearly everyone has amazing work. My first choice appeared to me after I had been at the New York City Tattoo Convention for about an hour:

Behold Caroline's Death's Head Hawkmoth!

She explained that it is based on the art from The Silence of the Lambs movie poster.

She elaborated, "that was ... the first movie I saw that got me into film and I'm a huge film buff ... so it kind of marks a huge turning point in my life. I started growing up and developing interests in art [and] film."

The film's director, Jonathan Demme, is one of her favorite directors, but she loves Stanley Kubrick and hopes one day to get a Clockwork Orange tattoo.

She went to Tattoo Joe at Physical Graffiti Tattoo in Bridgeport, Connecticut for this piece and he did a wonderful job of transforming the vision from the poster to the top part of her back.

Thanks to Caroline for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, May 16, 2011

NYC Tattoo Convention Spotlight: Jessica's Stunning Tibetan Back Piece

The last few years that I've attended the New York City Tattoo Convention, there's always been at least on person with a full back piece that captures my attention and, much to my enjoyment, agrees to share their work with us here at Tattoosday. The biggest and brightest tattoo this year for me, was this stunning work of art on Jessica:

This beautiful piece was inked by Echo at Now or Never Tattoos & Body Works in Staten Island, New York.

Jessica estimates that this piece took 11 hours to complete and added that there may, in the future, be more coming. "We have to fill it in the bottom and the top with a whole bunch of more flower work," she told me, but for the most part, this is complete.

When I asked what the origin of the piece was, she told me " I had a lotus flower on my lower back, so he [Echo] expanded it to a Tibetan princess."

As for the inspiration for the piece, Jessica explained, "I had a friend of mine pass away who was Tibetan, so that's kind of where the whole meaning came from."

As you would imagine, this piece was garnering a lot of attention from photographers and other convention attendees. I was thrilled to speak to Jessica about the tattoo and thank her profusely for taking the time to speak with me and share her Tibetan princess with us here on Tattoosday.

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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Tova's Mockingbird Takes Wing

Late last month, I met Tova at my local Borders store. She was sporting this incredible tattoo on her upper left arm:

When she told me she had it recently inked at New York Adorned, I guessed correctly that Virginia Elwood had been the artist. Virginia in incredibly talented, and seems to especially excel at bird tattoos (her work has been seen previously on Tattoosday here, here and here).

Tova explained that she loves birds, and that this mockingbird reflects a turn of events that occurred in Southern California. She described to me how, the night before she had to take ~~defend~~ her Ph.D. exams ~~dissertation~~, her husband had a guest staying with them, and this individual seemed particular insensitive to the momentous occasion Tova was facing the next day, as he was playing loud music well into the night.

Tova recalled how her anxiety and displeasure over this guest’s inconsiderate activity forced her from her home in search of a little peace and quiet. As she circled her block, she was struck by the large number of mockingbirds that were flying around.

She successfully passed her exams ~~defended her dissertation~~ and associates the mockingbird with this landmark event in her life.

As her Ph.D. Is in English, I asked her if she was familiar with one of my favorite poems, Charles Bukowski’s “The Mockingbird”. She wasn’t, so I suggested she check it out and I thought it appropriate to share here:

the mockingbird

the mockingbird had been following the cat
all summer
mocking mocking mocking
teasing and cocksure;
the cat crawled under rockers on porches
tail flashing
and said something angry to the mockingbird
which I didn't understand.

yesterday the cat walked calmly up the driveway
with the mockingbird alive in its mouth,
wings fanned, beautiful wings fanned and flopping,
feathers parted like a woman's legs,
and the bird was no longer mocking,
it was asking, it was praying
but the cat
striding down through centuries
would not listen.

I saw it crawl under a yellow car
with the bird
to bargain it to another place.

summer was over.

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

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Enter to Win a T-Shirt from Kings Avenue Tattoo, Now Open in Manhattan!

We here at Tattoosday have had the pleasure of encountering work from Kings Avenue Tattoo on only one occasion. We featured work by Grez here.

Nonetheless, their shop, located out in Massapequa on Long Island, has a sterling reputation, and I know at least one loyal client, Brian Grosz, over at Needles & Sins, who sings high praise to the shop owner and artist extraordinaire, Mike Rubendall.

It was from Brian that I first learned that Kings Avenue was opening a new location here in New York City. Lucky for those of us here in the Five Boroughs who don’t have cars!

We here at Tattoosday want to help spread the word about the new location, in Manhattan on the Bowery (188 Bowery, at Spring Street) to be more exact. Located on the second floor, the new shop location will be open Monday - Saturday 12-9 and Sundays from 12-6).

In fact, Kings Ave NYC would like to cordially invite you to join in the celebration of the opening of their Manhattan location tomorrow, Thursday, May 12th, at 8:00 p.m. Please join the Kings Ave crew for drinks, friends and family for this proud moment for their shop, and for the addition of some great talent to our teeming metropolis.

And to generate a little more buzz, we put our collective heads together and came up with an idea where one of our lucky Tattoosday readers can win a cool Kings Avenue Tattoo original t-shirt, like this one, perhaps:

All you have to do is head on over to their site and check out the merchandise here. Then, in the comments section of this post, tell us which shirt design you like best and why you deserve to win it. Please note, if you don’t have a blogger ID that links you to an email where I can contact you if you win, make sure you e-mail tattoosdaycontests@gmail.com as well so we can notify you if you win.

And, dear readers, while checking out those shirts, you’ll be losing out if you don’t check out the Kings Ave site, clink on the “Artists” tab, and then get lost in the hundreds of photos of top-notch tattoo art from Mike Rubendall, Grez, Justin Weatherholtz, Brian Paul, and Matt Beckerich. Not to mention the shots from such illustrious guest artists like Chris O’Donnell, Tim Hendricks, and Kat Von D, to name only a few.

We here at Tattoosday welcome the newest branch of Kings Avenue into our fair city and hope this means we’ll be seeing a lot more of their phenomenal work on the streets and, subsequently, here on the site!

More about Kings Avenue NYC:

KINGS AVENUE NYC was founded by tattooist and international award-winner, MIKE RUBENDALL, with his associate, GREZ, a well-respected tattooist in his own right. While people have traveled from all over the world to visit their Long Island location for everything from a full-scale Japanese body-suit to a modestly-sized, classic nod to Americana flash, RUBENDALL explains that they opted to open a second shop on Bowery, "for the simple fact of wanting to be a part of the energy, life, and creativity that Manhattan possesses."

KINGS AVENUE NYC will also feature the work of resident artists MATT BECKERICH, JUSTIN WEATHERHOLTZ, BRIAN PAUL, SHAUN NEL, KEVIN LEBLANC and SARAH SCHOR - a talented collective that has adorned the bodies of notables like actress EVAN RACHEL WOOD, hip-hop impresario DAMON DASH and rocker PETE WENTZ of FALL OUT BOY. The public can also expect to see guest appearances from renowned artists like CHRIS O'DONNELL, TIM HENDRICKS and Denmark's HENNING JORGENSON as well as "celebrity" tattooists such as CHRIS NUÑEZ (Miami Ink) and KAT VON D (L.A. Ink).

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tattoosday in Kentucky: Headphones at CVG

On my recent whirlwind trip to Kentucky, I spotted some interesting tattoos at CGY, also known as the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Check this out:

The young lady that was sporting these headphones, identified herself as "E" and has "ten or eleven" tattoos. She wanted headphones that looked like they were spray-painted on. Note the "drips" and spots of splattered paint.

Unfortunately I didn't get much more information. She credited the artist "Slevin" at a shop on Main Street in Cincinnati. However, I can't seem to find any information on this artist or the shop she mentioned.

Thanks to "E" for sharing this cool and super original headphones tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Musician Monday: Meaghan Farrell

Over the past several years on Tattoosday, we've run into several musicians in our travels, many of whom have generously shared their tattoos with us. We've decided to post tattoos from these talented folks on the first day of the work week, and call them "Musician Mondays."

We got a sneak peek at our first Monday Musician yesterday, as we shared a couple of Meaghan Farrell's tattoos in recognition of mother's day. The tattoos she has honoring her grandmother (here) are truly wonderful.

I was fortunate to run into Meaghan, who loved sharing her ink with me. Her enthusiasm for body art was evident in her excitement. "My tattoos mean the world to me," she beamed, and added that "there is no greater commitment to art." Considering that a tattoo is a permanent installation on one's body, I totally understood what she meant.

Aside from the two of Meghan's tattoos we posted yesterday, she shared a couple of more. Here's a wonderful piece on her left wrist that symbolizes her craft:

Of course the central object in the tattoo is the old-style microphone. As a resident of Queens, she pointed out that the skyline of Manhattan that serves as the tattoo's background is inked from the perspective of her borough, looking west toward the city.

Meaghan also shared this stunning monarch butterfly:

Meaghan explained that the monarch represents her sister, who she spoke of with great admiration. She called her the "matriarch of the family" and acknowledged that she was a solid presence that, despite huge challenges (she was widowed, a single mother, and is now remarried to a man who is wheelchair-bound), she retains the strength and grace of a butterfly.

I love how the artist created the shadow below the monarch's wings:

Like the work we saw yesterday, the artist responsible for these tattoos is Mr. Beans, at Fat Cat Tattoos NYC in Astoria, Queens.

Meaghan is a singer and she shared her debut CD, "Waitress," with me and let me tell you, it's a wonderful album. She has a very distinct voice and her songs are well-written and catchy. You can visit her website here to listen to her songs and see where you can hear her perform. In fact, she has a show this coming Saturday, May 14th, at the UC Lounge in New York City.

Check out her video for "Lost in My Life":

Thanks again to Meaghan for sharing her music and tattoos with us here at Tattoosday!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day from Tattoosday

I wanted to celebrate Mother's Day with something new, but didn't have a lot in the backlog that was specifically motherly.

Then I remembered Meaghan Farrell.

I met Meaghan last month in Penn Station and approached her when I saw her tattoos. Turns out, Meaghan is a singer-songwriter with 15 tattoos, more of which will appear here tomorrow.

One of the tattoos we talked about was this one on her inner right forearm:

Madge Gassaway was Meaghan's grandmother, who passed away when Meaghan was only nine. Madge, she told me, was a "strong, independent woman," who had a huge impact on her life.

The quote, words of wisdom that have significant meaning for Meaghan, was worthy of inscribing them on her flesh.

Of course, right after I left Meaghan I realized, I forgot to take a picture of the quote from her grandmother, and she kindly sent me one she took herself.

In addition, Meaghan also has this stunning rose on her right shoulder:

Meaghan explained that her grandmother had an amazing rose garden, and that this tattoo represents not only the memory of her.

The artist responsible for these tattoos is Mr. Beans, at Fat Cat Tattoos NYC in Astoria, Queens.

Tune in tomorrow for two more of Meaghan's tattoos. I wanted to share these today in honor of mothers and grandmothers everywhere, who have such a great impact on all of our lives.

Thanks to Meaghan for sharing her tattoos with us here at Tattoosday! Happy Mother's Day to All!