Danielle's Stars and Signs Forever

Despite great inkspotting weather earlier this week, I found myself walking in Chelsea at lunch, marveling at the absence of tattoos.

I like to remind myself from time to time that Tattoosday is 70% tattoos and 30% about finding them.

So, I had walked down to one of our vendor's offices at lunch (13 blocks away) to get some forms we needed. I was on the elevator heading back downstairs when I noticed the woman next to me (who worked for the company I had just visited) had this interesting set of tattoos:


On the street, I may not have stopped her, but in an elevator, it seemed foolish not to.

Danielle had these tattoos (one of three total) inked at a shop in Long Beach, New York. She didn't recall the name of the shop or the artist who did the work, but she did mention that her fiance has a matching set of the three colored stars on his left bicep.

These stars and signs, tattooed on Danielle's inner right wrist, are decorative and, the three symbols represent Danielle, her mother and her sister.

From left to right, the three insignia stand for Libra (her mother's astrological sign), Gemini (for her sister) and Aries (her own Zodiac affiliation).

What I have found interesting about astrological tattoos, is that each sign of the Zodiac has a simple line representation, but that these symbols can be modified artistically in so many different ways. The whole range of astrological signs as interpreted by subjects of this site can be seen here.

Thanks to Danielle for sharing this cool tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!

Jason's Astrological Ink: Three Taurus Brothers

I met Jason and his father Charlie (see his ink here) at Penn Station while they were in between trains on a Miami-Boston journey.

Charlie caught my attention first, but he proudly indicated that Jason had tattoos as well. After talking to the father, I turned to the son and took this photo:


In the astrological race on Tattoosday, Taurus clearly has the lead. It helps that bulls make for such great tattoo art. Check out previous Taurus ink on the blog here.

Jason explained that, of his four tattoos, this one on his left bicep is particularly special, not just because he was born under the astrological sign of Taurus, but because his two brothers were as well.

The DJD under the bull represent his and his brothers' first initials (Dakota, Jason, Derry).

This piece was tattooed at his house in Florida by a family friend, "Crome," who specializes in tattoo and graffiti art in Miami. Check here to see Crome's work in Miami. He apparently is one of the trailblazers in the form of "MSG," or Miami Style Graffiti.

Thanks to Jason for sharing this astrological tribute to him and his brothers here on Tattoosday!

Two Tattoos from Lara

Last Friday evening, on the steps of Penn Plaza, I spotted this simple tattoo on the right side of Lara's neck. It is the sign for someone born under the sign of Leo.

Even though it was a simple astrological squiggle, I said hello anyway and, as often is the case, she had another tattoo to show me:


Actually, she has five altogether, but this one, the word "heart" inscribed on the inside of her left wrist, has special meaning to her.

She and her best friend from Seattle have the same heart tattoo inked on the same spot. There's something particularly transcendent about tattoos that are shared between friends. When you look at your tattoo, you wonder if someone you care about far away is doing the same. It's a mark on flesh that produces a mental connection.

Not only did Lara explain that the dual nature of their tattoo is a "marking of our friendship," but that it is also a lifelong reminder to always, as she put it, "come from our hearts". That is, to follow their hearts when going through life.

All of Lara's work was done at Lucky Devil Tattoo Parlour in Seattle. Work from their shop has been featured previously here on Tattoosday.

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

Mercedes Honors Family Members with her Ink

Mercedes doesn't remember the specific shops where she got her ink, but each piece honors members of her family, both living and gone.

Mercedes is a make-up artist that has very close ties to her family, and these relationships have manifested themselves on her tattoos.

The piece I first noticed, on her right arm, was this one:


This is actually comprised of two parts, the rose and the ankh. The rose was her first tattoo, inked because her mother and grandmother were both named Rosa. The ankh and the name "Iggy" were done as a memorial for her brother who had passed away.

Her neck/upper back piece is actually three tattoos inked in succession:


Mercedes started with the top segments, which she described as tribal dolphins. They are in honor of her niece, who is a Pisces.

Next is the piece below the dolphins, which is a representation of fire that corresponds to Mercedes' birth sign Aries, whose zodiac element is fire.

Below that are flames rising from the number 3. This is for her nephew. The flames correspond to his sign, Leo, whose zodiac element is also fire, and the number represents that he is third in the family line.

Thanks to Mercedes for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Michael's Taurus Tattoo

I ran into Michael at Borders in Penn Plaza. He has five tattoos, including a large koi sleeve on his right arm. He offered up the bull tattoo above on his left arm.

The piece was inked at Mike's Tattoo in Peterborough, Ontario, north of the border in Canada.

Michael is a Taurus, and this bull tattoo represents the astrological sign in the Zodiac. I have featured a Taurus tattoo before in the blog here.

Michael is an artist and traded one of his prints to the tattooist, in exchange for this piece on his left forearm. Check out Michael's website here to see his art. It's pretty amazing.

Thanks to Michael for sharing his tattoo here on Tattoosday!

Two of Tawni's Tattoos

It seemed appropriate to take pictures of two of Tawni's tattoos on Two-for-Tattoosday, and she was accommodating.

The first piece was the one that caught my eye initially, a snake on her left bicep that actually represents an "astrology marriage," in her words between Eastern and Western astrology.

The tattoo represents that she was born in the Year of the Snake and, it is positioned to mimic the sign for Leo (July 23 - August 22). It was inked at a shop called Camden Chameleon in Bellingham, Washington. The shop is now known as Chameleon Ink & Body Piercing.

Her other piece that I liked was on her inner right forearm:


The phrase ("Be the wind, not the cloud") is her own interpretation of a passage in the I Ching, or book of changes. Tawni used to do castings and this phrase resonates with her so she carries it with her on her skin. This was inked by Andre Ortego at the House of Tattoo in Tacoma, Washington.

Thanks to Tawni for sharing her interesting work with us here on Tattoosday!

Karen's Ink Balances the Physical and the Intellectual

Monday was a good tattoo day. I met Karen on Sixth Avenue in the 20's after her right ankle caught my attention and we chatted for a bit about tattoos.

The piece above is about 10 years old and is based on Northwestern Native American art. Karen studied art history in college and felt that this style of art is "smarter" and speaks in "more intelligent visual dialects" than other art forms.

This tattoo is based on "the dance of the wolf hunter". The following piece is similar in design.
It represents the physical aspect of her self.

Around 10 years ago, Karen finished college and drove up to Valdez, Alaska. She had no immediate purpose to go there, but she was just exploring, seeing that part of the country.

It was there, in a town so small that the grocery store often ran out of bread, that she found an amazing tattoo artist working out of a place called, appropriately, Valdez Tattoo. She didn't remember the artist but could recall that he was Hawaiian, which struck her as remarkable.

A quick call to the number listed on the net for Valdez Tattoo was a wrong number and the person who answered the phone wasn't aware of any tattoo shop nearby. So finding a link met with a dead end.

On the other hand foot, the physical aspect of the wolf tattoo seems, in her opinion, to balance the intellectual qualities of her other tattoo (on her left foot), which was inked somewhere in Chicago over 10 years ago.
Karen explains that the moon represents the feminine, and that the symbol within the moon is the astrological sign for Jupiter, which stands for knowledge and expansion of the mind.

Thanks to Karen for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Kara's Astrological Ink

In the post above (or here), I met two hair stylists this past Monday, who both had tattoos. The photo above is of one of three tattoos on Kara.

Kara is a Pisces, born on March 3, and she found a design that she liked to represent that aspect of her.

This tattoo was inked about six years ago at Allstar Tattoo in St. Louis, Missouri.

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

On the Cusp

I was on my way home when I spotted Lisa, who was with a friend, in the hours before Bon Jovi's second night at Madison Square Garden.

It was only when she stopped to explain, that I was able to grasp the tattoos meanings (two for Tattosday, no less!).

Lisa had a wrap-around musical staff on her right arm, a nod to her being a musician, but the pieces that circle limbs are hard to do justice for on the web.

I asked instead, about the two I had spotted, the ink that was on the back of her legs, down by the Achilles' heels.

Lisa stated she was "on the cusp," so she related to both astrological signs in proximity to her brithday, July 23.

Cancer, on her left leg, for those of us born June 21 to July 22, and Leo, on her right leg, for those in the July 23 to August 22 range.

Alas, Lisa was in a hurry, and my still-working-the-kinks-out camera was stuck in sunrise mode. The end result is a little blury - Lisa, don't forget to email me better pictures!

These tattoos were inked by Christian DiMenna at Lovecraft Tattoo in New Haven, Connecticut.

Thanks to Lisa for taking the time to chat about her tattoos!

Joe's Astrological Ink

I ran into Joe outside of Nino's Pizza in Bay Ridge, at 92nd and 3rd Avenue.

His two forearm tattoos represent his belief in astrology.

Both are relatively recent inkings. The dragon is about a year old. On his left arm, the piece was inked at Hypnotic Designs in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He believes by Angel. Hypnotic Designs work has appeared on Tattoosday twice before, here and here (Angel credited there too). Joe was born in 1976, the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac.

The bull was inked at a shop in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Joe is a Taurus, astrologically, and the two pieces complement each other nicely.

Joe is currently having a chest piece done at Kings County Tattoo Company. He couldn't show me the piece entirely, and it isn't colored yet, but he was absolutely raving about the quality of their work. Kings County tattoos have appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Joe for chatting and sharing his astrological tattoos!

Cathy's Cat-toos

I ran into Cathy at our local Rite Aid store where she was working replenishing the greeting cards stock.

Her short sleeves allowed her to more than adequately show off two tattoos on her upper arms. The first I saw was this astrological depiction of her birth sign:


That was, in fact, her first tattoo, inked back in 1993 at a shop in Philadelphia. No real explanation necessary. She is a Leo and wanted her sign depicted on her biceps. Leo was on the left.

Cathy has 8 tattoos in all. She has two on the upper part of her chest, 3 on her lower back and behind, and 1 below her navel along the waistline.

The tattoos on her chest were inked in London, and the one on her waistline was the only New York City tattoo.

The three on her lower back and the one on her right biceps were done at the same shop in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. She cannot recall the names of any of the shops or artists who tattooed her.

The one on her right biceps she's not completely happy with:


"It was supposed to be a female lion," she said, to go with the Leo, but it didn't come out quite right. She loves lions and other big cats.

She laughed and said, now that she thinks about it, she got the lioness on her right arm "the same time as I got my husband's name on my butt."

I did not ask about all of the tattoos that were completely covered. The tattoos on her chest are florals. She did say she would try to send me photos of the others.

Thanks again to Cathy again for sharing her lions here on Tattoosday!