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New York City Tattoo Convention, Part 2: Amazing Tattoos from North of the Border

Lost in the post-euphoric haze of the tattoo orgy known as a tattoo convention, was an encounter I had with several Canadians, one of which is a talented artist.

This was, of course, the New York City Tattoo Convention, which I attended a couple weeks ago (see the brief recap here).

Having decided not to collect many posts and photos for the blog (I had settled on this one), I found myself chatting with Phil, a co-worker of mine, after he spotted me among the masses.

It was while we were chatting, adjacent to the snack area, that I noticed we were being watched. Just to our right, this image greeted us:


This is Janet Leigh, in her iconic role in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Not only is this a masterful portrait, but it was framed beautifully by the cut-out portion of the dress worn by the woman who had this tattoo. It was as if the artist had positioned the tattoo with this dress in mind.


So I introduced myself to the woman who owns this piece. Her name is Marie and she is from Montreal. She got this tattoo because she liked the picture. And that's all that I got from her.
I would have learned more, but the room was loud and I had trouble understanding her. Her English was certainly better than my rudimentary high school French, but the environment made it difficult to pick up what she was saying.

However, shortly after our conversation began, a couple of gentleman rejoined her and one happened to be the artist of the tattoo in question.

His name is Stéphane Bérubé and he is an artist out of a shop called Tatouages Libre Expression, in Saint-Eustache, a northern suburb of Montreal, Quebec.

He was very friendly and introduced me to the other person he was with, who was one of his clients as well.

With little prompting, this guy rolled up his left pant leg to reveal a sleeve Stéphane had done, comprised of bright, multi-colored cartoon panels:





The owner of the tattoos explained that he had brought a graphic novel to Stéphane, telling him it was one of his favorite books growing up. They extracted different panels to make a cohesive combination of segments that make up the whole of the sleeve.

It is phenomenal work and I thank Stéphane and his friends for allowing me to photograph their tattoos!

The Return of Eryn's Ink: Frankenstein's Monster and the Little Girl

At lunch, I ran into Eryn, whose yarn skull, was one of my favorite posts of 2008.

We've been exchanging messages for a while, and I have been anticipating another sample of her work (she has a lot of tattoos).

She has added to her yarn skull, and her whole right arm is a sleeve-in-progress. We decided to wait and showcase the whole limb when it's complete.

Her January offering was this brilliant portrait from the 1931 classic Frankenstein:


The picture above is the one I took, the one below is from the artist's portfolio:


This tattoo is based on this famous scene from the movie:

That's Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster and Marilyn Harris playing the little girl. The scene is simultaneously poignant and horrifying. It is a commentary on the innocence of childhood and society's destruction of that innocence through its creations. The little girl does not see a monster, but someone with whom to share a beautiful experience.


But the end result is tragic. The monster is even more innocent than the child, until his unintentional curiosity drowns the little girl.

The scene can represent many different concepts. One of which is the way society judges people based on the way they look. Adults see the creation as a monster, whereas the little girl sees him for what he is inside: a child with a curious innocence (soon to be lost).

Eryn has a lot of tributes in ink, commemorating "the darker things [she] loved as a child". This scene is her favorite one in the film, for all the meaning she finds in the brief couple of minutes therein.

The tattoo is inked on the back of her right calf. The detail in the portrait of Karloff as the monster is phenomenal:


The piece was inked by Randy Hall at Hero Tattoo in Conway, South Carolina.


Jeff Cribb, who founded the shop, is credited by Eryn as being the leading force behind the legalization of tattooing in South Carolina.

I also photographed Eryn's knuckle tattoos, which will be appearing in the future on KnuckleTattoos.com.

Thanks again to Eryn for sharing her awesome body art here with us on Tattoosday!

Pursuit Until Capture

An unplanned trip to the Penn Station K-Mart yielded this awesome tattoo.

Sometimes, even if you can't initially see the whole piece, you can recognize high quality work. This was one of those times.

Chris, who works in independent film, more specifically the horror genre, wanted to pay homage to the film, John Carpenter's Halloween, that inspired him to follow the career path he chose.


The phrase "Pursuit Until Capture" was not from the film, but is a motto that guides him through life. Although applicable to the horror genre (that seems to drive every villain - the relentless pursuit of the victim), it holds a larger meaning for a life philosophy. Translation: follow one's dreams until they are attained. Chris recalls first seeing the "Pursuit Until Capture" phrase in old Sailor Jerry flash art.

This amazing piece was inked by Darren Rosa at Rising Dragon Tattoos in Chelsea. It really is superb work - click the photo to enlarge, and one can almost feel the texture of the pumpkin, the sharpness of the blade. Tattoos from Rising Dragon have previously appeared here.

Darren also inked Chris' first tattoo, a back piece, in January 2006:


Chris always imagined a tattoo with blue wings, and the phrase "Live Life Stronger then Death" exemplifies the ongoing struggle for good over evil.

Certainly words to live by.

Thanks to Chris for sharing his awesome tattoos with us here at Tattoosday!