Adam's Tattoos Honor God and Country

On April 28th, I was walking across Penn Plaza, outside of Madison Square Garden, and saw a couple of guys taking pictures.

This is fairly common outside of "the world's most famous arena".

Depending on the event going on that day or night, one can get an eyefull of tattoo ink. When there is a rock concert scheduled, there is quite a few visible tattoos on the plaza, when the Westminster dog show's in town, not so much.

On this particular day, there was a WWE wrestling event at the Garden, and the guys I saw taking pictures were waiting for the show to begin.

I approached and met Adam, who had this very cool tattoo on his right bicep:


The piece is designed to flow with his musculature and falls under what I call the "torn flesh" category of tattooing. That is, the tattoo takes on an additional dimension, as it is inked to appear as if the flesh is ripped away, allowing the viewer to see what lies below the skin.

In Adam's case, he bleeds red, white and blue in the form of the American flag. His patriotism is exemplified by this tattoo. As a member of the United States Air Force, he serves our country proudly, and his tattoo is a symbol of how his love of our country runs deep.

Adam also wanted to show me his back piece, a religious-themed work that reflects his faith:


The cross takes up most of the space, and is anchored by a banner that proclaims "May God Have Mercy".

There are also two biblical verses on either side of the cross at the top of the back.

The left is from the book of Joshua, Chapter 1, Verse 9 (New Revised Standard Version):

"Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

The right is from lines 14 and 15 of Psalm 91 (also NRSV):

"Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them..."

All the work shown here on Adam was inked by Adrian at Ken's Underground in Dover, Delaware.

Thanks to Adam for sharing his awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Inked Up Angels: Part 2, Kat's Incredible Buddha

Last Friday, I featured a tattoo from one of two women I met in Penn Station.

They both are part of a group called Inked Up Angels.

I had first taken the photo of the tattoo belonging to "Pink", and now it was her friend's turn.

I looked to Kat curiously, wondering what tattoo she was going to offer for Tattoosday.

We were standing in a corner of busy Penn Station near the subway turnstiles and she told me I needed to move. We switched spots, so that I was standing in the corner and she was between me and the crowds. Her friend Pink stood behind her and shielded Kat from the throngs of commuters. I got that she was going to show me something quite revealing, yet I had no clue what it was.

With her left side facing me, Kat hiked up her skirt to reveal this absolutely incredible piece, that ran from the upper part of her thigh, to above her waistline:


That's about eighteen hours of work, folks, and it's an amazing piece. Kat had it tattooed because she is a Buddhist and loves loves the spirituality of Buddha.


The detail that went into this tattoo and the vibrancy of the color is phenomenal. Take a closer loom at the lotus at the bottom of the tattoo:


Equally incredible is the detailed line work, as is evidence in the eyebrows and the leaves of the tree in the background:


This amazing tattoo was inked by Dez Mooney at The White Lotus Tattoo & Art Gallery in Toms River.

This is definitely one of my favorite tattoos that I have seen in nearly two years of Tattoosday posts.

I want to thank Kat for sharing her amazing work with us here at Tattoosday.

If you head over to the Inked Up Angels MySpace Page, you can not only see more of Kat's tattoos (including shots of the Buddha in progress), but you can catch glimpses of some additional work on a number of other tattooed women.

Sad News

I'm numb today after learning that the poet Craig Arnold, whose tattoos were featured here, died just a few days after my posts, just a few days after we chatted via instant message on Facebook.

I certainly did not have the level of interaction with him that many of the other people in his life, I had only really known him for a short time. But his interest and eagerness to participate in the Tattooed Poets Project brought me closer to him, I can only imagine that the sadness I feel is intensified a hundred-fold by the people that really knew him. And I am torn:

I envy their memories of Craig, their experiences with him, all the wonderful recollections of good times, yet I am saddened not just by the loss of Craig, but the heartbreak I feel oozing through the various portals of the internet.

I contacted many poets in the months leading up to April. Some were too busy to respond, or just said "thanks, but no thanks". But Craig, in my book, someone with a great excuse not to help a fellow writer out, came through despite being halfway across the planet, working on what he loved until the very end.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Craig Arnold's friends and family.

I feel blessed to have had just a sliver of time with Craig, in the form of some messages, e-mails, a poem and two tattoos.

Embrace the memories, the words, the experiences. Embrace them and treasure them. They are what sustain us. They give us strength and hope. They make it possible to go on.