Two Peacocks for a Tuesday

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.

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.

Jenna Shares Two - A Lionfish and a Gustav Klimt

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!

This entry is ©2011 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.

Four from Christine

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!

This entry is ©2011 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.

Megan's Empress Impresses

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

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!