Jim Commemorates a Trip To Greece with His Brothers

I mentioned yesterday that I had gone up to Woodstock on the 4th of July weekend, where I spotted some upstate ink.

At a flea market, I met Jim, who had this amazing tattoo on the back of his calf:

And a wider, three-paneled view:

Jim had gone on vacation to Greece for thirty days with his brothers and he wanted to commemorate the experience.

They had stayed on the island of Ios, and Jim took several photos he had into Jake Parrington at Lowell Ink in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The end result was this amazing tattoo that captures the scene of their vacation. One of Jim's other brothers got the same tattoo. Note the three figures hiking are meant to represent Jim and his two brothers.

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

Larry's Tattoo Burns at Both Ends

Occasionally, but not too often, I do venture out of the city to places far, and not so far, away.

Fourth of July weekend, I was up visiting friends in Woodstock, New York.

On July 3, we found ourselves at an outdoor flea market and I met a couple of inked folk, including Larry who has "a lot" of tattoos.

When asked to choose one, he offered up this piece on his forearm:

The image, of a candle burning at both ends, reminds him that life goes by quickly. The "No Tomorrow" is a spin on the carpe diem, or "seize the day" philosophy.

The tattoo was done by JR Maloney at Vanguard Tattoo in Nyack, New York.

Thanks to Larry for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Lil' Miss Sunshine

I spotted Christina on a subway platform and she let me take a photo of this tattoo above her outer right ankle once we got on the train:

Our time to chat was limited, so all I learned from Christina was that this was a self-drawn self-portrait that a friend tattooed on her four years ago.

"Lil' Miss Sunshine" is her nickname.And yes, the sun refers to her as "That Crazy Ass Bitch".

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

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Pete's Tribute to a Magical Grandfather

Last month, as I wandered despondently down my street, mourning the loss of my camera, I saw Pete standing on his stoop in the afternoon heat, without a shirt. He had a really cool tattoo and I talked to him about it, taking a picture with my BlackBerry.

Alas, the image quality wasn't good enough, I thought, to post here, so I waited until I saw Pete again, almost a month later, when I had my new camera in hand.

So here, without further delay, is Pete's tattoo:

Pete explained that this tattoo is a tribute to his grandfather, a magician who went by the name "The Great Merlini". The tattoo was designed by Kiki at Tattoos by Lou in the South Beach section of Miami, Florida. Pete went to him and explained what he wanted and Kiki drew it up and inked it.

On a sidebar, the Great Merlini wasn't just your run-of-the-mill magician. The man behind the persona was Clayton Rawson (click name for full biography). Rawson wrote four mystery novels that featured the character also known as The Great Merlini. And as this YouTube clip shows, Merlini also was a noted illusionist:



Thanks to Pete for sharing this magical tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Preston's Invaders Take Tattoosday

I met Preston in early May on the train platform at West 4th Street.

I spotted his tattoo and we talked about it.After along wait, we finally get to see this, one of Preston's five tattoos, here on Tattoosday:

These are,of course, images from the original Atari Space Invaders, one of the forerunners that was the first video game to truly take the world by storm.

Preston told me that these symbols represent space invasion. The neon green color makes them stick out even more and, he added, they make a "great ice breaker".

As a result, he continued, "people invade my space" when they question him (as I was doing) about his tattoo.

Preston is a musician by trade, who goes by the moniker Press Reset. Check out his website here. And this link will take you to his new record <3 on iTunes, where you can listen to (and hopefully, buy) his music.

Preston credits the tattoo to an artist named Ziggy who tattoos out of South Florida.

Thanks to Preston for sharing his alien neck tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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