Leandro Maciel, homenagem a Paul Gray Slipknot, 201

Essa tatuagem fiz como uma homenagem ao baixista Paul Gray( Falecido ) da banda Slipknot.

Leandro Maciel

Carrie's Astonishing Peacock

Last year at this time, it seemed as if everywhere I turned I was photographing gypsy tattoos. Let's call this season, the Summer of the Peacock.

At the end of July, I ran into Carrie outside of Madison Square Garden and she shared this breathtaking tattoo:

This piece isn't yet complete, but represents close to sixteen hours of meticulous work by Norm Wright Jr. at Art with a Pulse Tattoo Studio in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The detail is incredible and Carrie explained that he free-handed the design with Sharpies, and then followed up with the tattoo needle.

Aside from the beauty of the peacock, Carrie explained that she was inspired by a trip to India, and that this beautiful creature is the country's national bird, which imbues the tattoo with even more personal meaning for her.

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

Brian's Mat-tree-monial Tattoo

Late last month, I met Brian on the 34th Street A platform and he shared this amazing tattoo:

The piece was relatively fresh, having been inked only a couple weeks before.

He explained that this tree represents the Tree of Life. He alluded to the roots that spread out, firmly symbolizing family.

Brian also explained that it was an investigation piece: he added a key, hanging from a branch. This symbolizes his desire to unlock the meaning of life.

What's doubly special about this tattoo is that it is also a marriage tattoo. Brian's wife has a similar tree on her right arm (Brian's is on the left), only with cherry blossoms instead of a key, and a baby in the design as well.

The couple are linked not only by their vows, but by their similar ma-tree-monial tattoos. Sorry, I couldn't help it.

The tattoo is by Kaz at Brooklyn Adorned. Work from Kaz has appeared previously on Tattoosday here. And this tag, links all previous Adorned work on the blog.

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

Linda's Tattoo Honors Her Grandmother

One of our readers, Linda, e-mailed me this photo of one of her tattoos back in March and we have been patiently waiting to share it here until today, August 14, which is an integral part of the tattoo.

I'll let Linda do most of the talking:

"This is a tattoo that has an extreme amount of meaning to me. It is in remembrance of my grandmother, and as far as I'm concerned is a work in progress. The heart reads "I will never forget the way I felt that day," reminding me of the day, and the way I found out [about] my grandmother's passing who, along with my mother and my grandfather, was one of the most important people in my life, and still is. "Memento Mori" is a Latin a phrase which was said to Roman generals who would parade through the city after a battle to remind them that tomorrow is another battle, they may have been victorious today, but must remember they are only mortal. August 14 is the day that she died...

...The first installment of this tattoo was done on my birthday in June [2009] and the second part, the date, I saved to be done on August 14, 2009, the 10-year anniversary of her death. This tattoo is on my back between my shoulder blades..."

The artist who inked this is Curtis Richter, and he co-owns and manages Art N Soul Studios in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Thanks to Linda for sending this our way, and waiting patiently for us to post it. We here at Tattoosday are wishing you strength as  you recall the anniversary of your grandmother's passing.

One Last Friday the 13th Post, for Melanie

So one of my friends Jenise had contributed to the Great Friday the 13th Tattoo Experiment and her votes for my tattoo were not along the finalists.

She was also keenly aware that we collected $31 in donations for my tattoo, $11 more than needed. Ginger, another friend, had added a dollar to the kitty for my lovely Friday-the-13th born wife Melanie, so Jenise, in an effort to make the experiment a complete success, chipped in the funds to bring us to an even $40, and she, Ginger, and Melanie separately concurred that this design was the one for her:

Much to our surprise, when we went back at 6:00 pm, business was brisk but it was only a 30-minute wait.

Artist Joey Wilson tattooed the Zoe Sonenberg-designed flash piece right below Melanie's $14 Valentine's tattoo (that story here).

The end result is lovely:

Thanks again to all contributors and supporters of Tattoosday through this process, and for everyone's patience while I went "off-book" for the last couple of days.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Tattoosday's Trip to Hand of Glory

As alluded to in the previous days' posts, I got a little carried away with a Friday the 13th tattoo experiment and opened up the idea to readers who contributed the funds for a tattoo ($13 special plus lucky $7 tip).

I had seven people send me money (thank you Ginger, Jen, Sean, John, Jenise, Janet and Nicole!) and then vote on the design out of five sheets of flash (seen here).

the flaw in my plan was not collecting the money, but dealing with the votes. I asked everyone to vote for three choices, and assigned 5 points to 1st choice, 3 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd. Fifteen different designs were selected, and only four were selected twice.

The winner was this classic, simple design by Derik Snell:

I was early and first in line, so I got the first tattoo of the day at Hand of Glory's sister shop, down the block, called The End is Near.

Brian Faulk was the assigned tattooer and he made quick work of the design:

Photo by Zoe

The end is result is a little messy, but it should heal nicely:

Thanks to all the kind people at Hand of Glory/The End is Near for their help this morning. I am planning on returning later with Melanie for her addition. We'll see how it goes....

Update on the Great Friday the 13th Tattoo Experiment

Well, many generous souls allowed me to reach the goal and now we're halfway to a tattoo for Melanie. You can still donate, though. It will allow you to vote for what I get, and all proceeds go to the artist(s).

Here's where I'll be:

And here are our choices. Sponsors can pick the top three choices, along with where they want it to go. Check out the flash:

Flash by Joey Wilson

 Flash by Zoe

Flash by Derik Snell

Flash by Jacob Des

Flash by Brian Faulk

So those generous souls who contributed, please vote. And don't forget to choose a limb!

If you want to vote on my tattoo, you can still contribute to my (and Melanie's) ink fund by clicking on the "Donate" button to the left. Thanks, all!