Tines for the Memories

In what can only be described as a true New York City moment, the poor luck of a glitch on my tax refunds, which required me mailing amended returns, which precipitated me popping into the James Farley Post Office, led to my spotting the following tattoo:

Of course, I had to ask.

This ink is sported by Michael, an actor-chef who is in town performing, through the end of May, in the off-Broadway production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Public Theater. Michael is in the role of Calhoun.

The tattoo represents a three-tined fork which, Michael asserts, is "the best kind of fork because you get less metal in your mouth". He also indicated that it carried a second meaning, in that it also represented Neptune's trident, which is significant in that he is a Pisces, a water-based astrological sign.

Host of four tattoos, this one was obtained as part of a two-day bachelor party he threw for a friend. The main focus of day one was getting inked. Day two was for, well, more traditional bachelor party fare.The artist was "Eric the Sandman".

Thanks to Michael for sharing his fork with us here on Tattoosday. Be sure to catch him at the Public Theater before the show closes at the end of May!

Tattoosday Goes to Hawai'i: Scott Shares a Pair of Unique Tattoos

I have mentioned previously that one of the first orders of business on my recent trip to Hawai'i was to attend a tattoo-related book signing and contest at the Barnes & Noble in Ala Moana Center. Head back here to read all about it.

While I was milling about post-signing, pre-contest, a gentleman named Scott approached me and complimented me on my Tiger tattoo.It's still a new piece and the colors are quite crisp and vibrant. However, coming from Scott, who has this amazing tattoo, I was speechless. In fact, despite the fact that I routinely ask people about their ink, Scott was the first person to ever compliment me out of the blue about the tattoo.

Needless to say, we struck up a robust conversation and watched the contest together. Scott ended up winning 2nd and 3rd place in the color category.

He was kind enough to share two of his very unusual, colorful tattoos, for the readers here on Tattoosday, and to subsequently elaborate on the works in question.

First, we have a rather militant-looking rodent: 

This was inked on the inside of Scott's right biceps by Seth Ulakovic of Liberty Tattoo in Libertyville, Illinois. Scott explains:

Seth is a long time friend of mine, I have known him since he was an apprentice. I always loved his original art and his entire artistic style, we refer to it as 'creepy cute'. I wanted some of Seth's work before moving to Hawaii, so I approached him and told him so. The only input I gave him was, it had to be a critter and it had to be funny. You can see the tattoo he came up with. I loved it immediately and it is probably my favorite piece.

Incidentally, Scott refers affectionately to this critter as "Napoleon Beaverparte."

Next we have a piece on Scott's left biceps:

Again, we'll let go to Scott for the tale of the tape:

I am a contractor and my tape measure is my most important tool, I cannot do a thing without one. I thought it would be great to have one with me at all times.I am still new to Hawaii and had yet to meet an artist with whom I felt comfortable...Odyssey Tattoo Gallery was the fourth shop I had visited.

The owner told me they had a traveling artist in [Rachel Schilling]. I had wanted to get work from a female artist for quite some time to see if there was a difference in the tattooing experience. However I would not let someone work on me just because she was a woman.

Then I met Rachel - immediately I was comfortable with her. She has such a great attitude, and was really into tattooing the tape measure from the beginning. She is also very obviously a real pro. I went from walking into the shop with a tape measure in my hand to 4 hours later having a completed tattoo That quite frankly exceeded my expectations. Overall it was one of my best experiences receiving a tattoo and I certainly plan I having her work on me again.

It was great meeting Scott and speaking to him at length about tattoos (his, mine, and others). I thank him profusely for his friendliness and making this post such a fun experience! Mahalo from Tattoosday!

Dan Hosts Lady Liberty Like You've Never Seen Her

As a New Yorker, how could one not appreciate this dark take on our beloved Statue of Liberty?

This skeletal tattoo is worn by Dan on his inner right forearm. It is a collaboration between him and his cousin, Guido Baldini, aka Lost Cowboy, a tattoo artist who occasionally works Four Star Tattoo in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Dan was out West, visiting family, and this piece was done with a little bit of longing for the Big Apple in his heart.

He was paying homage to that "New York State of Mind".

Missing in the collage above is the great detail in the torch:

I did question the presence of the pentagram on the book that the statue is holding, only because I'm sure that comments might be made.

He clarified the design, noting that, to him, the pentagram represents power, and is not meant to symbolize anything evil.

Thanks to Dan for sharing this tattoo with attitude here on Tattoosday.

The Tattoosday Event and Book Review - Body Type 2: More Typographic Tattoos

I'll be honest with you. Last year at this time, I had no idea who Ina Saltz was, nor had I ever seen her book Body Type, a volume dedicated to typographic tattoos.

Then, I met Elizabeth, a typographer who has all twenty-six letters of the English alphabet tattooed on her body in random spots. The day I met her, she was planning on meeting Ms. Saltz to discuss her work. Her lettered ink also reacquainted me with the talents of Stephanie Tamez, a tattoo artist, who is regarded by many, including Ms. Saltz, as one of the best at inking words, although that's certainly not her only strength as a tattooist.

Meeting someone so passionate about typography and ink prompted me to go out and get a copy of Body Type and I loved it. As you'd imagine, I was thrilled to see its sequel in stores recently. And when I was alerted by the Needles and Sins blog to Ms. Saltz's upcoming appearance at a Manhattan bookstore, I jumped at the opportunity to go.

After a slight detour to the wrong Barnes & Noble (fortunately only 13 blocks away), I found my way to the store's event area and found a seat. I chatted briefly with a student of Ms. Saltz, who wears two Arabic script tattoos on the inside of both wrists. However, I noticed that, as the room filled, the audience appeared (key word appeared) slightly less inked than I would have imagined. I later learned that there were many of the author's colleagues from City College in attendance and that there were also quite a few tattoos tucked away under clothing.

Ms. Saltz was introduced and gave a brief twenty-minute presentation. She discussed the book and showed slides of many of the tattoos, and some others, that have appeared in the two books.

A Q & A session followed, revealing that many in the audience were not all well-versed in the art of tattoo. There were questions about permanence, the whys of tattooing (including one asking why Ms. Saltz had no tattoos - the answer: she doesn't like needles) and one gentleman's inquiry about how to find a good tattoo artist. Body Type certainly has a broad appeal, drawing in typographers, graphic designers and other "type geeks".

Photo © 2010 Ina Saltz

Ms. Saltz talk went over many of the "types" of type tattoos - the literary (like the Walt Whitman excerpt, above), ambigrams, and ink that focused on fonts, just to name a few. She emphasized that possessors of type tattoos tended to all have some level of college education, holding degrees, or even advanced degrees. The implication, and a fair one I think, is that such tattoos are more intellectual in nature than, say, a half-sleeve of flowers or grinning skulls.

But as passionate as she is about fonts and designs, the audience could certainly tell that the stories behind the tattoos were a bonus that infused them with a much greater emotional weight.

Take this example:


Ms. Saltz related the tale of an Australian woman who came to New York in 2006 to meet her at a book signing at Cooper Union. The individual was battling cancer and had tattooed song lyrics on her forearm in a beautiful script. Ms. Saltz's voice strained with emotion as she recalled how the woman had warmly thanked her for writing the first Body Type book, which gave her strength as she struggled with the disease. The accompanying text from the book delves deeper:

“This is from the Lou Reed song, ‘I Believe in Love.’ I love music and I love red. Three months after I got this tattoo I was diagnosed with breast cancer and two months later I found out I have secondary cancer in my bones, which is incurable. I have up to eight years left, so everything in my life has been put into sharper focus. I live life now; that’s my job. Now, looking back, my tattoos seem almost like a premonition, ‘music, music, music, it’ll satisfy your soul . . . ’ is a permanent marker of what is important to me and a reminder to follow my heart’s desires.”

Text and Photo © 2010 Ina Saltz

Such passion, not just for the tattoos, but for the motives that drive people to decorate their skin, appeal to me as someone who appreciates a tattoo much more knowing what has inspired it.

After the presentation, the audience lined up and my friend Janet joined me. Janet is an early subject of Tattoosday, and even has a type-ish tattoo (see her post here). A tattooed woman named Izzy in front of us overheard me talking to Janet about Tattoosday and we quickly struck up a discussion.

Izzy is working on a fascinating project in which she is hoping to catalog tattoos with the Library of Congress. Fascinating and certainly quite ambitious! We spoke at great length, both before and after meeting Ms. Saltz, discussing tattoos and our respective endeavors.

When it was my turn to meet Ms. Saltz and have her sign my copy of Body Type 2, I introduced myself and told her about Tattoosday.

Photo by Janet Loder-Berthelon

She was happy to hear I had heard about her through Elizabeth and how difficult it would be to include all of her typographical tattoo, all twenty-six parts of it, in a book form.

© 2009 Tattoosday

It was wonderful meeting the author whose books originated a lot like Tattoosday's first inspiration. She saw the word "happy" in Helvetica typeface on a crosstown bus; I was haunted by a woman's gorgeous Keith Haring chest piece at the 2007 Siren Festival on Coney Island.

I recalled one of my favorite tattoos from the new collection:

© 2010 Ina Saltz

Toward the end of her talk, Ina Saltz thanked many of her subjects who were in attendance that evening. One gentleman, smartly attired in a sport coat waved from the back of the room. Ina's face lit up and she identified him as the bearer of the tattoo seen earlier in her slide show, the owner of a Ann Sexton poem, excerpted on his biceps. "See," Ms. Saltz proclaimed, "looking at him, you wouldn't know he had a tattoo, would you?"

The crowd murmured its assent. I sighed, wishing he had been wearing a t-shirt so we could all see the poem again.

If you aren't familiar with The Body Type books, you are missing out on something special. They're lovely volumes dedicated to the wordy tattoos that I love so much.

And as a bonus, clicking here will show you a few dozen Tattoosday with the label "words".

Gabby Celebrates the Beautiful Life

I met Gabby in the laundromat down the street.

She had this lovely tattoo at the base of her neck:


This translates, in the Italian, to "the beautiful life".

Simply, Gabby has Italian heritage and she had this done at Psycho Tattoo in Georgia at a particularly "good time in [her] life".

Thanks to Gabby for sharing her three words with us here on Tattoosday!

UPDATE: Right around the time I posted this, I had heard Ina Saltz discuss typographic tattoos (see my recap here). I have since discovered a cool website tool called WhatTheFont which helps identify typefaces based on samples that can be uploaded. Using this new tool, I have identified the font in Gabby's tattoo as Commerical Script Regular. That probably doesn't mean much to a lot of people, but it's pretty neat for those who may be interested.