Last month, my friend Janet (whose ink was featured on Tattoosday here) sent me the following photo:
Janet reports:
"I took this pic in the 1 train, 23rd Street downtown subway station. The guy was *lovely* and looked like a big construction worker. His name is James, and so is his son's, pictured."
I figured this would be a nice father's day bonus.
Vanessa explained that this was the album she listened to when she was visiting her mother in the hospital. Her mom recovered, and she associates the record with this time of her life. The tattoo celebrates those moments.
The second piece she shared was inspired by her father:
Unlike with her mom, Vanessa does not have a relationship with her dad. The optimistic banner "may we meet again" is a glance forward, toward the possibility of someday reconnecting with him.
This large tattoo, on her right biceps, took eight hours, all in one sitting. The detail of the anatomically-correct heart is amazing. Vanessa pointed out how the artist added flowers to the design, as well as the rays of light in the upper right corner to create the shape of a figurative heart, as well.
I met Matthew walking through Penn Station last week. He has several tattoos, and shared this one with me:
On his right arm, this traditional nautical star has been embellished with several design elements that personalize the tattoo.
The banner "No Hope but Home" refers to lyrics from a song by a New Jersey band called Scream Hello.
The nautical star is accompanied by a knitting needle and a fountain pen. These two objects refer to his parents. The knitting needle speaks to his mother who is a homemaker and also knits as a hobby. The fountain pen alludes to his father, who is a writer professionally, and also writes for pleasure.
The nautical star, traditionally worn by sailors to serve as a talisman to find a way home, serves a figurative purpose here, pointing toward, while also emphasizing the hopefulness of home, but also the importance of Matthew's parents in his life.
This cool tattoo was inked by John Reardon at Saved Tattoo, in Brooklyn. Work from Saved has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.
Thanks to Matthew for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
I met Chris in Brooklyn Heights one afternoon and asked him about his ink. He has seven tattoos in all, but offered up this section of his arm:
What seems at first like an odd juxtaposition of figures makes more sense when it is explained.
The piece is a memorial based on a photograph of his father, who had worked as an editor on the original film of Woodstock, as well as the book documenting the process who worked with the team that made Woodstock (Paradigm), developing and experimenting with new film technology which was eventually used in the process of making the movie.
After searching for a while, I emailed Chris and asked if he could send me the photo. He generously obliged:
Seeing the source material on which this piece is based makes it cooler. The photograph appears in the book, and was taken up at Woodstock when the documentary was in production years laterby one of the cinematographers of the Woodstock film, Chuck Levey somewhere in New Jersey.
And the back of the arm features a quote from Chris's dad, a statement he would often make, which seems genuinely appropriate from someone so deeply immersed in the culture of the 1960s:
Chris had his tattoos inked by Nick Caruso at Fly-Rite Studio in Brooklyn. Work from Fly-Rite has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.
Thanks to Chris for sharing his work here on Tattoosday!
Last week, I posted about a trio of friends that had recently moved from San Francisco to New York, all of them inked.
Jake was the first of the three to share his tattoo with us, and it is such a good piece, I saved it for a special occasion, Father's Day:
This is, of course, a portrait of the great comedian Redd Foxx. People of my generation (X) remember him as the bristling curmudgeon in the sitcom "Sandford and Son".
For those who are unfamiliar with the series, the show is about a widower, Fred Sanford (Foxx), raising his adult son Lamont (played by Desmond Wilson), and their junkyard business. It was a breakthrough show that was one of the first on network television to feature a minority cast.
The father-son dynamic is an ongoing theme, and Jake recalls watching the show with his dad and it being a bonding experience.
His father passed away about four years ago this month from cancer. The tattoo is not only a tribute to the great comedian, but a reminder of the times Jake spent watching "Sandford and Son" with his dad. Jake added, "I'm pretty sure if [my dad] was still around, he would get a kick out of seeing Redd Foxx on my calf."
This amazing portrait was tattooed on the back of Jake's right calf by Greg Rojas at Everlasting Tattoo in San Francisco.
As we celebrate Father's Day today, I thank Jake for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here, and invite everyone to revisit the host of tattoos previously posted on Tattoosday that pay tribute to dads. Click here to see the lot.
And, as a special treat, in the spirit of the day, I present the following clip:
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