I met Simona in Park Slope, Brooklyn, back at the end of July. At the corner of Prospect Avenue and Prospect Park West, just outside of the Holy Name Church.
Simona had an unusual script around her right bicep:
The line displayed is "Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien," which means "Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come".
This tattoo was inked by one of the best tattooers of script around, Stephanie Tamez at New York Adorned. Work from Stephanie has appeared previously on best-tatto-design here.
She placed the tattoo there because that is where Jews who were interned during the Holocaust had been tattooed by the Nazis. It's tattooed there as an expression of solidarity with her faith and, as a reminder to never forget the horror that was the Holocaust.
Thanks to Simona for sharing her tattoos with us here on best-tatto-design!
When I met Chloe back in July, I didn't think that the tattoo she offered would be saved for an anniversary, or a special occasion, but that is how it played out.
In fact, when I approached her in the Union Square Barnes & Noble, I was more interested in a design on her thigh. However, she dismissed that tattoo, one of her first, and offered up this relatively crude rendering of the American flag:
By crude, I mean unpolished, and I do not mean it disrespectfully. For Chloe disclosed that this was a "stick and poke" tattoo that she and her friend Luke had given one another when in school.
Chloe was a Visual Arts major and explained that, in college, everyone seemed to be "poo-poohing on America," and this bothered her.
It is occasionally the case where college students, from their campuses, speak out against our country.
But Chloe and Luke wanted to make their own personal statements. "We do have a lot here," she told me, and expressed her dismay at those fellow students who seemed to take our freedoms for granted.
Chloe loves American culture (especially Westerns) and is "super-jazzed about Americana".
Despite the fact that it was not professionally done, it seems appropriate that this tattoo appear here on Patriot's Day, on a day on which we give pause, and remember what America is about. Our freedom is not something to take for granted and, whereas we certainly have a right to voice our discontent with the government, we should also not take for granted the freedoms we do have, those that make us who we are.
Thanks to Chloe for letting us unfurl her flag here on best-tatto-design, on this day in which we should all pause and reflect, remembering how fortunate we Americans are to live in such a wonderful country.
I also encourage people to check out previous Patriot Day posts here, here and here.
Of course the weather is gorgeous, I've just been hanging out with my friend Lorna alot. After about 14 hrs of flying, we went out with some friends to a few local bars, had some good food and had all the fruity Hawaiian drinks we could! HA!
This is what got us through the 14 hr flight.... a sweet layover in Houston :)
A few of these and two Tylenol PMs later, we're here!
I start work tonight just doing sales until Wednesday which will be my first day tattooing on the floor! So stoked! I believe I'm tattooing Noah, a super awesome local guy with some large tribal work on him that needs to be recolored.
I will (of course) keep you posted on that.
Of course we made a few stops to the beach bars and whatnot since we've been here. :)
I'm gonna head down to the beach now.... going to relax a bit and stretch out my super-sore legs after a 45 min run this morning (which I am NOT accustomed to).... I'm going to try my best to run or jog every morning, eat a good breakfast and eat healthy. So far, I've ran 2 days in a row and my legs feel like they're going to fall off!
Earlier this week, author Karen E. Olson released the third installment of her Tattoo Shop Mystery series, Driven To Ink.
For those readers who may not be familiar with Ms. Olson's series, you can check out my reviews of the first two books, here (The Missing Ink) and here (Pretty in Ink).
The series features Brett Kavanaugh, a Las Vegas-based tattoo artist, and a cast of supporting characters, from her police officer brother Tim, to fellow artist and competitor Jeff Coleman, owner of the shop Murder Ink. Kavanaugh's staff at The Painted Lady, a high-end tattoo shop at the Venetian Hotel and Casino, also offers up some memorable characters, including Bitsy, the diminuitive shop manager.
Driven To Ink, like its predecessors, has an "only in Las Vegas" feel, with a well-crafted narrative that, this time around, revolves around a drive-thru wedding chapel called "That's Amore" that features a handful of Dean Martindoppelgängers crooning, you guessed it, "That's Amore".
Olson has once again spun a riveting tale, which finds Brett Kavanaugh discovering a dead Dean Martin imperspnator in her trunk, with a tattoo machine's clip cord around the victim's neck. She had just lent her car, a Mustang Bullitt, to Jeff Coleman's octogenarian mother, Sylvia, so she could get married in style at the That's Amore chapel.
What I love about Karen Olson's books is that tattoos are seen above and beyond base clues in a murder mystery. She treats the vocation with utter respect, explaining things to the reader as if they were new to a tattoo studio. Tattoos may serve as clues, but they are not regarded as these huge totems that define their owners.
Brett Kavanaugh is an enjoyable protagonist, not without faults, and the author let's the reader tag along on her adventures that start off innocently enough, but pull her into deeper and deeper water. It's no surprise that one of the recurring characters is an Emergency Room doctor, as medical attention seems to be needed from time to time, making this mystery series ring truer than one in which the hero (or heroine) dances through their adventure unscathed.
Olson's first book in the series was a novelty. A new mystery with tattoos at the center of the narrative. After three volumes, Brett Kavanaugh seems more real, more human, than ever before.
A word to the skeptics, those tattoo snobs who may scoff at the light-hearted appearance of these books: Karen Olsen has given a gift to the tattoo community in the form of Brett Kavanaugh. Driven To Ink is another great mystery, with a respectful and honest portrayal of one artist/sleuth who just happens to be a tattoo shop owner.
I have enjoyed every one of Ms. Olson's books and Driven To Ink is yet another chapter in the fascinating life of Brett Kavanaugh. I'm looking forward to her next installment which, I am led to believe, is tentatively called Ink Flamingos.
Check out Karen talking about her first Tattoo Shop Mystery here:
Here's another orphan post. I took the picture, got the name, a shred of info, and passed a flier. And even though I saw Heather, the host of the tattoo, a week later, walking by me one day in a hurry, I never got to the bottom of this tattoo. So it goes....
Heather credited this to an artist named "Joanne" with a long French name. Any guesses? Anyone?
A few weeks ago, I was walking up Seventh Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets, when I spotted this peeking out of a guy's shirt sleeve:
I stopped to ask him about the tattoo. Or rather, asked him if I could take a picture, when he revealed that it was much larger than it appeared poking out of the sleeve on his left arm:
Sadly, I gave him the best-tatto-design flier and asked him to e-mail me so we could discuss it further and he a) lost the flier or b) decided to forgo contacting me. So, I have no idea who he is, nor can I credit the artist, whose work is pretty darn impressive.
When this happens, I dub it an "orphan" post, but obviously, despite the lack of details, it's still worth sharing.
Thanks to the anonymous contributor who allowed me to take photos of this great tattoo and share it with us here on best-tatto-design!
So today I got to tattoo my Mentor! Bill sat for me while Anna worked with me the entire time. Super stoked! Here are some pics. I didn't do much, just re-colored a flower on his arm that was about 15 yrs old. You can't really see the final product but once I get more pics I'll post those.
These are mostly for my fam and friends that have waited so long for me to get started! I leave for Hawaii tonight around 3am and should be there by 1pm tomorrow Hawaii time. I'm so excited I can't believe the time has finally come. I intend to post as often as I can to keep everyone in the loop with my progress.
hahahah! So much fun! I was sorta freaking out while this was going on, but the biggest thing I have to keep telling myself is to slow the hell down, and take it one step at a time. My biggest problem in general is the fact that I want to get things done quick and efficiently... which can be a good thing when you're sure what you're doing. In this case, I have to take a deep breath and relax. One thing at a time. This is not a race. Once I learn the technical part everything will fall into place.
Thanks to Bill and Anna for bearing with me for the whole hour it took me to fill in the damn thing! One color at a time!
Once I get some better photos of the tattoo close up I'll post those.
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