Mandala Tattoo Design: November 2017

Vanessa's Lion

About a month after seeing Ben's lion, I spotted another lion at the City Hall subway station:

This lion is on the side of the leg of Vanessa, in a spot where you don't normally see a tattoo.

She told me that this was tattooed by Oba (@omoori) at Push Tattoo Studio (@pushtattoos) in Wilmington, Delaware.

Vanessa explained that this was part of a set of matching tattoos she got with her best friend. As she tells it, the lion matched her friend's personality, and this leonine friend designed the art.

I asked Vanessa what her friend got. She explained that her nickname was Goldfish, so that's what her friend got to compliment her lion.

Thanks to Vanessa for sharing her cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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Ben's Lion from Bang Saen

At the end of September, I met Ben on Wall Street. He was visiting form England and was kind enough to take a moment out of sightseeing and share this cool tattoo:

Ben told me he got this cool lion tattoo in Bang Saen, Thailand.

Thanks to Ben for sharing his awesome lion tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Jess and Josh Share Some Ink

Back in June, I met a couple from Great Britain on the steps of Federal Hall in lower Manhattan.

There names were Jess and Josh, and they both were kind enough to share some of their tattoos with us.

Check out this really funky witch on Jess' arm:

Jess credited this to Marie Cox (@lady_fts) at Folklore Tattoo Studio (@fts_tattoo) in Tamworth, Staffordshire, which is near Birmingham, England.

John shared this piece on his leg:

This work was also done at Folklore, but by Adam McDermott (@admcde).

Thanks to Jess and Josh for sharing their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Wes and the Queen

I met Wes last month across from Federal Hall in the Financial District. He shared this lovely tattoo with us:

Wes told me that he got this for his 18-month old daughter, Audrey. As a father of girls myself, I can relate to the sentiment that a daughter is like a queen in the realm.

He credited this excellent work to Zach Nelligan (@zachnelligan) from Mainstay Tattoo (@mainstaytattoo) in Austin, Texas.

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

Jennifer's Sculpted Arm

Back in September, I met Jennifer, whose stunning tattoo stopped me in my tracks. Fortunately, she generously shared her work:

Jennifer told me this was inspired by a sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This is the artwork that provided the basis for the tattoo:

The work in question, Latona and Her Children, Apollo and Diana is a work by American sculptor William Henry Rinehart, and features a mother looking down lovingly on her two children. The work spoke to Jennifer, who was inspired to use this as a basis for her tattoo that reminds her of her own love of her two sons.

This artwork was translated into a tattoo by Ronen Bichado (@ronentat) from Inkstop Tattoo (@inkstoptattoonyc) in Manhattan.

Here's another perspective from the artist's Instagram:

via @ronentat

Thanks to Jennifer for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Oscar and Tavárez, by Gian Karle

Back in September, I met Oscar at the local coffee shop in the lobby of my building at 30 Broad Street in lower Manhattan.

He had this cool tattoo on his hand:

Oscar told me that this is a portrait of Manuel Gregorio Tavárez, who is considered the "father of classical Puerto Rican dance."

This was tattooed by Gian Karle (@giancarle) from 1711 Tattoo Studio (@1711tattoostudio) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

People may recognize Gian Karle as one of the finalists from Ink Master's 8th season (@spikeinkmaster).

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

Helen's Reminder for One Wild and Precious Life

Earlier this year, I spotted a new tattoo on my friend Helen's Facebook feed. She was kind enough to share it with us:

The phrase "one wild and precious life" are the final five words in Mary Oliver's poem "The Summer Day":

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

~~~

from New and Selected Poems, 1992
Beacon Press, Boston, MA

Poetry speaks to everyone differently, so I asked Helen why she chose to inscribe these words on her body. She replied:

"I really wanted to remind myself – to have a permanent reminder readily in view – to be present, to be grateful, to be living in the moment. These are things that I regularly do anyway, but I’ve ended up in a number of quite challenging circumstances recently and was VERY depressed and really losing perspective...and it just came to me one afternoon that having this on me, in that type of font, right in the place where my pulse is taken, would be the perfect thing. Also, I had it done right before the Spring Equinox – I wanted to start new, like spring, like growth, like hope, like guess what everything comes back around and it’s all there even when you can’t see it, like seeds buried beneath the snow and the frozen ground... everything is not dead, there’s still hope, and time is fleeting and you better effing rise up and live again."

The font used is Courier and the words were inked by Berger (@tattooingbyberger) at Artful Dodger Tattoo and Comics (@adtcseattle) in Seattle.

You can hear Mary Oliver read in the recording below:

Thanks to Helen for sharing her awesome literary tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Michael's Space Odyssey

I met Michael at a deli down near the New York Stock Exchange at the beginning of the summer.
He had this cool tattoo that he was nice enough to share:

He wanted a space theme on his arm and this is the first part of it. He says it will merge with a time theme on his other arm.

He credits this great work to Jon Mesa (@jonmesa) at No Idols Tattoo (@noidolsnyc) in Manhattan.

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

Alyssa Helps Us Celebrate Día de Muertos

The annual Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, holiday has begun and what better way to mark the occasion on Tattoosday than with a sugar skull?

This beauty belongs to Alyssa, who I met near Bowling Green in lower Manhattan back in September.

Alyssa told me she got this tattoo to mark the ten-year anniversary of her mother's passing.

The tattoo was done by Eddy Ospina (@eddyospina) at the former Wooster Street Social Club. Eddy is currently calling Scharf & Sons Tattoo home, in Merrick, Long Island.

Thanks to Alyssa for sharing her awesome sugar skull with us here on Tattoosday!