Missy's Initials, Illustrated by Gorey

I met Missy on the corner of 23rd and 7th back in the beginning of September and she shared her two tattoos, on both biceps.Her right arm bears this piece:

and her left shoulder hosts this cool image:

 

These images may seem familiar, because they are based on Edward Gorey's Alphabet.

Missy has the two pieces representing her initials, M and N. The right arm represents "M": 

And the left arm represents the "N" for her last initial:

Missy got these tattoos in Santa Cruz about ten years ago.

Thanks to Missy for sharing her cool Gorey tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

from: Kfir F.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 11:36 PM
subject: Tattoo translation

Hi Tian,

I have a friend from work who has a tattoo on his arm. Since I knew about your blog I tried taking a pic of it & check with you if he really knows the meaning of what he has or not. He said it's written in Chinese and it says something like - there's nothing like mom.

Thanks a lot & love your blog.

Kfir



The first character does not exist in written Chinese. However, there is one character 冇 only exists in written Cantonese, which means "not have". Of course, that is not what has been tattooed here.

Tattoo does not mean "there is nothing like mom", rather "not have the likeness of my mother".

Heart Not Time

"I do not like the concept of linear time," Fredrika said to me, "moments and feelings should be more important".

This was her thought behind this tattoo:

I met Fredrika in Penn Station last month and she was kind enough to share this tattoo on her forearm.

She has a lot of ink, but this is her favorite piece.

Fredrika hails from Hamburg, where she is lead singer for a band called Jaguar of My Dreams.

Thanks to Fredrika for sharing with us here on Tattoosday!

Rune's Viking Reflects His Cultural Pride

On a Friday last month, I ran into a couple from Denmark near Herald Square in the pedestrian median between Broadway and 6th Avenue.

The gentleman had a lot of work done on his legs, so I approached and introduced myself. Rune was kind enough to not only share a tattoo, but to pull up his shorts a bit to reveal this tattoo that ran from his mid-thigh down to his calf:

 

Rune explained that this Viking tattoo reflects the pride he has in the old history of the Norsemen that inhabited Scandinavia in the earliest part of the last millenium.

Rune credits Frans at Hugo Tattoo with this wonderful work.

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

Shauncey's Pantherabbit

Last month in Penn Station, I ran into a gentleman who was covered with tattoos and was happy to share one with us here on Tattoosday.

As luck would have it, he was a tattoo artist himself, up from Florida, biding his time as he waited for his train to arrive.

As tattooists generally have a lot of work to share, it is always interesting to see what one piece they will offer up, and Shauncey Fury, of Ocala Tattoo & Piercing in Ocala, Florida, shared this whimsical piece:

 

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is a bad-ass panther wearing bunny ears.

Shauncey explained that he went to Mike Wilson, an artist at Inksmith & Rogers, in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, who is known for, among other things, his panther tattoos. They thought they'd "mix it up a bit" and added the rabbit ears for comedic effect. The result is a whimsical tattoo that is certainly a conversation piece!

Shauncey has been tattooing for five years and gravitates toward portraits and American traditional-style tattoos. You can see a sampling of his work here 

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