With a Cherry on Top and a Side of Morrissey

I met Jasen several weeks back outside of the Whole Foods in Chelsea.

Jasen's left right forearm has a variation of the torn flesh motif in tattooing where the artist creates an illusion that a person's flesh is ripping away under pressure from the matter below the skin.

I have seen people with biomechanical tattoos, showing steel below the skin. Or patriotic pieces reflecting red, white and blue deep below the surface.

But Jasen is different. He is a Vegan with not one, but many "sweet teeth". So, with the help of the tattoo artist, Nick Baxter, they devised the design that would reflect delicious desserts bursting out of his skin. Jasen agreed that he wanted something "colorful, fun, and kind of ridiculous".


Okay, I know, the quality of these photos is not great. Very sun-washed. So, I was fortunate enough to find the artist's photo on his website:


Nick's site is cool because he even comments on the pieces. For example:

"Why can't every tattoo be a ridiculous skin tear-out? I'm proud to add this to the collection I've done, along with the gay unicorn and the surfer kool-aid man. It's on an awesome vegan dude who wanted to pay homage to the sweeter side of our shared dietary choice. Thanks Jasen for giving me a good excuse to have some friends over for a dessert-making and reference-photographing party...this tattoo was fun before it even started."

Nick tattooed this at a shop in Branford, Connecticut called Transcend Tattoo & Art Gallery, but has relocated to Austin.


Jasen also has the autograph of the singer Morrissey tattooed on his outer right forearm:



He saw him in concert in Philadelphia two or three months back and had the opportunity to meet him.

We talked about people getting musician's autographs tattooed (see all that have appeared on Tattoosday here), and he told me that Morrissey was the only famous person he would do that for. The singer is a vegetarian and is very outspoken about vegetarianism and animal rights.

Thanks to Jasen for sharing his cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Izzy's Ink: A Tatt-alog, Part 1

On occasion here on Tattoosday, we go a little ink-wild. Someone I meet will show me piece after piece of great body art, and I will snap away and scribble notes as quickly as I can.

And when I share a half dozen or more tattoos from one person, in one post, I call it a tatt-alog.

I was heading home later than normal, having attended a New York City open house on applying to public high schools when, after one stop on the R train, a few people boarded at Pacific Street.

I noticed the woman first, and a bicep covered with flowers, and then I nudged Melanie (my lovely wife) and drew her attention to the back of a man's calf:


So I had no intention of letting that piece exit the train un-documented by yours truly, I quickly got up and introduced myself, but the woman knew who I was, I think she said "It's the Tattoosday Guy!"

She, of the flowered bicep, was Lauren, whose Mastodon tattoo was featured here back in June, and her boyfriend Izzy had a ton of ink (approximately 16 pieces). What follows are 5 of the more noteworthy tattoos. For the sake of brevity, I have a few more saved for a later date.

The first piece Izzy talked about was this Sailor Jerry-inspired monkey. Legend has it that the original Sailor Jerry had a pet chimp upon which he tattooed the letters "A L" on its left buttock and "H A" on its right. He then trained the chimp to bend over and look at someone through its knees. The resulting message "A L o H A" was visible thanks to the extra letter provided by the monkey's nether orifice. Sailor Jerry designed flash to commemorate the trick:


Izzy's homage to the monkey replaces ALoHA with BROoKLYN:


This was tattooed by Josh Everett who, Izzy explained, quit tattooing to run the family business.

Everett was co-owner of the now-defunct Macdougal Street Tattoo Company, but it's worth checking out this article here from The New York Times archives, in which he is interviewed about giving free tattoos to 9/11 rescue workers.

Everett was also responsible for the incredible Jimi Hendrix tattoo on the back of his right leg:


Definitely worth a second look.

Remember, we're talking and the camera is flashing on the R train, so we certainly were drawing some stares. Izzy moved on to this intriguing tattoo:


"Ever hear of a band called Pantera?" he asked.

Melanie laughed, the tattoo made sense, I knew what the crux of it was immediately - Izzy had the autograph of Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell forever inked on his flesh. Sadly, for those who don't know, in 2004, Dime was murdered on stage in by a crazed fan.

Above Dimebag's signature is the logo CBH CFH from their debut album Cowboys from Hell and below it is a guitar drawn by the legendary musician.

Izzy met Dime about 11 years ago, outside of the building where Howard Stern was broadcasting his radio show. Dime drew it all on with a Sharpie and an artist named Eric tattooed it in the back of Bleecker Bob's Records.

Moving to his left arm, Izzy shared this design:


Although not immediately apparent, this tattoo is also an autograph-turned-tattoo. This was drawn on Izzy's arm by Slash, former Guns N' Roses guitarist, backstage at a Velvet Revolver concert.

As a guitarist in a rock band (God's Green Earth), I can understand why Izzy might want the autographs of two of the most influential rock guitarists from the last twenty-five years permanently inked on his being.

Since meeting Izzy, I also have met a guy in our neighborhood with Paul Stanley's autograph inked on his calf. See here for previous examples of "signed tattoos" appearing on Tattoosday.

Further up his left arm is this amazing belly dancer tattooed by Joshua Lord at East Side Ink:


Izzy and Lauren rode with us all the way to the end of the R line, definitely winning the honor of being the subject with whom I have spent the most amount of time (about 30 minutes).

I am eternally grateful to Izzy for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday and for doing so with such genuine excitement.

Be sure to check out his band at their MySpace page here.

And stay tuned for some additional shots of Izzy's Ink!

You have read this article Autographs / Belly Dancers / East Side Ink / Jimi Hendrix / Joshua Lord / Monkeys / Sailor Jerry Tattoos with the title Autographs. You can bookmark this page URL https://blogarttattoo.blogspot.com/2009/07/izzy-ink-tatt-alog-part-1.html. Thanks!

Jessica Shares Some of Her Tattoos before Pearl Jam Plays the Garden

I had it all worked out. Last night was the first night of the Pearl Jam concert at Madison Square Garden. Even though I wasn't going, I would see plenty of ink right next to where I work. Pearl Jam fans are prolificly tattooed (see this site as proof). What could be easier?

One guy didn't want his tattoos photographed. And he was wearing a t-shirt for a tattoo shop on Oregon. In my disappointment, I forgot what it was called.

Another guy was in town from Italy to see the band. I think the language barrier was an issue.

But I am not generally discouraged. There was, however, a vibe. A general sense that something bigger and better was going on besides indulging the hobby of an almost-41-year old blogger in dire need of a haircut. And of course, they were right. Pearl Jam was returning to the Garden after five years. Really, Tattoosday had to take a back seat to that.

But thank goodness for Jessica. She was thoroughly inked and indulged me. Granted, she seemed a little bemused by my exercise and a little disinterested, but she did let me take some photos and gave me cursory explanations. Alas, no Pearl Jam tattoos, but she still had some cool ink.

This was her most meaningful tattoo:

It's on her left wrist and is the autograph of Jonathan Davis, lead singer of Korn. He signed it, and she inked it. Jessica has her own tattoo gun machine, and does some touch-ups and basic line work here and there. Embarassingly, when she said it was Jonathan Davis' autograph, I couldn't connect the name to the face right away and I asked who he was, knowing full well that doing so would make me look like a total dork. And I was right. Of course I knew who he was, I just didn't compute it at the time.

Here's Jessica's left arm:

She likes crows. She has seven in all. She didn't tell me why the cheetah was significant. If you look at her right arm, you can see a sliver of an amazing piece that I didn't photograph, but should have. It was amazing piece that encircled her forearm.


And here's her upper right arm. That's Pig-Pen from Peanuts, which was one of her nicknames growing up.
And on the bottom is Mokey, a "primary Fraggle" from Fraggle Rock. Mokey was also one of her nicknames from very early in life.

Thanks to Jessica for taking the time to chat with me when so few people seemed interested in sharing. I am celebrating my birthday a week early at the show tonight (Wednesday), so we'll see if any tattoos pop up here on Thursday (or Friday).

UPDATE JUNE 29, 2008:

Jessica followed up with me and wrote the following:

I may not have any Pearl Jam tattoos, unless you count that my nickname is Mookie (Mokey from Fraggle Rock) since I was a toddler, from my dad. My mom calls me Pigpen cause she's a obessive complusive neat freak who thinks an open TV Guide is a mess...

I've idolized Jonathan Davis from Korn since 1996. To finally meet him was amazing. I always thought I'd be starstruck and lose my composure, but didn't. I held a conversation with him. Wow. How did that happen? A group was forming around the tour bus. He came out...to sign autographs. I told him he was my idol for 12 years, and asked if he could sign my wrist. So he grabbed my wrist. On the outside I was fine, but in my head I turned into a 12-year old boy band fan thinking OMG OMG HE'S TOUCHING ME DON'T FAINT!!

The Mokie tattoo, above, was inked by Troy at K & B Tattooing in Hightstown, New Jersey.

You have read this article Autographs / Cat / Cheetahs / Crows / Jonathan Davis / K and B Tattooing / Korn / Peanuts / Pearl Jam / Pigpen with the title Autographs. You can bookmark this page URL https://blogarttattoo.blogspot.com/2008/06/jessica-shares-some-of-her-tattoos.html. Thanks!

Heeeeeeeeere's Victor's Tattoos!

As awesome as the tattoo above is, it was The Who tattoo that first jumped out at me from the back of Victor's right arm when he passed by me on the sidewalk near Penn Station:

He had a few minutes before he had to catch a train to New Jersey, and was waiting for a friend, so he proudly showed me his gallery of tattoos, on both arms and his right leg. He has 13 in all, and here are 8 of them.

Generally we here at Tattoosday like to focus on one or two, but he had so many cool pieces, and he was totally game for sharing them, I just kept taking photos.

I'm going to divide them by the artist that did the tattooing.

We'll start with the "Soozie tattoo" because it was his first tattoo, drawn by Victor's favorite actress, Angela Bettis, who has quite a following among her fans. She is best known for her role in the film May, and works primarily in independent films.

Victor explains how this tattoo came about:

“I met her at a horror convention, and on an autographed poster she gave me, she drew a ‘Soozie doll’, which is one of the characters in the film. I went home and said this would be great for my first tattoo. So I did it, just as it is drawn on my poster”.

Victor adds that this tattoo "is one of my favorites because it looks like it was drawn on with a sharpie (it was supposed to)". And, like most of the tattooed can relate, once he got this inked, he became “addicted”.

This was inked by Kurt Fagerland at Empire State Studio, in Oceanside, New York.

Fagerland also inked this black heart:

This piece, done in tribute to Joan Jett and the Black Hearts, is on his left forearm, below the Soozie piece.

Victor didn't mention this, but I would interject that the Joan Jett tattoo could also symbolize that one wears one's heart on their sleeve.

Another piece from Empire State is a tip of the hat to the film Donnie Darko, on his inner left forearm:

Finally, the last tattoo inked by Fagerland is a portrait of Pee Wee Herman, the character portrayed by actor Paul Reubens. This piece is on Victor's right leg (calf):

One may have noticed, near the "Soozie" tattoo, there are some other lines drawn below and to the right of it. If it looks like an autograph, it is.

Nikki Sixx, the bass-player for Mötley Crüe, signed his arm. He then had the signature permanently inked by Chantal at Sparrow Tattoo in Franklin Square, New York.

Believe it or not, this is the second Nikki Sixx tattoo I have seen since the dawn of Tattoosday. The other is on the back of a woman who lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I saw her on the R train one afternoon last Fall, but didn’t have my camera with me at the time.

Why did he tattoo the autograph? Again, he elaborates:

“I have been a Motley Crue fan for a while, but I always loved Nikki. He's dreamy. I went to his book-signing for The Heroin Diaries, and got him to sign my arm, because the asshole security guards would not let me get anything else signed. So I said ‘Fuck it, I want to engrave Nikki Sixx in my arm forever’ ”.

The three remaining tattoos were all inked by Vinny Romanelli at the House of Colour, in Bay Shore, New York.

He did the Mod symbol, appropriated by The Who, as seen above on the back of Victor's right bicep, above, and the New York Dolls pin-up on the inside of his right bicep.

Most impressive is the awesome Nicholson portrait, commemorating the famous “Heeeeere’s Johnny!” scene from the Stanley Kubrick film, The Shining. It’s worth a second look:

One might question why someone would get these various tattoos like Victor has chosen to do. People get tattoos for various reasons: as memorials, as decoration, and as commemorative pieces. Victor explained poignantly why he has chosen to decorate his body with such a variety of images from popular culture:

“The reason I get tattoos is because I pay tribute to the things that inspire me. Mostly movies & music, and certain people. I am a filmmaker myself, and one day hope to have a scene from one of my movies tattooed on some weirdo’s body.”

Well-put, Victor, and thanks for sharing the sources of your inspiration here on Tattoosday!

You have read this article Angela Bettis / Autographs / Donnie Darko / Empire State Studio / Jack Nicholson / New York Dolls / Nikki Sixx / Pee Wee Herman / The House of Colour / The Who / Tributes with the title Autographs. You can bookmark this page URL https://blogarttattoo.blogspot.com/2008/06/heeeeeeeeere-victor-tattoos.html. Thanks!