Time Flies When You're Living and Dying

"No," I explained to Heather, "I don't troll the post office for tattoos." She was asking why, of all places, I stopped her in line at the Fort Hamilton Post Office in Brooklyn.

Really, it was a series of coincidences. My younger daughter was sick today, so I stayed home. Otherwise, I would have been at the main post office in Manhattan. But there I was, after an eternal wait in line, when I looked back and saw Heather talking to someone before getting into the endless line. I gasped. Heather has a lot of ink. She has sleeves (I think one was 3/4 and one was 1/2, I could be wrong) and a back piece that looks to be of significant volume, with other tattoos scattered across her self from neck to toe.

When I asked her about her tattoo count, she gave me an answer that you generally don't hear, except from the heavily-tattooed. "I estimate I'm about 40% covered." Wow. A lot of ink, indeed.

Heather gets tattooed by two main guys, and the piece she offered for Tattoosday was done by Lou Andrew at Third Eye Tattoos in Park Slope. You may be familiar with Lou's work, from Fabiana, whose ink has been appearing recently on Tattoosday.

Heather explained the piece, saying that the girl in the artwork has been "zombfied" to represent death

and the hourglass, with the wings, is symbolic of the fleeting nature of time ("time flies"), and ultimately, life. The detail is vivid and very well done:

I love the grains of sand falling in the hourglass and the red cobwebs.

Heather explained that this tattoo, on the back of her left calf, will have a companion piece on the back of the right, but not until fall. She acknowledged that her practice is not to get tattooed in the summer, when fresh ink is most susceptible to sun damage and fading.

Much thanks to Heather for sharing her tattoo here on Tattoosday! I hope she will make a return appearance in the future, perhaps later in the year when she has the other piece inked.

Marcus Sports a Heavenly Geisha

I ran into Marcus walking down 86th Street in Bay Ridge, just a block from Brooklyn Ink, where the above piece was tattooed by Joe. I hear Joe's name a lot, as his shop is closest to home for me. Although I have never been inked by Joe, everyone I've spoken to has nothing but good things to say.

Marcus, who has about a dozen tattoos, had this piece tattooed on his right forearm, because he is an artist and inspired by art. Geisha, best translated as "artist" in Japanese, are representatives of the traditional artist class in Japan. This geisha has wings, making her angelic, which adds an element of spirituality to the tattoo. The combination of the physical art form with a representation of the spiritual, appeals to Marcus' sensibility, and this tattoo ultimately captures his outlook on life.

Thanks to Marcus for taking a moment to share your heavenly geisha with us here at Tattoosday!

You can see other postings of work from Brooklyn Ink on Tattoosday here.

Angie's Life-Affirming Flower

I ran into Angie at Duane Reade and she offered up the above piece as one of her favorite tattoos (she has over twenty).

This flower is actually a composite, based on several different flowers. There is a clear lotus influence, as well, she acknowledged, a little bit of daisy. The color is based on that of the peony (right).

Angie had this inked while she was in the Army, prior to going overseas to Iraq. She identified the artist as Jim White at Halo Tattoo in Syracuse, New York. However, Jim is not listed on the shop's site, so he must have moved on.

This is located on her inner left forearm and extends upward to the inside of her elbow.

It's a beautiful flower, which was a life-affirming reminder that she carried with her to Iraq. I can only imagine how difficult the journey must have been, and I can see how one's body art provide strength as life's challenges are faced and overcome.

Thanks to Angie for taking a moment to speak to me about her tattoo!