Two of Tawni's Tattoos

It seemed appropriate to take pictures of two of Tawni's tattoos on Two-for-Tattoosday, and she was accommodating.

The first piece was the one that caught my eye initially, a snake on her left bicep that actually represents an "astrology marriage," in her words between Eastern and Western astrology.

The tattoo represents that she was born in the Year of the Snake and, it is positioned to mimic the sign for Leo (July 23 - August 22). It was inked at a shop called Camden Chameleon in Bellingham, Washington. The shop is now known as Chameleon Ink & Body Piercing.

Her other piece that I liked was on her inner right forearm:


The phrase ("Be the wind, not the cloud") is her own interpretation of a passage in the I Ching, or book of changes. Tawni used to do castings and this phrase resonates with her so she carries it with her on her skin. This was inked by Andre Ortego at the House of Tattoo in Tacoma, Washington.

Thanks to Tawni for sharing her interesting work with us here on Tattoosday!

Jay's Incredible Chest Pieces

Last Friday, I met Jay on the 59th Street platform in Brooklyn. He had well-inked arms and he clearly had other ink peeking out from the edges of his shirt.

We chatted for a while on the platform and on the R train after it arrived. Jay was game for contributing to the blog, but wanted to offer up his chest pieces, of which he is most proud. Since taking off his shirt was not an option, he agreed to send me a photo later. That's what you see above.

Needless to say, Jay was right. His chest work is phenomenal. The artist is Eddie Carrero, who works out of Inkstop Tattoo NYC in Manhattan. It's all custom-designed and original art by Eddie. Let's take a closer look:



Not only does Eddie use phenomenal coloring on the koi and the dragon, but his shading work in the background is extremely cool as well.

Thanks to Jay for sharing his chest pieces here on Tattoosday!

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

I ran into Enrique in front of the Borders at Penn Plaza, a prime tattoo-spotting location, as regular readers of Tattoosday know.

He sported three tattoos, including this fresh replica of his wings from the Air Force, where he was an E3 Airman 1st Class:


Here's a sample of what this tattoo is based upon:
This piece, along with the others, was inked by Sandy at Body Art in Manhattan. When the picture was taken, the ink was still drying, having been tattooed only a few days earlier.

Most interesting to me was the line of Hebrew on the back of Enrique's bicep (seen at the beginning of the post)

מה שלא הורג מכשל

A nod to his father, who was in the Israel Defense Forces, the Hebrew translates to "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Interesting, there's a whole discussion of this phrase in Hebrew here.

Enrique's third piece is still a work in progress, so is not pictured here, but the central element seems to be a traditional naval anchor in the middle of his left forearm.

Thanks to Enrique for taking the time to talk to me about his ink, and sharing it here on Tattoosday!