Tattoorism: Josh Pays Tribute to the Verrazano Bridge

Last Friday I received a very special surprise via e-mail from a guy named Josh:


The following explanation accompanied the photo:

"I recently discovered your blog's postings about various Verrazano Bridge tattoos you've seen [here and here] ... They both looked pretty awesome.

I'm also a big enough fan of the bridge to get it inked on my skin ... Although mine is a slightly different style than the other two you posted.

I'm originally from New Jersey, and used to drive over the bridge on a regular basis to my Army duties at Fort Hamilton ... I also wanted to run in the NYC Marathon for many years growing up, and finally did so in 2004 (and again in 2006) and decided to commemorate the occasion with a little inking."

Needless to say, it's a phenomenal piece. I, too, am partial to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, as I can turn my head to the left as I type this at my computer, and see it through my window.

Josh had the tattoo done by an artist named Mark Van Ness at Blue Flame Tattoo in Raleigh, North Carolina. Work from Blue Flame has appeared twice before on Tattoosday.

Josh elaborated on the piece in a follow-up e-mail:

"...I was inspired by the works of artist Barbara Bascove, who's painted dozens of New York City landmarks in her unique style. I loved the dark, rich tones of her paintings, and decided to get my tattoo along the same lines. I used the same angle / template from one of her paintings of the George Washington Bridge, and just had the tattoo artist replace the GW towers with those of the Verrazano."

The piece, which Josh says took about five and a half hours over two sessions, is one of several tattoos that he has. You'll have to wait until a later date for us to share those here at Tattoosday.

Thanks again to Josh for sharing his awesome Verrazano Bridge tattoo with us here on the site!

Alice and the Cheshire Cat in Manhattan

At one of the busiest intersections in Manhattan (34th and 7th), I recently met Kelsey, who offered up this still-fresh tattoo:


This is a scene from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, when Alice meets the Cheshire Cat for the second time.

The tattoo is based on this illustration:


This is her most recently tattooed piece. The inspiration behind it is that this was one of her favorite stories, ever since she was six years old.

This was done by Mark Roberts at Fine Line Tattoo Parlour in Deep River, Connecticut.

As a postscript, I noticed in the original photo I took, down on her ankle, was another tattoo, an apparent equation:


I e-mailed Kelsey asking her what the significance of "<3.14". I initially thought that it had something to do with being less than the value of Pi. (π).

Her response surprised me with its cleverness:

"Well, it's <3.14 because <3 is a heart and 3.14 is Pi, an irrational number ... I got it at a tattoo parlor in Augusta, Maine. Four of my friends also have that tattooed in the same spot."

Thanks to Kelsey for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Michaela's Tattoo Illuminates a Life

Yesterday at a street fair in my neighborhood (always prime ink-spotting locals), I saw this beautiful tattoo on the upper right section of Michaela's back:


When I asked her what the meaning of the tattoo was, she asked me "The real story?"

"Absolutely," I replied.

So she told me that years ago, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and she had this tattooed to remind her that there are two sides to everything. The moon and the sun serve as a solar/lunar yin-yang. I especially love how the moon wraps its limbs around the parts of the sun.

Often, whatever a diagnosis may be, finding out what is wrong (as opposed to not knowing) can illuminate a life. She gains strength from this tattoo as it marks a point when her disorder was defined, when a light clarified her situation in life.

This tattoo was done by Noel Wilkinson at The Tatt Shop in Perth, Australia. I believe this is Tattoosday's first sample of work from Autsralia.

Thanks so much to Michaela for sharing this lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! I appreciate her courage in sharing the deeply personal meaning behind her tattoo, as well.