LOS GUYS!!
Here is a classic trailer of the old school Foos Cheech and Chong..
For those of you that don't know you need to check out the line-up from these original characters.
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Here is a classic trailer of the old school Foos Cheech and Chong..
For those of you that don't know you need to check out the line-up from these original characters.
Leesa's Memorial Tattoos
There are certain signs I look for when I am scanning a crowd for tattoos. Colored hair and/or facial piercings are good, but not always reliable, indicators that someone may be inked. A guitar case, you would think, also favors the theory that its possessor has tattoos, but it's not always the reality.
So when I spotted a tall woman walking out of Penn Station carrying what appeared to be a guitar case, I took notice. And, she had a neck tattoo that resembled this pattern:
Despite being in a hurry, she let me shoot this photo of her forearm tattoos:
She explained that the one on the left arm features her mother's initials (HLH) under the phrase "máthair mo ghrá" and the dates 2-23-25 - 1-5-09". The tattoo is Gaelic and translates to "Mother, my love".
She explained that her mother died earlier this year and, before I could react, she explained that the right arm is a memorial to her husband (AMS), who died thirty-three days later.
Her right arm reads "Fear chéile mo ghrá" which means, "Husband, my love".
In an attempt to express condolences, I said, "Wow, it sounds like you've had a bad year. I'm very sorry".
But she was not down about it and said that actually, despite a rough year from a family perspective, it had been a good year for her personally.
She indicated that she was running late for rehearsal and I asked her if her band had a website. She started to spell the name "L-E-Z..." and I knew instantly what band she was in. The runic tattoo on her neck was familiar because it had stood for the great drummer John Bonham. Leesa is the drummer for the all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, Lez Zeppelin.
It was only later, after researching a bit, that I learned that the band's guitarist and de facto leader Steph Paynes, had announced on January 5, 2009, that the other members of the band were leaving, and three replacements, including Leesa, were subsequently selected.
I am assuming that Leesa's reference to a good year, personally, had much to do with her joining Lez Zeppelin, and embarking on a tour.
These memorial tattoos were inked by Matt Adams at Sacred Tattoo in Manhattan.
Here's a clip from the band playing earlier this year in New York:
Thanks to Leesa for stopping and talking with me, despite being in a rush. I appreciate her sharing her memorial tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
Please check out the Lez Zeppelin website (here) to learn more about this cool band. See here where they are playing later this summer.
Read More
So when I spotted a tall woman walking out of Penn Station carrying what appeared to be a guitar case, I took notice. And, she had a neck tattoo that resembled this pattern:
Despite being in a hurry, she let me shoot this photo of her forearm tattoos:
She explained that the one on the left arm features her mother's initials (HLH) under the phrase "máthair mo ghrá" and the dates 2-23-25 - 1-5-09". The tattoo is Gaelic and translates to "Mother, my love".
She explained that her mother died earlier this year and, before I could react, she explained that the right arm is a memorial to her husband (AMS), who died thirty-three days later.
Her right arm reads "Fear chéile mo ghrá" which means, "Husband, my love".
In an attempt to express condolences, I said, "Wow, it sounds like you've had a bad year. I'm very sorry".
But she was not down about it and said that actually, despite a rough year from a family perspective, it had been a good year for her personally.
She indicated that she was running late for rehearsal and I asked her if her band had a website. She started to spell the name "L-E-Z..." and I knew instantly what band she was in. The runic tattoo on her neck was familiar because it had stood for the great drummer John Bonham. Leesa is the drummer for the all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, Lez Zeppelin.
It was only later, after researching a bit, that I learned that the band's guitarist and de facto leader Steph Paynes, had announced on January 5, 2009, that the other members of the band were leaving, and three replacements, including Leesa, were subsequently selected.
I am assuming that Leesa's reference to a good year, personally, had much to do with her joining Lez Zeppelin, and embarking on a tour.
These memorial tattoos were inked by Matt Adams at Sacred Tattoo in Manhattan.
Here's a clip from the band playing earlier this year in New York:
Thanks to Leesa for stopping and talking with me, despite being in a rush. I appreciate her sharing her memorial tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
Please check out the Lez Zeppelin website (here) to learn more about this cool band. See here where they are playing later this summer.
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!!
STAY POSTED FOR THE FULL DETAILS OF THE RELEASE AT
THE
LAST LAUGH
129 E 6TH ST
L.A. CA 90014
Sarah Shoulders Her Slavic Heritage
A couple of weeks ago, I had a very productive Wednesday, speaking to five different people about their tattoos.
Sarah is the last of those five that I an posting, and was my favorite of the group that day.
This tattoo was her sixth (she has thirteen or fourteen) and is an homage to her Slavic heritage.
The piece is based on the poster for a 1921 art exposition put on by the Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha at the Brooklyn Museum:
The piece, on her right shoulder was tattooed by Scott Budgen at Lady Luck Ink in Waterford, Michigan.
Thanks to Sarah for sharing this wonderful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
BORN AND RAISED
Here is a tattoo from a while back that I found in the archives. Our client was born and raised in East Los Angeles area and wanted to get some classic icons to pay homage..My Third Tattoo: A Hand Steeped in Faith
Last June, I wandered into a 711 and met a tattoo artist named Pete, who works under the moniker Sweetpea. Like most artists, he himself has amazing work. However, I was camera-less that day, so I gave him a flier and we went our separate ways.
Later that week he e-mailed me and we scheduled to meet and talk about tattoos. We hit it off nicely and, in one of the perks of writing Tattoosday, I gained a new friend. Of the hundreds of people I have photographed for this blog, I'd say I developed some semblance of a friendship with just a handful of my subjects. Sweetpea tops the list.
When I posted his tattoos, almost exactly a year ago today, he was actually contacted by several people who he ended up tattooing. I didn't realize it at the time, but the impact of the post was far greater than I could imagined.
A month or so later he e-mailed me and asked me what I thought of a design on his MySpace page. I checked out the sketch and admired the concept: a disembodied hand, gesturing the "om" sign, emerging from a cluster of flowers.
I told him I liked it, but if I were to get that tattoo, I'd prefer it be modified to exchange the Om for a Star of David.
He came back to me with the updated design and we agreed to get this done. Summer was just coming to an end.
Pete stopped by in September with the design and met my wife, Melanie. The three of us talked about size and placement and agreed that it would look best on the upper part of the left side of my back. Sweetpea was basically freelancing and we decided the only place we could do it would be in my living room. The kids would certainly get an education out of this!
But when he called to see if we could book a slot in early October, a glance at my calendar revealed a conflict with a wedding and Yom Kippur the Jewish Day of Atonement. Not even factoring in the religious connotations, it's generally a bad idea to get a big tattoo on your back shortly before wearing a nice suit. Healing from a tattoo can be uncomfortable and the ointment used to facilitate the process can often ruin many an article of clothing.
So October slipped away, then November, and December. And then Sweetpea left the country for over a month and didn't get back until late January.
He called me in February. Not only was he ready, but he was now working out of Made in Brooklyn a little shop around the corner run by Michael Kaves, an artist steeped in the tradition of South Brooklyn music, graffiti art and tattoo culture (see an early Kaves tattoo here). I stopped into the store a couple of times and set a date.
When I showed up for the intial sitting, Pete was slightly tentative about the design. He wanted to go in a bit of a different artistic direction and wanted to retool the sketch one more time.
It was then that I suggested a chain, to make it look like it wasn't just a star that was being held, but a necklace with a star at the end of it, almost as if the hand had picked it out of the dust and held it up for inspection. Sweetpea loved the idea of adding the chain, as it created another dimension in the piece.
A week later, I was finally back in the shop being inked.
Again, I was reminded how time is distorted by reality TV tattoo shows. In a four to six hour session, the outline and flower was completed. For what was a relatively small piece, I was surprised at the time that the first phase took, until I saw the depth and layering of the colors that went into the floral pieces.
I returned two weeks later for the hand and several more hours under Sweetpea's needle....this time focusing on the hand, and the shading. When the session was complete, the hand was very dark, so much so that Melanie was nervous.
But Sweetpea assured us that the hand would lighten when healed, and lighten it did. It still amazes me how much work he put into the detail and shading and how he, along with the best tattoo artists, can envision the tattoo after it has healed. It's like an artist creating a painting, but with an extra layer that he knows will peel off and result in a crisper, brighter work below.
Due to scheduling and the shop getting busier, I wasn't able to sit again with Sweetpea until the second weekend in June.
I came in for some final touch-ups, a little extra tuning and coloring to slam the door on the tattoo.
I suggested some gold for the star to really make it shine, and he added some crisper outlining and some subtle shading to finish things up - white highlights in the fingernails and in the chain, and a little bit of added color in the hand.
And whereas I had been happy with the tattoo before, I was astonished at how much more amazing it looked with the "finishing touches".
So what does this tattoo mean? I know that is a question I extend to the countless volunteers who offer up their ink to Tattoosday readers.
I believe that meanings change over time, as the context of a particular tattoo evolves.
The addition of the chain was significant. Instead of merely proffering a symbol, the hand extended a concrete thing that symbolized something larger.
I alluded to our discussion of the chain, as if it had been picked up and held up for examination. This forms the cornerstone of the tattoo's current meaning to me.
So here it is: the hand of a Higher Power, call Him God, or Yahweh, or another deity. The Star of David represents my faith, my understanding of Judaism.
For many years, I had fallen away from the spirituality of the religion and had merely been a "cultural" Jew, meaning I identified myself as Jewish but didn't worship at the synagogue or observe many of the religious traditions.
But when my children reached the age when they started going to Hebrew School, the pendulum swung back and I became more regularly involved in the faith.
And although I do not consider myself "devout," my faith is stronger than it has ever been, it has been plucked from the dust and is being held up to the light.
This tattoo represents Faith, lost and found.
There are other elements that pervade the tattoo that make it more complete to me, as well. I consider it a Judeo-Christian tattoo, in a sense, with a hint of Buddhism.
The hand is still held in an "Om" gesture, despite the modification. So it has a base in a symbol of peacefulness and meditation. The chain has almost rosary-like appearance to it, which is appropriate in that it represents to me the faith of the artist, and my deeper understanding of Christianity that developed over 13 years attending a Christian elementary and high
school.
I thank Peter Caruso aka Sweetpea for creating this amazing tattoo for me. He has told me that appearing on Tattoosday a year ago was a significant moment in his career, as well. In the middle of our second session, he had shared with me that his passion for tattooing had dwindled, and he had been thinking of hanging up his tattoo machine.
However, he said, my interest in the art of tattoo through the blog, and getting him talking about the history of Old School Brooklyn tattooing, rekindled the flame. He started tattooing again and, at Made in Brooklyn, he has been tattooing full-time, doing his own thing, and creating some amazing works of art.
This won't be the last time you hear of Sweetpea or Kaves or Made in Brooklyn here on Tattoosday. Their influence in my neighborhood is being extended on a daily basis. I have witnessed the phenomenal work that they are producing for others and I am sure to be featuring it here in the future. I also hope to bring you a closer look at the shop as they continue to grow the business and transform from a little shop around the corner into a Brooklyn institution.
Read More
Later that week he e-mailed me and we scheduled to meet and talk about tattoos. We hit it off nicely and, in one of the perks of writing Tattoosday, I gained a new friend. Of the hundreds of people I have photographed for this blog, I'd say I developed some semblance of a friendship with just a handful of my subjects. Sweetpea tops the list.
When I posted his tattoos, almost exactly a year ago today, he was actually contacted by several people who he ended up tattooing. I didn't realize it at the time, but the impact of the post was far greater than I could imagined.
A month or so later he e-mailed me and asked me what I thought of a design on his MySpace page. I checked out the sketch and admired the concept: a disembodied hand, gesturing the "om" sign, emerging from a cluster of flowers.
I told him I liked it, but if I were to get that tattoo, I'd prefer it be modified to exchange the Om for a Star of David.
He came back to me with the updated design and we agreed to get this done. Summer was just coming to an end.
Pete stopped by in September with the design and met my wife, Melanie. The three of us talked about size and placement and agreed that it would look best on the upper part of the left side of my back. Sweetpea was basically freelancing and we decided the only place we could do it would be in my living room. The kids would certainly get an education out of this!
But when he called to see if we could book a slot in early October, a glance at my calendar revealed a conflict with a wedding and Yom Kippur the Jewish Day of Atonement. Not even factoring in the religious connotations, it's generally a bad idea to get a big tattoo on your back shortly before wearing a nice suit. Healing from a tattoo can be uncomfortable and the ointment used to facilitate the process can often ruin many an article of clothing.
So October slipped away, then November, and December. And then Sweetpea left the country for over a month and didn't get back until late January.
He called me in February. Not only was he ready, but he was now working out of Made in Brooklyn a little shop around the corner run by Michael Kaves, an artist steeped in the tradition of South Brooklyn music, graffiti art and tattoo culture (see an early Kaves tattoo here). I stopped into the store a couple of times and set a date.
When I showed up for the intial sitting, Pete was slightly tentative about the design. He wanted to go in a bit of a different artistic direction and wanted to retool the sketch one more time.
It was then that I suggested a chain, to make it look like it wasn't just a star that was being held, but a necklace with a star at the end of it, almost as if the hand had picked it out of the dust and held it up for inspection. Sweetpea loved the idea of adding the chain, as it created another dimension in the piece.
A week later, I was finally back in the shop being inked.
Again, I was reminded how time is distorted by reality TV tattoo shows. In a four to six hour session, the outline and flower was completed. For what was a relatively small piece, I was surprised at the time that the first phase took, until I saw the depth and layering of the colors that went into the floral pieces.
I returned two weeks later for the hand and several more hours under Sweetpea's needle....this time focusing on the hand, and the shading. When the session was complete, the hand was very dark, so much so that Melanie was nervous.
But Sweetpea assured us that the hand would lighten when healed, and lighten it did. It still amazes me how much work he put into the detail and shading and how he, along with the best tattoo artists, can envision the tattoo after it has healed. It's like an artist creating a painting, but with an extra layer that he knows will peel off and result in a crisper, brighter work below.
Due to scheduling and the shop getting busier, I wasn't able to sit again with Sweetpea until the second weekend in June.
I came in for some final touch-ups, a little extra tuning and coloring to slam the door on the tattoo.
I suggested some gold for the star to really make it shine, and he added some crisper outlining and some subtle shading to finish things up - white highlights in the fingernails and in the chain, and a little bit of added color in the hand.
And whereas I had been happy with the tattoo before, I was astonished at how much more amazing it looked with the "finishing touches".
So what does this tattoo mean? I know that is a question I extend to the countless volunteers who offer up their ink to Tattoosday readers.
I believe that meanings change over time, as the context of a particular tattoo evolves.
The addition of the chain was significant. Instead of merely proffering a symbol, the hand extended a concrete thing that symbolized something larger.
I alluded to our discussion of the chain, as if it had been picked up and held up for examination. This forms the cornerstone of the tattoo's current meaning to me.
So here it is: the hand of a Higher Power, call Him God, or Yahweh, or another deity. The Star of David represents my faith, my understanding of Judaism.
For many years, I had fallen away from the spirituality of the religion and had merely been a "cultural" Jew, meaning I identified myself as Jewish but didn't worship at the synagogue or observe many of the religious traditions.
But when my children reached the age when they started going to Hebrew School, the pendulum swung back and I became more regularly involved in the faith.
And although I do not consider myself "devout," my faith is stronger than it has ever been, it has been plucked from the dust and is being held up to the light.
This tattoo represents Faith, lost and found.
There are other elements that pervade the tattoo that make it more complete to me, as well. I consider it a Judeo-Christian tattoo, in a sense, with a hint of Buddhism.
The hand is still held in an "Om" gesture, despite the modification. So it has a base in a symbol of peacefulness and meditation. The chain has almost rosary-like appearance to it, which is appropriate in that it represents to me the faith of the artist, and my deeper understanding of Christianity that developed over 13 years attending a Christian elementary and high
school.
I thank Peter Caruso aka Sweetpea for creating this amazing tattoo for me. He has told me that appearing on Tattoosday a year ago was a significant moment in his career, as well. In the middle of our second session, he had shared with me that his passion for tattooing had dwindled, and he had been thinking of hanging up his tattoo machine.
However, he said, my interest in the art of tattoo through the blog, and getting him talking about the history of Old School Brooklyn tattooing, rekindled the flame. He started tattooing again and, at Made in Brooklyn, he has been tattooing full-time, doing his own thing, and creating some amazing works of art.
This won't be the last time you hear of Sweetpea or Kaves or Made in Brooklyn here on Tattoosday. Their influence in my neighborhood is being extended on a daily basis. I have witnessed the phenomenal work that they are producing for others and I am sure to be featuring it here in the future. I also hope to bring you a closer look at the shop as they continue to grow the business and transform from a little shop around the corner into a Brooklyn institution.
Jake's Redd Foxx Tattoo Helps Us Celebrate Father's Day!
Last week, I posted about a trio of friends that had recently moved from San Francisco to New York, all of them inked.
Jake was the first of the three to share his tattoo with us, and it is such a good piece, I saved it for a special occasion, Father's Day:
This is, of course, a portrait of the great comedian Redd Foxx. People of my generation (X) remember him as the bristling curmudgeon in the sitcom "Sandford and Son".
For those who are unfamiliar with the series, the show is about a widower, Fred Sanford (Foxx), raising his adult son Lamont (played by Desmond Wilson), and their junkyard business. It was a breakthrough show that was one of the first on network television to feature a minority cast.
The father-son dynamic is an ongoing theme, and Jake recalls watching the show with his dad and it being a bonding experience.
His father passed away about four years ago this month from cancer. The tattoo is not only a tribute to the great comedian, but a reminder of the times Jake spent watching "Sandford and Son" with his dad. Jake added, "I'm pretty sure if [my dad] was still around, he would get a kick out of seeing Redd Foxx on my calf."
This amazing portrait was tattooed on the back of Jake's right calf by Greg Rojas at Everlasting Tattoo in San Francisco.
As we celebrate Father's Day today, I thank Jake for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here, and invite everyone to revisit the host of tattoos previously posted on Tattoosday that pay tribute to dads. Click here to see the lot.
And, as a special treat, in the spirit of the day, I present the following clip:
Happy Father's Day from Tattoosday!
Read More
Jake was the first of the three to share his tattoo with us, and it is such a good piece, I saved it for a special occasion, Father's Day:
This is, of course, a portrait of the great comedian Redd Foxx. People of my generation (X) remember him as the bristling curmudgeon in the sitcom "Sandford and Son".
For those who are unfamiliar with the series, the show is about a widower, Fred Sanford (Foxx), raising his adult son Lamont (played by Desmond Wilson), and their junkyard business. It was a breakthrough show that was one of the first on network television to feature a minority cast.
The father-son dynamic is an ongoing theme, and Jake recalls watching the show with his dad and it being a bonding experience.
His father passed away about four years ago this month from cancer. The tattoo is not only a tribute to the great comedian, but a reminder of the times Jake spent watching "Sandford and Son" with his dad. Jake added, "I'm pretty sure if [my dad] was still around, he would get a kick out of seeing Redd Foxx on my calf."
This amazing portrait was tattooed on the back of Jake's right calf by Greg Rojas at Everlasting Tattoo in San Francisco.
As we celebrate Father's Day today, I thank Jake for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here, and invite everyone to revisit the host of tattoos previously posted on Tattoosday that pay tribute to dads. Click here to see the lot.
And, as a special treat, in the spirit of the day, I present the following clip:
Happy Father's Day from Tattoosday!
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!
You never know how much your parents Love You until you have your own kids but this will give you an idea..
Ashley's Trio of Tattoos
I've always said that Tattoosday is 50% about the tattoos and 50% about finding them. But once in a while, tattoos just present themselves and I can't contain myself.
Ashley is a case in point. She was at the laundromat the same time as I was, and she had two small tattoos inked on her feet. Out on the street, I likely would have let her walk by without stopping her, but there, as we stood around waiting for clothes to wash and dry themselves, it struck me as negligent NOT to ask her about the tattoos.
Ashley has three tattoos in all. The first one I noticed was this peace sign on her right foot:
It's a popular symbol, of course, and not simply because of what it stands for, but for the aesthetics of the shape.
Similarly, she has a small heart on her left foot:
What's interesting to me about this simple tattoo is the duality of the colors. Ashley says that the colors represent the "two polar sides" of her personality - the "mellow" green and the more exciting pink.
Both tattoos were done in the same sitting by an artist named Taz.
Ashley has a third tattoo, her first, which she was kind enough to share with me:
This star was inked by Joe at Studio Enigma (whose work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here). This is purely decorative, at the base of her neck, and she had it done with a close friend, who had the same design inked on her shoulder blade.
Thanks to Ashley for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
Read More
Ashley is a case in point. She was at the laundromat the same time as I was, and she had two small tattoos inked on her feet. Out on the street, I likely would have let her walk by without stopping her, but there, as we stood around waiting for clothes to wash and dry themselves, it struck me as negligent NOT to ask her about the tattoos.
Ashley has three tattoos in all. The first one I noticed was this peace sign on her right foot:
It's a popular symbol, of course, and not simply because of what it stands for, but for the aesthetics of the shape.
Similarly, she has a small heart on her left foot:
What's interesting to me about this simple tattoo is the duality of the colors. Ashley says that the colors represent the "two polar sides" of her personality - the "mellow" green and the more exciting pink.
Both tattoos were done in the same sitting by an artist named Taz.
Ashley has a third tattoo, her first, which she was kind enough to share with me:
This star was inked by Joe at Studio Enigma (whose work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here). This is purely decorative, at the base of her neck, and she had it done with a close friend, who had the same design inked on her shoulder blade.
Thanks to Ashley for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
FAST LANE!
Trip out on this old school Speed Racer tattoo. Most people wouldnt expect this tattoo from me.
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