Tony's Celtic Fish, Swimming Up His Calf

Last month, I spotted Tony on the R train after leaving the 14th Street/Union Square station.

About thirteen years ago, his girlfriend was getting a Celtic dog tattoo, and he decided to get inked as well:

These works of art on his left leg derive, he told me, were inspired by illustrations from the Book of Kells.

Book/Manuscript: Book of Kells
VII Century, Ireland / ScotlandPage (Folio): 188v
initial letter I with lion and fish
(from http://www.art-imagery.com/)

Tony explained that he is a SCUBA instructor, so these fish from the mackerel family are a nice link to that vocation.

Not only have these tattoos held up over the years, they are noteworthy because they were inked by Pat Fish in Santa Barbara, who is regarded as one of the premiere artists working with Celtic designs.

I also love the coincidental nature of Fish by Fish.

Thanks to Tony for sharing these amazing tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Two Segements of Renae's Arm

I spotted a whole lot going on with Renae's left forearm, while browsing at the Chelsea Salvation Army store, so I just had to ask.

Let's deconstruct:

The first part of this tattoo is the dark heart on the inner part of the forearm. Renae attributes this to Rob at the Orlando branch of Hart and Huntington. In over three years of inkspotting, this is the first piece on Tattoosday that has been credited to one of their shops.

Renae, who has "no idea" how many tattoos she has (which is synonymous for "too many to count"), wanted to add to her arm, so she headed to Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge.

Alex Franklin was given free reign, according to Renae. Her exact quote was "use your imagination and run," which must be music to many a tattooists ears.

Alex did the flourishes around the original tattoo, along with the phrase "gutta cavat lapidem," a Latin phrase by Ovid which translates to "dripping water hollows out a stone," which is a shortened version of the line "Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence." This quote is known to many New Yorkers who have seen it inscribed underground here (with a broader description here).




And he tattooed the piece on the other side of the arm:

Work from Brooklyn Ink (and a lot by Alex) has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

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

John's Root People

At the end of July, I coincidentally exited the A train at 14th Street at the same time as John, who was visiting from Nevada.

I had been admiring his sleeve on the train, but didn't have the opportunity to speak to him about it until after he got off the subway.

He referred to these creatures as "Root People":

It's an abstract collaboration with the artist, Rickett, at The Ruby Lantern in Carson City, Nevada.

They started working together in January of this year, and they're not yet finished with the whole sleeve. As you can tell, it's very unusual and has a very unique approach.

These designs are all on John's right arm, and I am particular to the female tree person above on his inner forearm.

Thanks to John for sharing his Root People here with us on Tattoosday!