Tattoos I Know: A Medley from Maida

It's safe to say that Maida has been a fan of Tattoosday from its earliest days.

Over the last three years, a day generally doesn't go by without our discussing ink. As a co-worker, and a friend, she's a regular visitor to the site.

Which is why one might wonder why her tattoos have taken this long to appear on Tattoosday. I even recall discussing with her potential designs as she researched new ideas.

We always talked about me taking pictures, but it never came to fruition.

However, yesterday the stars aligned and we got our collective acts together. Let's take a look, shall we?

I'm starting with my favorite pair of the three she is sharing (out of four, in all):

These two are pretty cool, and the top one. a triquetra, I remember her spending a lot of time thinking about.
She feels that it also acts as protection, warding off the evil eye:

Below that is a butterfly that is not your standard design. The wings' patterns resemble skulls:

Maida says this dual image, the softness of the butterfly and the roughness of the skulls, represents the two sides of life, and is a double-edged sword. The kanji represent the symbols for power (top) and strength (bottom).

Maida also shared this tattoo on the outside of her right calf, above the ankle:

Maida got this, along with her friend Kathy, as a testament to "the strong bond and love between two best friends". They each have it on the same spot, although Kathy's butterfly has lavender wings, whereas Maida's are turquoise.

All of Maida's tattoos above were inked by an artist named JStar, whose website is here. The site includes photos of more of her work and is well worth a look.

Thanks to Maida for sharing her tattoos with us here, finally, on Tattoosday! We look forward to seeing more in the future!

Erika's Ink: Something Old and Something New

On Sunday, spring-like temperatures made being outside enticing. I was heading home when I spotted, from a good fifty yards away, a young lady approaching. Even from that distance, I noticed her bare calves and the discernable mark of a tattoo above her left ankle.

So, as she approached, I slowed down to talk to her. When I asked her about the tattoo, she indicated that I had stopped her before, which puzzled me, as I didn't recognize the ink. She then clarified that her right arm hosted a honeycomb sleeve, with bees. Since it was covered, I didn't recognize her.

I first met Erika in July 2009 and stopped her after she walked by me on the street. At the time, she said that the sleeve was a work in progress, and she'd rather not have it posted. I asked if I could take a picture anyway, and promised it wouldn't go live until she was done with the art.

I believe I ran into her (or maybe just saw her on the subway) last summer, and the sleeve still amazed me.

So here, on the last Sunday in February, she was again. Since her arm was covered, I asked if I could take a picture of the tattoo I had spotted on her ankle. She agreed, although she qualified it as one of her oldest tattoos:

Erika said this piece is about 15 years old and called it an omkara or aumkara. That would be an om symbol floating above a lotus flower.

She also said that she had not had any more work done on the sleeve and she didn't mind sharing it at this stage of the game. The artist is in Portland, Maine, so it's not easy to just go and get it periodically updated.

Here's the sleeve covering the upper two thirds of Erika's arm:

Definitely worth taking a closer look at the details:

The artist of this honeycomb and her "killer bees" is Chris Dingwell of Sanctuary Tattoo.

Thanks to Erika for sharing one of her older tattoos, as well as this phenomenal sleeve-in-progress!

Virginia's Flowers Forecast Spring

This is a quick one for Monday morning, on the last day of February, with spring looming just around the corner. Here's one of Virginia's tattoos:

Virginia is a long-time reader and fan of Tattoosday who I have met on anumber of occasions. This is the first piece she has shared with us.

This floral tattoo is at the top of her right shoulder and was done by Craig Rodriguez at Hand of Glory in Brooklyn.

She explains further, "We are all hoping for an early spring. Daffodils and forget-me-nots. It is a memorial tattoo. I always bring yellow flowers to the cemetery when I honor my family members."

Work from Hand of Glory has appeared previously here on Tattoosday. A piece of Craig's was featured here.

Amen to the early spring! Thanks to Virginia for sharing this lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!