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

The Tattooed Poets Project: Alex Grant's Totemic Tattoos

Alex Grant is one of the many writers I have met through Facebook via the poet Dorianne Laux. Originally from Scotland, he lives in North Carolina, and sent me the following photos of his tattoos:The top piece is “a variation on a Celtic totemic symbol …which…suggests totality - Sun, Moon, Stars and sky - and the celebration of all that implies...”.The banded tattoo below the Celtic piece is a

The Tattooed Poets Project: Caroline Malone's Trio of Intimate Tattoos

Today's tattooed poet is Caroline Malone. She was kind enough to offer not one, but three, of her tattoos for our enjoyment.Here they are, in her own words:"Alien cat was my first tattoo in 2006.I had always told myself I would never get a tattoo, but then I met someone, someone who turned out to be my sweetheart, who had a tattoo for each of her three novels, and I thought, what a great way to

Fabiana Shares Two More Colorful Tattoos

A couple of weeks back, I posted some ink from a guy named Tom (here), which featured the trinacria of the Sicilian flag.The above example, from our good friend Fabiana (see her last post here - which links to her previous ones, as well), is a more colorful and elaborate take on the design.Fabiana explains:"The tat of the Medusa head I got because it's on the Sicilian flag. I was born there and

Karen's Ink Balances the Physical and the Intellectual

Monday was a good tattoo day. I met Karen on Sixth Avenue in the 20's after her right ankle caught my attention and we chatted for a bit about tattoos.The piece above is about 10 years old and is based on Northwestern Native American art. Karen studied art history in college and felt that this style of art is "smarter" and speaks in "more intelligent visual dialects" than other art forms.This