Amy Beckerman's Ink: Laughter and a Peony

It was Amy Beckerman's peony above her right ankle that first caught my attention:


This beautiful floral tattoo, designed by Dan Bythewood at Regeneration Tattoo in Alston, MA, is one of four tattoos she has.

Dan is a friend of Amy's from college who had studied art then went on to become a tattoo artist.

I thought this one was wonderful, as well:


The word "laughter" pefectly suits her, as Amy is a professional comic. This was also inked at Regeneration, but by Cathy Johnson.

You can see a segment of Amy performing below, as one of her characters, "Ida Felter":



Amy performs regularly in a show called "Dykes on Mics," the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at Comix (353 West 14th Street in Manhattan). It's a free show, starting at 9:00 PM. The next performance is Tuesday, September 28.

Amy's website is here.

Thanks to Amy for her enthusiastic participation in Tattoosday!

Joe's Blue Koi (and a Honu, too!)

Joe has this amazing koi on his upper left arm, part of a 3/4 sleeve:


Initially, our discussion was brief. He is a fan of traditional tattoos and loves the Japanese style. He had this inked in 2001 by Civ at Lotus Tattoo in Sayville, New York. Work from Civ appeared previously here on Tattoosday.

I certainly thought it was unusual to see a blue koi. It's certainly not the most traditional color for a koi tattoo. When I asked Joe about it, he replied, "...there is no significance and I believe it was suggested by Civ...I thought it would certainly be unique, since I had yet to see a blue koi. It was strictly an aesthetic decision."

It was only later, when I was looking at the photo at home, that I noticed a fine detail I hadn't picked up before:


Having grown up in Hawai'i, that certainly looked like a honu design, or traditional Hawaiian sea turtle. I had remembered that Joe had a Polynesian-style tribal arm band on his right forearm, so I shot him an e-mail.

He replied:

The story behind the Polynesian sea turtle is ... I was on my honeymoon in Hawaii, 2001. I had wanted to get tattooed while there and found a shop in Waikiki, Skin Deep. Walked in, shot the shit with one of the guys for half an hour, had an idea of what I wanted to do, a Polynesian band around my forearm being that we were in Hawaii. It seemed fitting as far as a "souvenir" tattoo. Since the band I decided on did not work in a perfect circle around my arm, I decided on the turtle to make it work. We did the tattoo in about an hour and I still love it...

Thanks to Joe for sharing his koi tattoo. I am looking forward to featuring more of his work in the future.

Henna Tattoo Today - Enjoy Body Art in Air Conditioned Comfort!

Stop by the shop! Great music.. wonderful people.. and of course, fresh henna paste for your henna tattoo.

Lots of pattern books!

Henna from Noonish 'til 5PM.

Designs start at $15 and go up from there.

FMI see the FAQ

Li's Tattoo Recalls Saint Exupéry

A tattoo means the most to the person who has endured the process.

A tattoo often represents more than what meets the eye.

I met Li along the New Jersey Transit corridor of Penn Station.

She has five tattoos, and chose this one to share with us here on Tattoosday:


What I find intriguing about this piece is that it is not abundantly clear to a stranger what it is.

Li had this tattoo based on, she said, a drawing by Jean Piaget, that depicts the author Antoine de Saint Exupéry rolling an orange along the keys of a piano.

Saint Exupéry, most notably the author of The Little Prince, is Li's favorite author.

Li told me that the writer rolled the orange over the keys, which produced a soothing noise which helped his wife sleep at night,

I could not find the drawing to which Li refers, but I did find this reference, in Saint-Exupery: A Biography, by Stacey Schiff:

At Silvia's he devised a game he called "des oranges sur le piano." By rolling one orange up and down the black keys and a second over the white he was able to produce what sounded to most ears like honest Debussy.

This tattoo was inked by Rachel, formerly of No Ka Oi Tiki Tattoo, in Philadelphia.

Thanks to Li for sharing her fascinating tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Henna Tattoo in Jacksonville, Florida - Henna this Saturday afternoon

Here is another henna pattern for the back of the hand. This design was easy to do using jamila henna powder, which makes a fine, smooth henna paste with very little fuss... no extra sifting or grinding involved at all.

This pattern was modified a bit to show off a lovely ring, and as always to flatter and to fit the young woman's hand. Applying henna to the back of the hand is often an excellent choice for a busy day of shopping, as one can keep an eye on the pattern quite easily.

Of course, henna always gives the darkest color on the palm of the hand. People are often surprised to hear this, however, henna is a heat activated body dye, and the palm of the hand is often one of the warmest parts of the body. As well, we have more pores in the palm, making it that much easier for the henna to penetrate the skin. If one is careful, and applies a light coat of olive oil before getting the finished henna tattoo in water, the design will last much longer.

If you would like to see more henna patters, or to purchase a little book of traditional henna designs - $4.50 a booklet with FREE shipping by mail in the USA, please visit my site.

Re-post: Paul's 9/11 Memorial

This post ran last year and it seems appropriate to re-run it again today:



Earlier this month, I mentioned meeting Paul here, on the bike path that runs along the southern tip of Brooklyn.

I saved the other tattoo photo I took of Paul's work for today, the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

What I didn't mention in the previous post is that Paul is a federal agent who grew up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

From his vantage point there, he watched the World Trade Center being built in the late 1960's. He was working in 6 World Trade seven years ago for the U.S. Customs Department when the towers came down, and he spent four months at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, searching for remains.

The tattoo is a poignant piece, with the sun shining between the towers. Below is Paul's badge from the Department of Homeland Security, which has evolved into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Particulatly unusual is the depiction of 9/11 in Roman numerals:

IX XI.

I don't believe I had ever seen it represented that way before.

Like the tattoo in the earlier post, this piece was inked by Joe at Brooklyn Ink.

Thanks to Paul for sharing this WTC memorial piece with us here on Tattoosday.

Click here for work from Brooklyn Ink appearing previously on this blog.

Traditional Henna Pattern for Sonya

Many thanks to Sonya for ordering a traditional henna pattern. This design is one of many from the little henna pattern books imported from India.

Mixing a very fluid paste helps make this kind of fine line henna tattoo possible. I used a henna cone made of florist wrap, not quite mylar... but a shear & flexible cellophane type material. I cut just a bit off the tip of the cone, and the began the pattern at the wrist.

I used the 2009 Jamila henna powder, so it was easy to make a very fine paste. As well, this year's crop is extra wonderful in that it is very gummy all on it's own. The addition of henna tea made with fenugreek seeds also helps to create a cohesive paste that flows smoothly onto the skin.

If you would like a henna tattoo like this one, please feel welcome to stop by The Midnight Sun on Saturday, 9.12.09 sometime after Noon. Simple henna tattoo designs are $15. A full back hand henna like this one can cost $25 to $30. For more information about henna tattoo.. visit the FAQ page on my site.

*Please note: This is a photo of henna paste ON the skin. I do not offer black henna. Once this paste has remained on the skin long enough ( 3 -6 hours) to give a good stain, you scrape the black paste off to reveal the henna color ( light orange to dark reddish brown) which will develop over the next 48 hours.

The quality of your finished henna tattoo depends in part on how well you take care of your design.