Monthly Archives: May 2014

child friendly tattoos!

Image

It’s the second edition of the Children’s Day at my favorite tattoo shop of all times! The Tattoo and Piercing Studio in Poznan, Poland is not only one of the oldest and most reputable tattoo places in this country but they are also genuinely good people and it shows in the shop atmosphere! They are also amazingly modest and creative which shows in tattoos and piercings they make here.

The first edition of the Children’s Day at the shop turned out so successful that they decided to do it again this year. The guys not only break the stereotypes of the tough tattooed brutes but also prove that there’s nothing to be afraid of about tattoos.

Making the world a better and friendlier place one event at a time! 🙂

Leave a comment

healing aspects of tattoos

Image

It comes as no suprise that there’s a great therapeutic value about tattoos. Here’s yet another (and quite moving) example of how tattoos can help us deal with a loss, a trauma or a tragedy. CA public libraries and StoryCorps are looking for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to share their stories in an exhibit focused on their war experiences and stories behind their tattoos. The project is called War Ink and is going to be exhibited on Veterans Day.

Image

The stories must be told and dealt with and there are many ways to do so. This past weekend I came across an interesting article about using ancient myths to help veterans fight PTSD. You can read it here!

Leave a comment

a voice from the past

Image

The Boston Globe has just published a truly fasicnating story about a 19th century tattooist whose identity was uncovered by an amateur genealogist, Carmen Nyssen (who also happens to be related to Bert Grimm, one of the great old school American tattoo artists!).

C.H.Fellowes had created a sketch book that was published as ‘The Tattoo Book’ in 1971. It contains 114 pages full of old school designs such as dragons, swords, warships etc. It’s an invaluable glimpse into the past of tattooing!

Thanks to Ms. Nyssen now we know just a bit more about the history of tattoos and people who had written it on others’ skin.

Image

Leave a comment

*im*mortal Henk Schiffmacher

Old news from last week or so but still worth noting!

Image

Henk Schiffmacher wants to make possible to preserve tattoos after their owner’s death. Allegedly he’s been munching on the idea for quite a while but now he started working on it more dilligently and began consulting with a lawyer. As he says, ‘“Well I don’t want to pull the skin off everyone with a tattoo, really! Hahaha. I don’t want to help the entire population out of their jackets! No, I only want that some highlights are preserved. There are some beautiful tattoos that tell a story about their time and you have to make an exception for that. You have to keep those, I think.”

The idea itself isn’t new but so far it’s been only something very unusual. Wim Delvoye and his tattoo on Tim Steiner comes to mind and, way ealier, pieces of tattooed skin peeled off the criminals in the 19th and early 20th century. Also, the tattoo shop Walls and Skins offers such a service.

Mr. Schiffmacher is a fascinating character and we can only wish him best of luck! 🙂

2 Comments

*im*possible regrets

Image

Making rounds on the Internet – a young German Guy with quite heavy modifications! And even if the split tongues are *nothing new,* his cheek piercings are still both impressive and unusual. His body, his choice!

There are always, however, people (read: journalists?) who just love to remind you about the future and possible regrets, so here we have an article about ‘temporary fad’ and tackling its consequences – stretched lobes.

An interesting article about tattooed women from Ireland reminded me of the book ‘Tattooed Lady,’ which is a great read! Just for the balance’s sake here’s an article also from Ireland about employers being very wary to hire tattooed people! Just a few months ago I’d have said that it’s all about who you are, not how you look but now I’m bitterer and wiser!

Be a good employee but don’t go overboard with loyalty and devotion to your boss! Jill Abramson doesn’t work for New York Times anymore which raises a question what she’ll do with her T tattoo. BBC also uses this opportunity to try to answer an important question ‘why do people get their employer’s logo as a tattoo?’

Zombie Boy is going to visit Switzerland soon as a DJ.

Image

Dermatography courtesy of Ariana Page Russel!

Giger as a guilt-free pleasure. Wherever he is now, I hope he has his own pleasures to his dark heart’s delight!

2 Comments

like superheroes!

Image

A bit more publicity for Vince Hemmingson’s Tattoo Project book – a picture book focused on ordinary people with extraordinary tattoos. You can read about it here but a really nice review was posted on the needles and sins blog (which is always a good source of info on tattoos).

Here’s a video showing work on the book in progress:

I must say that I really love the juxtaposition of the covered and uncovered skin. It reminds me not only that we never know much about people we come across but also that all people that don’t understand our passion for tattoos should beware – there’s a lot more of us than you might think at first 😉

Leave a comment

don’t let others mold you ;)

Image

It’s hard to be yourself (whatever it means) these days, so maybe we shouldn’t even try? In case of doubt we can always use some ‘great’ advice from the mass media: tatoos for men, tattoo artists we should follow on some social site, we should change our way of thinking about nerds, finally, it’s so old-fashioned to take a selfie with your camera (it’s about phones, kids!).

In case you doubt your own judgment, you can always see how others perceive you and your esthetics: ‘do piercings make women attractive?’ (because men are always attractive, right?). If you get angry at others for judging you and your tattoos, you can always state how proud of them you are but it will come at a price – others have the right to express their opinions about you as it’s shown in ‘Toowoomba ladies proud of their ink (while others not so much :D).

Job seekers with body modifications don’t have it easy: UK and the USA. Surprising, eh?

Much better it is when it comes to be just a colorful and good human being: an American soccer player for PETA, a tattoo-a-thon for Cancer Sucks in Tulsa, OK and marketing joining the alternative lifestyle against skin cancer!

A female tattoo artist based in New Orleans and another one from there showing tattoos on the locals.

Finally, more news coverage on the recent and still going tattoo exhibition in Paris, France.

Leave a comment

moving in slow motion

‘Wired’ just posted a cool video of the tattooing process in slow motion and it’s quite fascinating to see it this way. They call it gross but is it really?

Kian Forreal posted a similar video on youtube over a year ago and it’s also very interesting to watch.

This way of ‘tattooing’ is definitely more unusual but it’s only gross when you don’t know that the guy who used it is an enthomologist! Bed bugs in action here!

Leave a comment