Matt Wears His Heart (of Bacon) on His Sleeve

Matt Wears His Heart (of Bacon) on His Sleeve

I first met Matt a year or so ago when he and his wife Allison opened the gourmet grocery Robicelli's in our neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (there's more on Robicelli's here).

It was only recently, however, when I popped in to pick up some of their incredible gourmet cupcakes (the "Irish Car Bomb" is my favorite), when I spotted this amazing tattoo on the inside of his left forearm:


So it makes sense that a chef and a businessman running a gourmet grocery might have a food-themed tattoo, but what's up with this one?

Matt explained that, well, he's a chef, and he loves bacon, and several years ago when he was prepping for an event he was catering, he and a colleague were wrapping rabbit hearts with bacon. He remarked that he ought to get a bacon heart tattoo and his friend challenged him, laughing "You'll never do it!" That was just the incentive Matt needed, and he went with the idea
to Nacho at Studio Enigma in Brooklyn.

It was done all in free-hand and Matt hopes that some day it will be the cornerstone of a food-themed sleeve.

Thanks again to Matt for sharing his bacon heart with us here on Tattoosday! If you're ever in Bay Ridge and have a hankering for fine foods (especially their amazing weekend cupcakes), stop by Robicelli's ( 8511 3rd Avenue) and perhaps you'll catch a glimpse of this great tattoo!

Read More

They Call Him Mr. Spades

They Call Him Mr. Spades

I met Matt in Penn Station last month and he was happy to share a couple of his eight tattoos. The coolest one was this heart on his left arm:

A closer look shows just how intricate this design is:

Matt explained that the idea behind this tattoo is simply that there are two sides to everything. He collaborated on the design with the tattoo artist Sean Malone, who works out of Rose City Tattoos in Rahway, New Jersey.

Readers may notice that, in the top photo, there is a distinct outline of another tattoo on Matt's arm in the shape of a playing card spade. What started out as a random tattoo of another spade ended up giving Matt the nickname "Mr. Spades" and it stuck. Here's a shot of the coolest Spades tattoo, straddling both of Matt's inner forearms:

Thanks to Matt for sharing these great tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Read More

Mrs. Dirtbird's Wedding Tattoo

Mrs. Dirtbird's Wedding Tattoo

Yesterday we enjoyed seeing the neck tattoo of a Missouri-based artist nicknamed "Dirtbird," as well as a piece he had inked on his friend Shawn.

In addition to meeting both Shawn and Dirtbird across the street from where I work, I also met Katie, who half-jokingly referred to herself as "Mrs. Dirtbird". She shared this tattoo with us:

Katie explained that this is a wedding tattoo. The piece depicts a heart, comprised of a male and female bird, sewn together. Since she married Dirtbird, this seems like and appropriate expression of their matrimony.

The tattoo was inked by Becky "Pink Eye" Ashcraft, who works with Dirtbird at Punkteur Tattoo in Joplin, Missouri.

Thanks to Katie for sharing her cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Read More

One Last Friday the 13th Post, for Melanie

One Last Friday the 13th Post, for Melanie

So one of my friends Jenise had contributed to the Great Friday the 13th Tattoo Experiment and her votes for my tattoo were not along the finalists.

She was also keenly aware that we collected $31 in donations for my tattoo, $11 more than needed. Ginger, another friend, had added a dollar to the kitty for my lovely Friday-the-13th born wife Melanie, so Jenise, in an effort to make the experiment a complete success, chipped in the funds to bring us to an even $40, and she, Ginger, and Melanie separately concurred that this design was the one for her:

Much to our surprise, when we went back at 6:00 pm, business was brisk but it was only a 30-minute wait.

Artist Joey Wilson tattooed the Zoe Sonenberg-designed flash piece right below Melanie's $14 Valentine's tattoo (that story here).

The end result is lovely:

Thanks again to all contributors and supporters of Tattoosday through this process, and for everyone's patience while I went "off-book" for the last couple of days.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Read More

The Lovely Tattoo of Legs Malone

The Lovely Tattoo of Legs Malone

I couldn't help notice the striking woman standing on the subway platform waiting for the R train. She was tall, had long shapely legs, a close-shaven head, and a small tattoo on the back of her left calf.

The R pulled in and, as luck would have it, we sat down next to one another on the train.

I had to introduce myself.

Turns out, I was sitting with a burlesque performer named with the stage name Legs Malone.

We didn't have a lot of time to talk, as she was exiting the train a stop or two earlier than me, but she obliged me for a photo by taking my camera and shooting the tattoo on the back of her leg:

She told me that this small tattoo (the only one visible on her frame) was inspired by a heart-shaped bruise that she wanted to replicate on her skin, but in a more aesthetically-pleasing way. The flowers around the heart are cherry blossoms.

The tattoo was inked at Fly Rite Studio by Charlie Foos, who is now at Read Street Tattoo Parlour in Baltimore. Charlie's work most recently appeared on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Legs Malone for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Read More