The Tattooed Poets Project: Kim Addonizio's Blue Roses

When first embarking on this tattoo project, nearly everyone I asked referred me to Kim Addonizio. I'd venture to say she is the poet most well-known as "tattoo-friendly". In part, this is due to her editing an anthology called Dorothy Parker's Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos.

Graciously, Kim accepted my invitation to participate in Tattoosday's National Poetry Month project. She sent me the photo above, her fourth tattoo. I love the blue roses that set this piece apart from most lower back tribal tattoos.

Kim told me:

"The piece was done ... in Santa Barbara. It was the worst tattoo experience I ever had. (I have five tattoos). In the middle of it [the artist] took a phone call, saying, "Oh, hi. I'm tattooing a crack." I like the tattoo, though. There wasn't any particular significance to the design, for me, though afterwards I thought about Laura Wingfield in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie being called Blue Roses by her Gentleman Caller, and so it's become a bit of a reminder to myself, when I'm feeling fragile, to take a risk rather than withdraw."

She had this tattooed in 1994 and has added one more to her collection since then.

Be sure to head on over to BillyBlog to read one of Kim's poems. And although not every poem written by an inked poet appearing on BillyBlog this month is tattoo-related, Kim's is.

Thanks very much to Kim Addonizio for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Krystynna Shares Her First Tattoo

Krystynna walked by me on 7th Avenue on Monday, and her tattoos on her wrists, behind her right ear, and her left bicep were totally cool.

When I realized a sidewalk photo of her quarter-sleeve wouldn't do it justice, which she confirmed when she later told me it ran up onto her shoulder, I asked if she would rather have me take a picture of a different tattoo.

Kristynna surprised me by offering up her first tattoo, a large lower back piece. Remember, folks, I never take a lower back tattoo unless its offered, according to the Tattoosday Code of Conduct.

Kristynna got the initial piece on the lower back, some flash art on the wall at Armageddon Tattoo when she was 17, ten years ago. She subsequently added little bits and pieces to make it into a larger piece over the years.

She has 9 tattoos in all, all done by Iann at Armageddon. Kristynna works as a Special Needs Educator for kids and acknowledges that the children love her tattoos, and the parents have no issues with them, either. This is good news, because the tattoos she has visible are extremely well-done, and I am looking forward to her sending me shots of the arm that do the piece
justice.

Thanks to Kristynna for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!