Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Carrie Returns with Some Matrimonial Ink

As this blog has evolved from a weekly installment over at BillyBlog into a full-time appreciation of the Tattoo, I have gained an immense appreciation of the way Mexican folk art has been absorbed into the medium.
The celebration of Dio de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) is a perfect match for tattooing, as it is associated with bright colors and what I call a "pleasant morbidity," in the form of skeletons and skulls.

Some of my favorite posts here at Tattoosday have been related to the Day of the Dead (see here and here).
So it was with great pleasure that I learned that Carrie, of the amazing ship tattoo, was sending me new ink photos, and moreso when I saw they were in the Dio de los Muertos theme.
Carrie sent a slew of photos relating to two tattoos she and her new husband, Ryan, received as a wedding gift from their friend, Evan Lindemann, who is a tattoo artist at Revolver Tattoo in New Brunswick, NJ. This is the same shop where her pirate ship was (and continues to be) inked.
"We had a masquerade ball for our Halloween wedding...our cake topper was a Day of he Dead skeleton bride and groom folk art bride and groom
and our toasting flutes were hand painted from Mexico and had day of the dead bride and groom skulls as well [see photo above]....Going to Mexico was the icing on the cake to finish out our awesome wedding....In Mexico we went to Playa del Carmen, shopped like crazy on 5th ave and ... found some beautiful Day of the Dead figurines and shadow boxes.....For our wedding gift, ...Evan...wanted to give us a tattoo each.We love tattoos, so it was one hell of an offer....so...we decided that I would get the Day of the Dead figurine that is the skeleton in the tux representing the groom
and Ryan would get the Day of the Dead woman figurine which represents the bride:
So, we have a piece together and they are beautiful!"
She added that this may "sound kind of corny," but she is right when she says they are beautiful.
A belated congratulations to Carrie (and Ryan) for the marriage, and their incredibly cool (and romantic) his-and-hers tattoos. In a day and age when so many married couples tattoo each others' names on their bodies, it is heart-warming from an artistic perspective to see the level of creativity and thought that went into these pieces.
And a hearty thank you to Carrie (and Ryan) for sharing their work here on Tattoosday!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Expositions graffiti à Paris : Fondation Cartier.
quelques graffeurs français : Horfe, LSK, 1dex, Sek, ...
Lire l'article sur l'expo TAG au Grand Palais
Recueillie par Alain-Dominique Gallizia, architecte et collectionneur passionné, auprès de 150 artistes taggeurs et graffeurs, cette collection est une première mondiale. Elle constitue le plus important témoignage de cet art sur plus de trois générations.Accès :Métro : lignes 1, 9, 13 / Stations : Franklin-D.-Roosevelt, Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau
Plein tarif : 5 € - Tarif réduit (étudiants et demandeurs d’emploi) : 3 €
Source : http://vitostreet.ekosystem.org/2009/03/du-graffitis-au-grand-palais-expo
Artistes :
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Karine Lalieux s’attaque aux graffitis et aux dépôts clandestins.
Deux ans après leur lancement, celle-ci a qualifié d'"encourageants" les résultats de ses 6 "chantiers" pour la propreté. Selon elle, des progrès sensibles ont été enregistrés dans plusieurs domaines. Un des plus tangibles est le bilan obtenu dans le cadre de la lutte contre l'affichage sauvage, "en voie de disparition" à la Ville de Bruxelles.
Les affiches collées illégalement sur les murs sont systématiquement arrachées, et 653 contrevenants ont été taxés depuis octobre 2007. Le nombre de poubelles publiques (actuellement 3700) a été augmenté de 200, placées en priorité près des écoles et des endroits où les riverains ont estimé qu'elle étaient nécessaires. Il y en aura 400 de plus en 2009. Point faible: leur vidange qui n'est pas toujours effectuée avant qu'elles ne débordent.
Plus largement, la lutte contre le sentiment d'impunité en matière de (mal)propreté publique s'est jusqu'à présent soldée par l'imposition de 4.000 taxes et amendes depuis la mise en place du plan de lutte contre les incivilités.
Malgré la mise en œuvre de politiques et d'outils appropriés, les graffitis et les dépôts clandestins demeurent mes bêtes noires, a souligné l'échevine qui compte concentrer les nouveaux efforts de son département en 2009 pour endiguer ces phénomènes.
La lutte contre les graffitis a jusqu'à présent consisté à éradiquer ceux qui entachent les immeubles de la Ville de Bruxelles et ceux des immeubles privés, à la demande de leurs propriétaires. L'étape suivante consistera à contraindre financièrement les propriétaires qui restent sourds à l'offre de nettoyage de la Ville de Bruxelles. Le service de propreté agira systématiquement par zone, a averti l'échevine.
Source : http://www.rtlinfo.be - 2 février 2009
Amanda's Hands Are Well-Armed

I met Amanda in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago on a cold day in January. She wasn't wearing gloves which, despite the cold, was a good thing, as her hands bore a couple of nifty tattoos that really flashed in the sunlight.
Unfortunately for me, I was bogged down with a bag of groceries and dry cleaning, so I wasn't in any position to take pictures.
I did manage to chat with Amanda briefly, and I told her about Tattoosday. I passed her my card and asked her to email me if she was interested in sharing.
I was happy to hear from her a day or two later and, this past weekend, sat and chatted with her at a local Starbucks. It was there that I got to see her tattooed hands in all their glory:
Amanda hails from Kansas City, Missouri, and moved to New York several years back to pursue her dream of an artistic career. She estimates that her body is 30% inked, most of which was done by her home town artist Steve Drew, who works out of a shop called Irezumi Body Art.
She was looking around for an artist in New York, when she accompanied a friend to Red Rocket Tattoo in Manhattan. There, Mike Bellamy was working with her friend on a concept sleeve. Amanda liked what she saw and started working with Mr. Bellamy on her hand guns.
You can see other Tattoosday-featured work by Mike Bellamy here.
So, why put guns on your hands, of all places? Amanda says it was an aesthetic decision, and not any sort of moral or political statement. Nor, she says, was it necessarily a nod to her roots in Kansas City.

Rather, Amanda wanted a whimsical tattoo that anchored what will become, eventually, full sleeves. The old six-shooter style of revolver is a traditional tattoo, in some senses (see previous gun-themed tattoos here).

But Amanda wanted her hand guns to be colorful and depict a feminine side, reminiscent of a weapon tucked into a saloon-girl's garter belt. The red roses, set into the handles, give the guns a softer edge. Their placement on the hands recall a childlike innocence, reminding one of the gesture kids make when they pretend their hands are toy guns.
Amanda said that she had these inked in one sitting, each gun taking about an hour and a half each. Mike Bellamy inked the outline on each hand first, then went back and did the color and shading on both. How did it feel? "The most intense pain I've ever felt," said Amanda, "especially on the knuckles".
Thanks to Amanda for sharing her guns here on Tattoosday! We look forward to seeing more of your ink in the future!








