Jenise's Tattoo is Decorative and Practical

Normally I would have prefaced this as a "Tattoos I Know" post, since the contributor, Jenise, has been a friend of mine since 1984. However, since we haven't actually seen each other in person in over twenty-five years, I've never actually met her tattooed self in the flesh.

Nonetheless, Jenise has been a fan and supporter of Tattoosday since its inception and has, from early on, told me that "one of these days" she'd send me shots of the tattoo circling her right wrist. Imagine my surprise when, out of the blue, the pictures finally arrived this week. So here it is:

Jenise credits Clay at Willie's Tropical Tattoo in Daytona Beach, who inked these in February 2008. The piece was "designed to reflect [her] Hawaiian bracelet and it took [the artist] 2 hours to get it just the way he wanted it before he put the stencil on...".  As for the words "Peanut" and "Shellfish," the tattoo also acts as a quasi medic alert bracelet, indicating two foods which make her seriously ill. So there's a practical aspect to the piece, as well.

On a humorous note, she added "NO... these are NOT the nicknames of my children, I have been asked that more times than I can count".

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

Ashley Massaro Dragon and Star Tattoos

Ashley Massaro is a stunning American model and professional wrestler, perhaps best known for her work with World Wrestling Entertainment.

Ashley Massaro has an assortment of tattoo designs, including a large pink dragon with black Chinese lettering on her left side torso.

She also has a pair of nautical stars on the back side of her arms, plus a small butterfly on her right hip and a string of Kanji down her lower back.

Miguel's Vision Reveals What Lies Within

A few weeks back, I popped in at my wife's workplace, and she introduced me to Miguel, the husband of one of her colleagues. In warmer weather, she had seen that Miguel had a tattoo, and she thought I would be interested in talking to him about it. Unfortunately, at the moment, it was in the high 20's outside and Miguel had on layers of clothing, which covered the artwork on his upper right arm. I did, however, ask him to send me a photo when he got the chance.

Miguel was good to his word and e-mailed me the following photo:

Miguel told me that, one night, a couple of years ago, during a difficult time in his life, he had a dream about the tattoo and, when he awoke, he drew up the image he had seen in his mind. The vision, to him, "represents the evil that people have inside". He took the idea to Sunset Tattoo in Brooklyn, and one of the artists  created the piece.

Thanks to Miguel for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Jenny's Skeleton Key

January was a bleak month here in New York City. The second snowiest month ever did not bode well for inkspotting, but on the last day of the month, I met Jenny, a graphic designer, at my local bookstore.

Jenny had two tattoos visible, but has nine others as well. She offered up this cool skeleton key tattoo on her inner left forearm:

She told me that the tattoo's orientation on her arm is, if you'll pardon the pun, key. It points toward her heart and represents the fact that she makes her own decisions in her life, or in her own words, "I open my own doors".

She had this done by Mumia at Omega Tattoos in Queens. She added that all her tattoos are in black and gray, saying it is a matter of personal preference and that colors don't translate well on her skin.

Check out Jenny's website here to see some of her design work. I especially like this example of her design for a tattoo shop.

Thanks to Jenny for sharing this special key with us here on Tattoosday!

Massari Shoulder Tattoos

Massari is a popular Lebanese Canadian R&B and hip hop singer, perhaps best known for his debut self-titled album and the followup entitled Forever Massari.

Massari has a tattoo design on each of his shoulders, on the right is a large vine with his name, and on the left is an arrow and stars tattoo.

Jodie Marsh Covered in Tattoos

Jodie Marsh is a strikingly voluptuous British glamour model and media personality, featured on the television reality show, Totally Jodie Marsh.

Jodie Marsh has a boatload of tattoos on various locations of her body, including portraits of Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Michael Jackson and a woman.

Other tattoos include a tribal design on her lower back, accompanied by devil tail on her butt, a large bow on her right arm, a cross on her left wrist, dice, along with stars on her right foot and a cross above her left ankle.

She also has a few sayings and other words such as "Only God Can Judge Me" and "My Crazy Life". As well as a few other small tattoo designs here and there.

A Quartet of Tattoos from Greg

I met Greg outside of Madison Square Garden last fall, and he happily shared several of his tattoos, inspired by magic and mythology. On his upper left arm is this wizard:

On his upper right arm, he shared this dragon:

Below that, on his forearm, is this fiery skull:

And, in a tribute to his Irish heritage, is this coat of arms, with the Irish colors:

Greg credited Eddie and Ray, at Lucky Hearts Tattoo in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the artists responsible for his work.

Thanks to Greg for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!