Annie Cherry and Bindlestiff Willy in New York City

I met Annie Cherry outside of Penn Station in early September. She was talking with Bindlestiff Willy. She had visible tattoos. He did not.

I approached them and introduced myself.

This is Annie:


And here is Bindlestiff Willy:


Both perform with a group called the Kansas City Society of Burlesque.

They had been in New York City performing out on Coney Island the previous weekend and were heading home.

Annie graciously allowed to photograph her two tattoos, juxtaposed nicely on her inner forearms:


She explained the one on her left arm, saying it was a shooting star, about to be launched from a slingshot. She said the tattoo represents creative inspiration and that it reminds her "not to take herself too seriously".


Incidentally, several weeks later, I met a woman with a similar tattoo, only justaposed differently on the left arm. I was shocked to see it, but she explained that it was also a band logo for the group Gogol Bordello.


The snake on her left arm represents knowledge to Annie, and a reminder that the destination is not always reached by taking the straight path.


Both tattoos were inked by Chet Duvenci at The Mercy Seat Tattoo & Art Gallery in Kansas City.

After talking about her tattoos, Annie informed me that her traveling companion Bindelestiff Willy had a couple of great tattoos, as well. They were inked at The Mercy Seat also, but by different artists.

Damian removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves to reveal the tattoos on his upper arms.

The first is on his upper left arm:


If this classic pin-up girl looks familiar, scroll up to the top of the post and take another gander at the photo of Annie.



The tattoo is modeled after her. The phrase "Clowns need love too" is self-referential. This piece was inked by Scott Shickman.

Damian, who performs under the name of "Bindlestiff Willy," is a pantomime specialist who does a great Charlie Chaplin routine. The pun in his stage name combines the "bindle stick" commonly carried by hobos and tramps (in the Chaplinesque sense) and the raunchiness of "stiff Willy".

His second tattoo, on the right arm, is a portrait of Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp" were he still alive. Of course, as the 1889 implies, Chaplin is a skeleton today, so the traditional tattoo takes a macabre turn.


This piece was done by John Monk.

A big thanks to Annie and Willy for sharing their awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Ups and downs

Today was such a weird day. I had a very strange emotional night last night, to the point of almost crying myself to sleep with Hank holding me! Gag. I hate feeling that way...and really for no reason! I just felt stressed out and full of anxiety and when I get that way there's usually not a reason for it, it's just a feeling in me and once I get through it I am fine. But while it's there, it's bad. So anyway I went to bed feeling not so well, and I woke up feeling not so well either. This carried throughout my day, and whether it was my mood, or my kids just being jerky, it wasn't a good day in my classroom. I got home and fell asleep on the couch, basically feeling hopeless and just very sad overall. I woke myself up because I had a gym date with my friend Robyn (I ended up waking up too late and miss the "Pump Iron" class, boo), but I made it to Spin class. The class was just what I needed, and 60 very hard minutes later I was covered in sweat and everything negative in my body had left. I came home feeling great and when Hank got home from practice he could tell I was back to normal.

I spent the rest of the night making a little video (below) to announce the winner of the giveaway- yay Chelsea- and then hanging out with Lance and Hank for awhile. I'm whitening my teeth right now and then I am hitting the hay. Tomorrow I am determined to have an amazing, positive day no matter what. After work Robyn and I have a long run planned through downtown and I am really looking forward to that. She's an awesome workout partner and I feel very fortunate to be able to have a friend to share my fitness adventures with!

So, that's it for now. I hope all of you also choose to have a wonderful, positive day. It's easier said than done, but it really is a choice, and no matter how you feel right now, you can choose to wake up tomorrow and make the best of it.

Here's to a great day! And a goodnight... :)

Zizo Stolasky, Tuareg Tattoo Shop

Olá! Meu nome é Zizo Stolasky. Tenho um studio de Tatuagem em Boituva chamado Tuareg Tattoo Shop.

Encontrei o site de vocês na Internet e achei legal, parabéns pelo trabalho. Estou enviando algumas fotos dos meus trabalhos. Obrigado pela oportunidade

Zizo

Tuareg Tattoo Shop

Endereço: Rua Guilherme Primo, N º57, centro, Boituva - SP

Telefone: (015)

E-mail: tuaregtattoo@hotmail.com

Congratulations Chelsea!

Oh, hi!, originally uploaded by Chelseabirdd.

You are the winner of the nail polish giveaway! :)

Here's a video about it that I just took- PLEASE excuse my gross hair/everything. I just got home from a really, really hard 60 minute spin class and I'm super sweaty w/no makeup but I really wanted to a take a little video of me picking the winner! So, you get to view me in all my glory, bang-pushing out of the way, sniffly nose self! haha.

So again, congrats to Chelsea! All of you should add her adorable blog too-

chelseabirdd.blogspot.com

A Word of Thanks.....

With the onset of Fall, I compose this note as the month of September is coming to an end.

I look around sadly at the long pants, long sleeves, and covered frames that, just a few weeks ago, were so much more interesting to behold.

I am filled with sadness.

The past month has been a record-breaker for Tattoosday. When we first spun off from BillyBlog, we garnered 120 hits in the first three weeks of our infancy.

Last year, I was amazed by my progress, in September '08 we racked up 13,351 hits.

And this September, when I anticipated a drop off from a record August, Tattoosday soared into uncharted territory, on pace to top 38, 000 hits on the last day of the month. This may not seem like a big deal, but blogging is often lonely, and the number of hits is often the only measure of recognition we receive.

So, the summer ink is running dry, but despair not, I will continue to spot tattoos, although perhaps not at the dizzying rate of the past few months.

I have a backlog of posts and a head full of ideas to keep us entertained as the leaner months loom.

I thank you all for your continued readership and participation. I am very appreciative of your support!

Bill Cohen

Rafael Nigris, Tattooarte

Olá.

Me chamo Rafael Nigris, tenho 26 anos e sou tatuador. Me chamam de Rafiusk aqui em minha cidade. Moro em Rio das Ostras - RJ e tenho um estúdio no centro da cidade chamado TATTOOARTE, trabalho com meu sócio que também é tatuador. Estou nessa marivilhosa arte há 4 anos e antes estudava pintura clássica na casa de cultura de minha cidade.

Gosto de fazer meus próprios desenhos e já tenho algumas séries. Participarei de minha primeira convenção em março de 2010 no Rio, onde competirei com séries de desenhos, tatuagens orientais, new school, old, preto e cinza e comics. Gosto de trabalhar com todos os estilos e dou muito valor à Biossegurança em meu estúdio.

Estou me formando em Biologia e vou fazer pós em biossegurança. Agradeço a força que o A TATTOO da aos tatuadores e obrigado por deixar fazer parte do site de vocês.

TATTOOARTE

Tatuadores: Rafiusk Tattoo e Pézão Tattoo

Body Piercing: Rafael Caboca

Secretário: Geléia

Endereço: Rua Drº Raul de Oliveira Rodrigues, nº 74, Centro Rio das Ostras - RJ

Shopping Portal - sala 105

Little Dead Riding Hood

I met Amy in Penn Station earlier this month and she agreed to share this, one of her eight tattoos:


Actually, she has since e-mailed me about her ninth, and I am waiting for a photo.

This tattoo represents an undead version of Little Red Riding Hood, which is Amy's favorite fairy tale.


She also likes zombies, so it seemed like a good match.

This tattoo was inked by T.J. Mcinnis at Mcinnis Tattoo Company in Providence, Rhode Island.

Thanks to Amy for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!