Mike Bakaty, Rest in Peace

I learned last night of the passing of a legendary NYC tattoo artist, Mike Bakaty. Our friends over at Needles & Sins informed us of the sad news, with <a href="http://www.needlesandsins.com/2014/01/rip-mike-bakaty.html">this touching remembrance</a> .<br /><br />I never met Mike, whose <a href="http://finelinetattoo.com/">Fineline Tattoo NYC</a> is a great shop, thanks to his talent and hard work, along with that of his son Mehai. But, as you would imagine, a couple of his tattoos have appeared on the site over the years. Interestingly, both examples I found were for the Tattooed Poets Project:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy1AWSvnU-AQWirFMjBXUKgZsmTBn4QaA9T9QOy80H1HJzGZrwHvVCR1ipucSTRhxd-GkPk8zCnemaxLqncKbOZNhOnG2mie7vpkLVg6KNoeAFtW0ymeZTnVWHhoIPuvrQBEz2Me1JFQ/s640/IMG_0895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy1AWSvnU-AQWirFMjBXUKgZsmTBn4QaA9T9QOy80H1HJzGZrwHvVCR1ipucSTRhxd-GkPk8zCnemaxLqncKbOZNhOnG2mie7vpkLVg6KNoeAFtW0ymeZTnVWHhoIPuvrQBEz2Me1JFQ/s640/IMG_0895.JPG" width="339" /></a></div><br />That was from Ethan Hom's contribution last year (<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-tattooed-poets-project-ethan-hon.html">here</a>) and this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUhZhW_iLjnVS0X9otCFXZLQD4fWDc2F-GYTZi4c5hGRSijy0Cu0DhPfUCdRyVmyN3u0Ci1s9ukyCiXEt8ccpPmvGyafQ0VqKzqASIbfMY56WxmJOGdXUZRoGbb24WovFacYLTyd0/s400/Hamm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUhZhW_iLjnVS0X9otCFXZLQD4fWDc2F-GYTZi4c5hGRSijy0Cu0DhPfUCdRyVmyN3u0Ci1s9ukyCiXEt8ccpPmvGyafQ0VqKzqASIbfMY56WxmJOGdXUZRoGbb24WovFacYLTyd0/s400/Hamm.jpg" width="370" /></a></div><br />which is courtesy of Christine Hamm, in 2010 (original post <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/04/tattooed-poets-project-christine-hamm.html">here</a>).<br /><br />You can see more examples of some of Mike's work on the Fineline website <a href="http://finelinetattoo.com/staff/">here</a> but I encourage you to head over to <a href="http://www.needlesandsins.com/2014/01/rip-mike-bakaty.html">Needles & Sins</a> to get a true appreciation of the importance of Mike Bakaty and his impact on the tattoo community.<br /><br />It reminds you that every time you see a tattoo, it's often not just a work of art on the skin, but a reflection of the hard work of an artist, with a soul and a life, and that they truly do live on in this world through their work, even after they have passed on to the nect.<br /><br />Rest in Peace, Mike.<br /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2010, 2013, 2014 Tattoosday.</span></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-4129709c-e813-8312-1c75-8d3b1c449ad0"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></div>

Mike Bakaty, Rest in Peace

I learned last night of the passing of a legendary NYC tattoo artist, Mike Bakaty. Our friends over at Needles & Sins informed us of the...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Ethan Hon

Next up in the Tattooed Poets Project is Ethan Hon.<br /><br />I met up with Ethan in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn earlier this month and took photos of three of his tattoos.<br /><br />Ethan credits the talented artists at <a href="http://finelinetattoo.com/">Fineline Tattoo</a> in Manhattan.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCtIFWZjjSlSjiFdWsIxb54FKCnH50ggIlcLWba6oF-FpN7nywojiSW8iUMexaDVagkpAYwHaozHx8Z7ZoV0wy6JfMGizisq-2jUCAN4AVAMfSQ-ACzE-Cs-QWgs4OvO9HIAYTQM-HP8k/s615/IMG_0892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCtIFWZjjSlSjiFdWsIxb54FKCnH50ggIlcLWba6oF-FpN7nywojiSW8iUMexaDVagkpAYwHaozHx8Z7ZoV0wy6JfMGizisq-2jUCAN4AVAMfSQ-ACzE-Cs-QWgs4OvO9HIAYTQM-HP8k/s640/IMG_0892.JPG" width="478" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ethan explained that "the tattoos of Keats [above] and <i>f(x) </i>[below] were done by Mehai Bakaty." He added, "Keats is self-explanatory [and] F(x) I got done as reminder to be a person, to function."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilztM-fxfY6AoR5b1fQoHQdBZUNXlTISTrA8bb2KzaCu73_pmvWIMlJH-_ECHBG4MauBdznyJPGqnyfc6dkwNF2RcVKW1vkY3slEJ6wS8u_eSiUx9-Qsp1HkXVHkyAfmsHrHuNyAYhDyI/s615/IMG_0893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilztM-fxfY6AoR5b1fQoHQdBZUNXlTISTrA8bb2KzaCu73_pmvWIMlJH-_ECHBG4MauBdznyJPGqnyfc6dkwNF2RcVKW1vkY3slEJ6wS8u_eSiUx9-Qsp1HkXVHkyAfmsHrHuNyAYhDyI/s640/IMG_0893.JPG" width="580" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>As for the third tattoo (directly below), Ethan explained,<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy1AWSvnU-AQWirFMjBXUKgZsmTBn4QaA9T9QOy80H1HJzGZrwHvVCR1ipucSTRhxd-GkPk8zCnemaxLqncKbOZNhOnG2mie7vpkLVg6KNoeAFtW0ymeZTnVWHhoIPuvrQBEz2Me1JFQ/s615/IMG_0895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy1AWSvnU-AQWirFMjBXUKgZsmTBn4QaA9T9QOy80H1HJzGZrwHvVCR1ipucSTRhxd-GkPk8zCnemaxLqncKbOZNhOnG2mie7vpkLVg6KNoeAFtW0ymeZTnVWHhoIPuvrQBEz2Me1JFQ/s640/IMG_0895.JPG" width="340" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Mike Bakaty tattooed <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Lindner_-_Boy_with_Machine_(1954).png">Boy with Machine</a></i> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lindner_(painter)">Richard Lindner</a> [and] was done because I couldn't stop looking at it and also because as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Deleuze">Deleuze</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Guattari">Guattari</a> remind us: <i>A schizophrenic out for a walk is a better model than a neurotic lying on the analyst's couch. A breath of fresh air, a relationship with the outside world.</i></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I have two other tattoos not pictured: Cascading black hearts and [one] of Ulysses with his dog once he has returned, along with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Geulincx">Arnold Geulincx</a> phrase, 'Ubi nihil vales, ibi nihil velis' translated roughly as 'Where you are worth nothing, then you shall want for nothing' beneath it.</blockquote>Ethan sent us this poem:<br /><br /><b>Red Hook</b><br /><br />Jesus has dicks for hands<br />we must not tell him. Of course,<br />we will never tell him. Again,<br />or rather once, Dan walked, drenched<br />from New Jersey, home to New Jersey. <br />Last night I lay on the floor with a dog <br />named Pirate. Don’t tell Creezy. <br />When Santo told me his tattoo<br />was of his brother, I told him he should<br />never wear sleeves. It was not but<br />it was warm. I should only think<br />of things that are dripping with fuck--<br />across her lips, I did not negotiate a life<br />preserver. The world opens to my de-claring.<br />To have once been enamored is nice<br />but now I think everyone is divorcing,<br />Sail by me on your bicycles,<br />saying, “See you next Tuesday.”<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />Ethan J. Hon is from Omaha, Nebraska. He is a co-founder of <a href="http://www.jerrymagazine.com/about_us">JERRY MAGAZINE</a>. His poems and prose have appeared or are forthcoming in <a href="http://www.screen-paper.com/mag/">Screen and Paper</a>, <i>TheThe</i>, <a href="http://thenewinquiry.com/">The New Inquiry</a>, <a href="http://dossierjournal.com/">Dossier</a>, <a href="http://www.tinhouse.com/home">Tin House</a>, <a href="http://cimarronreview.com/">Cimarron Review</a>, <a href="http://flesheatingpoems.blogspot.com/">Cannibal</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nebraska_Review">Nebraska Review</a>, and <i>Assembly Magazine</i>. His paper “It Is Easier to Raise a Shrine than Bring the Deity Down to Haunt It: Beckett in the Blogosphere” was presented in June of 2011 at <a href="http://www.outofthearchive.com/p/programme.html">Samuel Beckett: Out of the Archive International Conference</a>. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.<br /><br />Thanks to Ethan for contributing to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span> <b id="internal-source-marker_0.7852143461350352" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoos are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit </span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></b>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Ethan Hon

Next up in the Tattooed Poets Project is Ethan Hon. I met up with Ethan in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn earlier this month and to...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Gina Abelkop

Our next tattooed poet is <a href="http://themoonstop.blogspot.com/">Gina Abelkop</a>, who shared this awesome portrait of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Dickinson">Emily Dickinson</a>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZzV6_zVnYii5NNycDCpcYl5Sp5Sx1mgXS5LYeKcOIdcmq16LiqGebpfbK0cID354UZweI-FIi7phGYctzl012OfI4ozdrUhhi7hpU-UVedfbGYNhRtb3oSk5AgTSQJSpAHX1zTqKFmQ/s572/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZzV6_zVnYii5NNycDCpcYl5Sp5Sx1mgXS5LYeKcOIdcmq16LiqGebpfbK0cID354UZweI-FIi7phGYctzl012OfI4ozdrUhhi7hpU-UVedfbGYNhRtb3oSk5AgTSQJSpAHX1zTqKFmQ/s400/photo.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><br />Gina tells us:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I've long loved Emily Dickinson and her poems and last summer took a trip to Amherst to visit her home and grave. I traveled to NYC after Amherst and booked an appointment for a tattoo to commemorate the trip; prior to traveling, I'd asked my friend and artist <a href="http://www.susannatroxler.com/">Susanna Troxler</a> to illustrate a portrait of Emily to use for the tattoo. I brought the drawing to Mehai [Bakaty] at <a href="http://www.finelinetattoo.com/">Fineline Tattoo</a> in NYC and asked him to draw lilies and roses around the portrait, as those are two flowers Emily references in my favorite poem of her's. I get lots of compliments on the beautiful work from both Dickinson fangirls and people who think she's a great-grandmother of mine."</blockquote>Gina sent us the following poem:<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large;">I Sit in No Sour Light</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large;">I can be a good woman         Venerable,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large;">esteemed good women    tell me    how it is</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large;">to be good      Your gutsy wealth of love</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large;">slobbery all over lips of tubs    Smell clean</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large;">All of that            Swung lurid as titties</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large;">over shoulder    I’m not bad    Good women</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large;">of wide love and baffling extension       your eye please</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br /><a href="http://themoonstop.blogspot.com/">Gina Abelkop</a> swims in the river and dances to <a href="http://www.bowwowwow.org/">Bow Wow Wow</a>. Her first book, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097936275X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=097936275X&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EDarling%20Beastlettes%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=097936275X%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E">Darling Beastlettes</a>, is out now from <a href="http://apostrophebooks.org/">Apostrophe Books</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Gina for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday's Tattooed Poets Project!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=097936275X" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5812230000738055" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit </span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></b></div><br />

The Tattooed Poets Project: Gina Abelkop

Our next tattooed poet is Gina Abelkop , who shared this awesome portrait of Emily Dickinson : Gina tells us: "I've long loved Emil...

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Anja's Ink: Not Your Type-ical Tattoos

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.546141164842993"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of my favorite tattoo encounters in 2011 has yet to see the light of these Tattoosday pages.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How can this be? You’d think I’d be rushing to post wonderful tattoos but, in some cases, I have what can only be described as blogger’s block. I can go around this encounter and “save it for a rainy day,” but those days turn into weeks, which become monrths, until I see an anniversary approaching on the horizon.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Such was the case with Anja, a native New Zealander who I chanced upon last July in front of K-Mart in the Penn Station concourse. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What stopped me dead in my tracks when I spotted her was that she was covered in text:</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Y9bgWreP-_xbj1XJDkEuJYsb2ITKTI6UxhM8mAxFGDVNxfsyBuXSZ1kkvM3r0YjyV5cDeoDEH9DL-E9Q_7WymvQiyN8UMkcVD9YjJ9su7JJp9o5x-nRh5sppepxVjehtVhTWpZGrskU/s615/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Y9bgWreP-_xbj1XJDkEuJYsb2ITKTI6UxhM8mAxFGDVNxfsyBuXSZ1kkvM3r0YjyV5cDeoDEH9DL-E9Q_7WymvQiyN8UMkcVD9YjJ9su7JJp9o5x-nRh5sppepxVjehtVhTWpZGrskU/s640/photo.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She had words inked on her flesh, all different fonts, but not just scrawled, but arranged artistically in a type-setter’s fashion. It was like she was wearing a collection of <a href="http://www.bodytypebook.com/ina/index.html">Ina Saltz’s</a> greatest hits.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here’s the rub: I think that the complexity of the tattooed words running across her body gave me pause. How would I explain this coherently?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So let me try.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anja’s clusters of words are poetry, but not poems; they are love letters to family members, and they are deeply personal. The photo above was deliberately framed in a way so that the reader could not necessarily see each entire piece. In this way, Anja maintains ownership of the tattoos and their sentiments.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She has these words assigned in different fonts to members of her family, her mother and her sisters. For example, her tattoo for one sister is in a “Loki Cola” font that resembles the Coca-Cola script and reads</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2RWYA4KKjZQ8MeJCaqT1d3GkhH5pIwA5IPn6mv5rX7VbvXsNV-EjIxYQpOTw1-zWdZxo-jNzxtzZPDuCOjnOn_3uFycj_4c8AjArFsbr20B2AQfToDUKdRuKFv0tSwGgnjpGfwcxl2k/s615/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2RWYA4KKjZQ8MeJCaqT1d3GkhH5pIwA5IPn6mv5rX7VbvXsNV-EjIxYQpOTw1-zWdZxo-jNzxtzZPDuCOjnOn_3uFycj_4c8AjArFsbr20B2AQfToDUKdRuKFv0tSwGgnjpGfwcxl2k/s640/photo.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Under/Flesh/Within/Breast/This/Heart/Holds/Heidi”</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s a complete piece for her sister Saskia, using the Konspiracy Theory font:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4OiQk2Zbg5Ob5FUljKWH9XUCW6aopwYuUQ-ulUa1AE3R2_WyBi3kDjFX2eNAKAjfHkGsFOwzU7r8GyjP-z3B9Aqnp7B1-E8Q3Kxt46ZKeOsc-5e4gCUpr8yy3a71bApTmQHQva-DxdA/s615/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4OiQk2Zbg5Ob5FUljKWH9XUCW6aopwYuUQ-ulUa1AE3R2_WyBi3kDjFX2eNAKAjfHkGsFOwzU7r8GyjP-z3B9Aqnp7B1-E8Q3Kxt46ZKeOsc-5e4gCUpr8yy3a71bApTmQHQva-DxdA/s640/photo.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The verse reads “Saskia/Skin/Belly/Laugh/The/Very/Inside”.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each piece is a work of beauty.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anja came to New York specifically to be tattooed by <a href="http://stephanietamez.com/">Stephanie Tamez</a>, an accomplished artist outright, but whose reputation as a master of inking type is unsurpassed. Stephanie is based out of <a href="http://savedtattoo.com/">Saved Tattoo</a> in Brooklyn.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anja also shared this tattoo on her left hand:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhL-CQkTHw1EsFJEujIqdhNQ_ogOkd6Wck7RRSBVMDcjicbQdFhCpOSzeLu9SeFw64Q9kxk4mBS2tF5RSrRfho0IpsPlM8HUc69Ka5gs0OC1wFztvLRvEOS7o6S_LfAUP4DGGGzRBOes/s775/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhL-CQkTHw1EsFJEujIqdhNQ_ogOkd6Wck7RRSBVMDcjicbQdFhCpOSzeLu9SeFw64Q9kxk4mBS2tF5RSrRfho0IpsPlM8HUc69Ka5gs0OC1wFztvLRvEOS7o6S_LfAUP4DGGGzRBOes/s400/photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She explained,</span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This is my newest one [as on July 2011]. It’s an egret, or heron. <i><a href="http://www.nhc.net.nz/index/birds-new-zealand/white-heron/white-heron.htm">Kotuku</a></i> in New Zealand … me and my sister got one of these together. [The artist, Gypsy Nation] actually tattooed it on himself as well. He’s Native American and has the heron in his family.”</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gypsy Nation did the tattoo at <a href="http://finelinetattoo.com/">Fineline Tattoo</a> on the Lower East Side of New York, but has since moved on.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks to Anja for sharing these wonderful tattoos with us here on Tattoosday, and for waiting so patiently for me to post them.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span>

Anja's Ink: Not Your Type-ical Tattoos

One of my favorite tattoo encounters in 2011 has yet to see the light of these Tattoosday pages. How can this be? You’d think I’d be rushing...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Bianca Stone

Today's poet is <a href="http://whoisthatsupposedtobe.blogspot.com/">Bianca Stone</a>, who I met last year at the<a href="http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2011/09/bap-2011-launch-at-the-new-school-september-22-2011.html"> Best American Poetry 2011 launch reading</a>. I spoke to her about contributing then and, true to her word, she was the first poet to confirm her participation this year.<br /><br />Bianca sent me this photo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkyI7F5Yg5dkoKrKNgvMkl1Be0MkdhORoWB_1t-uYBR3PEf8372u61dEehXmGHgvqXC3CaOazS3ket3aCMDP26zdc5nm7kLGAm7eVWp4dn6KwXmLt_vCzdxipqAUT-XHsyu3pUzejjzg/s1600/Bianca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkyI7F5Yg5dkoKrKNgvMkl1Be0MkdhORoWB_1t-uYBR3PEf8372u61dEehXmGHgvqXC3CaOazS3ket3aCMDP26zdc5nm7kLGAm7eVWp4dn6KwXmLt_vCzdxipqAUT-XHsyu3pUzejjzg/s400/Bianca.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />She explains:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"At first this was just a tattoo of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio">Pinocchio</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiminy_Cricket">Jiminy Cricket</a>. The drawings was based on the original drawings from the book by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Collodi">Carlo Collodi</a>. I was 20 years old and at <a href="http://antiochcollege.org/">Antioch College</a> at the time. There was an aspiring tattoo artist who studied there and had a tattoo gun and a make-shift studio and he did it for me as practice...(NOT one of my brightest ideas, since it's poorly done. People always ask me 'what is that supposed to be?') The idea had been in homage to my twin brother, Walter, whose nickname is Jiminy/Jimmy, and my mother used to read us the book when we were young. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The 'Ex Libris' was added three years ago when I was studying poetry at <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/">NYU's</a> MFA program, to honor my love of books and antique book-plates. It means 'In the Library Of' and in theory should have my name under it. It was done at <a href="http://finelinetattoo.com/">Fineline Tattoo</a> in the East Village, by a very nice guy who I guess doesn't work there anymore...I can't remember his name. I do remember he went by one word."</blockquote>By way of a poem, Bianca shared this poem, which originally appeared in <a href="http://www.postroadmag.com/">Post Road Magazine</a>:<br /><br /><b id="internal-source-marker_0.999648958677426"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Someone Will Have to Tell You</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Someday soon you will let your hair grow<br class="kix-line-break" />and look like everyone else. And let there be a kingdom<br class="kix-line-break" />alongside the kingdom and a forsythia alongside you.<br class="kix-line-break" />Your mother has walked out of all her pictures</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">into the ether. There is hair in envelopes and the hair<br class="kix-line-break" />in lockets and the hair growing<br class="kix-line-break" />in graves. Saints are kneeling over your portrait.<br class="kix-line-break" />The stratocumulus clouds are forming<br class="kix-line-break" />in your chest. Fog around your feet.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’ll have to listen to the bananas peeling.<br class="kix-line-break" />Listen to your books on tape. Little by little<br class="kix-line-break" />your face will float away<br class="kix-line-break" />from your other face.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Someday you won’t know what to eat. Someone<br class="kix-line-break" />will have to tell you. Someone will have to carry you<br class="kix-line-break" />into the back yard so you can hear the Canadian geese<br class="kix-line-break" />rise hysterically from the river.</span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ ~ ~</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></div>Bianca Stone is the author of several chapbooks, most recently <a href="http://argosbooks.org/?p=213">Someone Else's Wedding Vows</a> (<a href="http://argosbooks.org/">Argos Books</a>), and <a href="http://www.factoryhollowpress.com/book.php?id=42">I Want To Open The Mouth God Gave You, Beautiful Mutant</a> (<a href="http://www.factoryhollowpress.com/">Factory Hollow Press</a>). Her poems have appeared in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439181497/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439181497">The Best American Poetry 2011</a>, <a href="http://www.conduit.org/">Conduit</a>, and <a href="http://www.crazyhorsejournal.org/">Crazyhorse</a>. Her collaboration with <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/317">Anne Carson</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811219577/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0811219577">Antigonick</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0811219577" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, a new kind of comic book and translation, will be published in spring of 2012 by <a href="http://ndbooks.com/book/antigonick">New Directions</a>. She lives in Brooklyn. <br /><br />Thanks so much to Bianca for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></div>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Bianca Stone

Today's poet is Bianca Stone , who I met last year at the Best American Poetry 2011 launch reading . I spoke to her about contributing ...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Christine Hamm

Today's tattooed poet is <a href="http://www.christinehamm.com/">Christine Hamm</a>:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUhZhW_iLjnVS0X9otCFXZLQD4fWDc2F-GYTZi4c5hGRSijy0Cu0DhPfUCdRyVmyN3u0Ci1s9ukyCiXEt8ccpPmvGyafQ0VqKzqASIbfMY56WxmJOGdXUZRoGbb24WovFacYLTyd0/s1600/Hamm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455298430990060498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUhZhW_iLjnVS0X9otCFXZLQD4fWDc2F-GYTZi4c5hGRSijy0Cu0DhPfUCdRyVmyN3u0Ci1s9ukyCiXEt8ccpPmvGyafQ0VqKzqASIbfMY56WxmJOGdXUZRoGbb24WovFacYLTyd0/s400/Hamm.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />Christine, a fellow Brooklynite, explained her tattoo as follows:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>"Why my tattoo? Is it a museum on my arm? Is it some kind of message from outerspace? Children run to me just to touch it: ask me what the words mean, what I'm trying to spell. There are no words, only water.<br /><br />For many years, I had been thinking about getting matching tattoos of waves splashing up my calves to my knees, as if I were wading in the ocean, perpetually. I thought about the cost, I thought about how the tattoos would look with a miniskirt -- I realized that if I got them, I'd always want to be wearing jeans rolled up to my knees and salt-stained t-shirt. I can't carry seashells all the time in my pockets, I can't be brushing the sand out of my hair every five minutes. So I decided to take less of a plunge, enter the water one arm at a time. It started off quite slow. <span style="font-style: italic;">Are you sure you don't want a fish</span>, the artist kept asking me as we mapped out my image on tracing paper. Everybody else gets a fish. <span style="font-style: italic;">Just water</span>, I said, <span style="font-style: italic;">just waves</span>. The tattoo was to celebrate --- some kind of new awakening, finally going back to grad school to get my PhD in Lit like I always wanted, finally believing I could achieve something more. The waves are Asian-inspired; many who see my arm mention <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai">Hokusai</a>, but the water is not taken directly from him. I was thinking of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen">Zen</a> when I finally decided on these particular waves; I was thinking that if I could just be in the water, neither sinking nor floating above, if I could just be. Water has always suggested to me some kind of slower, purer imitation of our world, something more real and less sharp. Not just amniotic fluid, not just rain, but the color, the there-not there texture, the kiss of it."</blockquote></div>And that explanation, my friends, is one of the many reasons I love the Tattooed Poets Project.<br /><br />She credits the work to <a href="http://www.finelinetattoo.com/staff/">Mike Bakaty</a> at <a href="http://www.finelinetattoo.com/">Fineline Tattoo NYC</a> on 1st Avenue in Manhattan, who inked this about three years ago.<br /><br />Christine is a PhD candidate in English Literature<span style="font-style: italic;">,</span> teaches at <a href="http://www.cuny.edu/index.html">CUNY</a> in New York City, and was runner-up to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens">Queens</a> Poet Laureate. Her second book of poetry, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.plainviewpress.net/gallery2/pages/Saints-&-Cannibals.htm">Saints & Cannibals</a>, </span>is coming out this spring. For more about her, go to her blog <a href="http://chamm.blogspot.com/">here</a>.<br /><br />To read a poem from Christine, as part of the Tattooed Poets Project, head over to BillyBlog <a href="http://oxypoet.blogspot.com/2010/04/tattooed-poets-project-christine-hamm.html">here</a>.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Christine Hamm

Today's tattooed poet is Christine Hamm : Christine, a fellow Brooklynite, explained her tattoo as follows: "Why my tattoo? Is it a...

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