Melissa Got Her Gun

<div class="tr_bq">Last May, on the first day of the <a href="http://www.nyctattooconvention.com/">New York City Tattoo Convention</a>, I was almost thirty blocks away from the <a href="http://www.roselandballroom.com/">Roseland Ballroom</a>, where the three-day event takes place, when I bright flash of yellow hair caught my eye on Broadway.</div><br />I was about to meet <a href="http://missgraves.wordpress.com/">Melissa "Alabama" Graves</a>.<br /><br />Her bright yellow hair was not the only thing I noticed - she was also heavily-tattooed.<br /><br />I stopped to talk to her, but she was on her way to an appointment, but she seemed open to being featured on Tattoosday and she assured me she'd make time for me to interview her the next day, Saturday, at the convention.<br /><br />Melissa is a model and she is a striking figure - despite her tiny frame, she fills a room with her personality and she commands a great presence.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBi1BzeufWVTa3_UHz9FpTLdA_HWszA4tLqcEMyWXycFQAIbMURtPxCNHsQWPooGTiHqXBKe7M_TxNBEhJ_sYlHd6X8PkP6pyV4He3l8zRKfSMvAXAJdpGI5qWo6sujTbv37EfZ6fEUI/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/AVvXsEiKBi1BzeufWVTa3_UHz9FpTLdA_HWszA4tLqcEMyWXycFQAIbMURtPxCNHsQWPooGTiHqXBKe7M_TxNBEhJ_sYlHd6X8PkP6pyV4He3l8zRKfSMvAXAJdpGI5qWo6sujTbv37EfZ6fEUI/s640/photo.jpg" width="386" /></a></div><br />Not to mention, her bright hairstyle makes her easy to spot in a crowded tattoo convention. She was kind enough to spend a significant amount of time with me talking about her tattoos. I could have written much more, but had to pare down our conversation for brevity's sake.<br /><br />Incidentally, this is my last remaining item from 2012, and I'd like to think I've saved one of the best for last.<br /><br />Among her tattoos, Melissa chose to share the gun inked on her right thigh:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJiacx5D8BNXVg87sl1dcLLlAx6Sa7owbu-NEH2pSZUJEuajJykbiWS2MQcyC3cbnHeZmAXoW46bkyugWbki5JQc3Td76obFw1ISwmRRXa50L_6eBGgBw6jLQKx8J4Pjs7FcMaT81yqI4/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/AVvXsEjJiacx5D8BNXVg87sl1dcLLlAx6Sa7owbu-NEH2pSZUJEuajJykbiWS2MQcyC3cbnHeZmAXoW46bkyugWbki5JQc3Td76obFw1ISwmRRXa50L_6eBGgBw6jLQKx8J4Pjs7FcMaT81yqI4/s640/photo.jpg" width="332" /></a></div><br />Here's a closer look:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6HtsTEc_VrGGU7AOFdtkctxI3BeDgcd6Vo3IWAPv8HRa4nt9BIhVmOMnQNixltWVH7PqyFo3AdhFJI27eWmf4IIdJODDUv35W_Ev5iOeRcwVSx0QjxYUAHdOwA58uRkWE2ObLBK4Uko/s614/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6HtsTEc_VrGGU7AOFdtkctxI3BeDgcd6Vo3IWAPv8HRa4nt9BIhVmOMnQNixltWVH7PqyFo3AdhFJI27eWmf4IIdJODDUv35W_Ev5iOeRcwVSx0QjxYUAHdOwA58uRkWE2ObLBK4Uko/s640/photo.jpg" width="395" /></a></div><br />She credited this work to <a href="http://tattooculture.net/tag/gene-coffey">Gene Coffey</a> at <a href="http://tattooculture.net/">Tattoo Culture</a> in Brooklyn, explaining that she was thrilled that he was able to depict so well this image of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45_Winchester_Magnum">.45 Magnum</a>, tattooed to scale.<br /><br />Melissa gave me the nitty-gritty about why she had a gun, specifically <u>this gun</u>, inked on her thigh:<br /><blockquote>“I met this guy a long time ago, his name was Blackie ... he was ripped and tattooed and rockabilly and sexy and he had this, you know, powerful thing about him … He moved away with his girlfriend, it must’ve been … five years ago and the girlfriend and him had been together for a while, and I had a crush on him for a long time …[when] him and the girlfriend are breaking up and, this must’ve been 2008 ... I went on vacation from my job at the beginning of 2009 ... He talked me into going out to California with him and ... I went out to California and we had a week-long vacation together that was probably the most ... fun time I ever had with somebody. And the best sex I ever had in my entire life. </blockquote><blockquote>And one of the things we did together was we went to the Downtown L.A. gun range and I fired his .45 magnum in that gun range wearing a mini skirt and six-inch stiletto heels … the chunky heels ... and the guys in the gun range were like, <i>this girl cannot fire this gun</i> … it’s like a cannon of a gun ... it’s life size, compared to little me ... and, you know, um, I weigh a little bit more now than I did back then, but only like five pounds more, and they were like, <i>she still can’t fire this gun. In those heels? No.</i> And I said, <i>Oh yeah I can fire this gun</i>, and I was just ballsing it and I took the gun and I fired it and I asked for the most bizarre absurd targets. And I fired that gun and I hit every target. And ... he was so impressed. It turned him on. And we went back home after I fired that gun. I saved every target and we had the best sex afterwards, I mean, he was just so turned on that I could fire a gun that well. And I’ll never forget that experience. It was like, I could fire a gun and hit a target in the forehead and it was just like really exciting, girl power kind of thing and I left L.A. and he left me at the airport and said ... <i>I’ll see you later kid</i>.”</blockquote>She added that "he was cordial enough after we broke up when I got the idea for the tattoo to scan the gun and send me the image of the gun."<br /><br />Melissa praised Gene Coffey, the tattoo artist, to no end. He was responsible for the art on her left leg, which she said he had worked on while he was still an apprentice.<br /><br />What's cool about the tattoo, as well, as that it circles the thigh, with a garter and a badge:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy3qGsy7yl0_VqX6G8-Hqu9uEuD90yA-WV4rjd9YYybiutnRLIk4A4WYkiagR55SEYvxCCshjnGK7flZBjJjRQGghyphenhyphen6uqVIxeRCx-1aH3Zw5UnrClGDGHPpjxLK-7-iy3KXUj7uT82vE/s716/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy3qGsy7yl0_VqX6G8-Hqu9uEuD90yA-WV4rjd9YYybiutnRLIk4A4WYkiagR55SEYvxCCshjnGK7flZBjJjRQGghyphenhyphen6uqVIxeRCx-1aH3Zw5UnrClGDGHPpjxLK-7-iy3KXUj7uT82vE/s400/photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnXp-KoV08eyLkPcghnQD15PBHA6JuFQgDEkgkWzNnI7WUafMvYVEqptCEKYtnOPUCV3bghJ_mrxBiGbPh7tYFYMfz6sEaxqCWWs1Nq25SQHRd0Ka-swbx0-juqdQQmeHo9pKN2JdYeU/s711/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnXp-KoV08eyLkPcghnQD15PBHA6JuFQgDEkgkWzNnI7WUafMvYVEqptCEKYtnOPUCV3bghJ_mrxBiGbPh7tYFYMfz6sEaxqCWWs1Nq25SQHRd0Ka-swbx0-juqdQQmeHo9pKN2JdYeU/s400/photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Melissa added,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"The gun signifies a lot to me because I have a broken heart [seen in top photo on her lower abdomen] ... that's broken and stitched back together ... the gun is protecting it ... this gun, I can pull out and say <i>Don't break my heart </i>... but it's a metaphorical thing - I would never want to hurt somebody ... I'm the sheriff of my heart. I guard my heart and I police my heart and I have my gun to protect it."</blockquote>She wanted to make sure we credited Gene for this work that she entrusted with him. "He's a really talented artist and ... he's going to do the rest of my right leg." We also featured a really cool sleeve by Gene last year <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2012/02/dmitrys-sleeve-and-invader-zim.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Melissa for sharing her gun (and time) with us here on Tattoosday! You can check out her website <a href="http://missgraves.wordpress.com/">here</a>.<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9407541751861572" 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.</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 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/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><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>

Melissa Got Her Gun

Last May, on the first day of the New York City Tattoo Convention , I was almost thirty blocks away from the Roseland Ballroom , where the t...

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Tattoosday Goes to Hawai'i: Dottie's Tribute to Daddy

On my last day in Hawai'i I had some time to kill before my flight. I wanted to stay close to the airport, so I headed over to <a href="http://www.pearlridgeonline.com/pearlridge2/index.php">Pearlridge Center</a> to do some last minute shopping.<br /><br />One of the first people I met was Dottie, a Kentuckian who had moved to Oahu.<br /><br />She had this touching tattoo on her calf:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIK15aqsKWIOcg0vyIzIvmcHMVLVfYvJlyj8V9b7kTMtsDYyu7sSSxL8EVWIzc0xF3PjikNXh-vPO2L2qzHxHOLNwPPKMkHFcw95sVjinlfRw-Nk_jxeruWejJpsgmAOyRLf0pjKx2/s1600/Constable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIK15aqsKWIOcg0vyIzIvmcHMVLVfYvJlyj8V9b7kTMtsDYyu7sSSxL8EVWIzc0xF3PjikNXh-vPO2L2qzHxHOLNwPPKMkHFcw95sVjinlfRw-Nk_jxeruWejJpsgmAOyRLf0pjKx2/s400/Constable.jpg" width="322" /></a></div><br />It is a memorial piece for her father, who was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constable">constable</a> back in Kentucky. Sadly, he was killed in the line of duty in 1984. The rose is part of the shield he wore and she incorporated it into the tattoo design.<br /><br /><br />Thanks to Dottie for sharing this emotional tattoo with us here on Tattoosday.<br /><br />Update: Dottie has filled me in on some missing details.<br />  <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlly9HI7N7SdD8xVAMKCLQF25Ade1bluYS9Exaq2g7qoc7is3hdIOpI6vow2oim8p7TazEAe3PN5Ar7YhYw2frM3u4IB4W_JI07WETS5D_7p5WGXYtUEK_7T1ovesHagxg1KZmC_s/s1600/nleomf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlly9HI7N7SdD8xVAMKCLQF25Ade1bluYS9Exaq2g7qoc7is3hdIOpI6vow2oim8p7TazEAe3PN5Ar7YhYw2frM3u4IB4W_JI07WETS5D_7p5WGXYtUEK_7T1ovesHagxg1KZmC_s/s200/nleomf.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>The tattoo was inked at <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bigdaddystattooing">Big Daddy's Tattoos</a> in <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=elizabethtown+kentucky+tattoo+shops&um=1&hl=en&safe=active&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&ei=4973S7GUL4eglAfX5tnCCg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode">Elizabethtown, Kentucky</a>. She also wanted to clarify that the shield with the rose is the symbol for the <a href="http://www.nleomf.org/">National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund</a> and encourages people, if interested in the memorial, to visit the website <a href="http://www.nleomf.org/">here</a>.

Tattoosday Goes to Hawai'i: Dottie's Tribute to Daddy

On my last day in Hawai'i I had some time to kill before my flight. I wanted to stay close to the airport, so I headed over to Pearlridg...

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Melanie's Traditional Revolvers

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwvAEn8yIjr6cEw7L5XryHuAMXpMCNmxYRqk3BdnWGTHuep15oLhH6P3FyiFmJD2DE1TLWvKwT2HiZj2y8aljXrBxpy9rInj7atFD08erX3MvrF690vMJzOQr5hkgpmvEiCErF3vIn72l/s1600-h/Melanie's+gun+detail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260313004072408946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwvAEn8yIjr6cEw7L5XryHuAMXpMCNmxYRqk3BdnWGTHuep15oLhH6P3FyiFmJD2DE1TLWvKwT2HiZj2y8aljXrBxpy9rInj7atFD08erX3MvrF690vMJzOQr5hkgpmvEiCErF3vIn72l/s400/Melanie's+gun+detail.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 221px;" /></a><br />As I mentioned above (<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2008/10/interlude-third-times-charm.html">here</a>), Melanie crossed my path on a day last week when I had been having some bad luck with inkspotting.<br /><br />However, when I saw her on 34th Street across from <a href="http://www.nyctourist.com/macys1.htm">Macy*s</a>, I had to talk to her about her tattoos.<br /><br />What caught my eye first was her chest piece, two traditional <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Jerry">Sailor Jerry</a> designs, including a near replica of <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2008/09/buddys-advice-about-neck-tattoos.html">the neck piece</a> sported by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Nielsen">Buddy Nielsen</a> of <a href="http://www.sensesfail.com/">Senses Fail</a>.<br /><br />She told me an artist named Kenny up in <a href="http://www.ci.kingston.ny.us/">Kingston, New York</a> had inked the chest piece, but instead of photographing that, she offered up her stomach piece instead:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5c_DmyJFmzI6hE8Oqw7VICtMqiIjQpFRwFBj9uGkGc-fc18vaTdebuoVxwXEiJlrElrHmfkFBoGJT6unUlzOdbS6Nnj_AeHluTqXnalhT6g7ad6wQ6216E6dfXcgYxoc95cr_eR0ZqErt/s1600-h/Melanie's+guns.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260310065425530066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5c_DmyJFmzI6hE8Oqw7VICtMqiIjQpFRwFBj9uGkGc-fc18vaTdebuoVxwXEiJlrElrHmfkFBoGJT6unUlzOdbS6Nnj_AeHluTqXnalhT6g7ad6wQ6216E6dfXcgYxoc95cr_eR0ZqErt/s400/Melanie's+guns.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 230px;" /></a><br />The reason for her offering this other piece is that it was tattooed by the artist she is currently working with, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/cookietat2">Cookie</a>, at <a href="http://www.myspace.com/popstattoo">Pop's Tattoo Emporium</a> in Kingston.<br /><br />Melanie got her first tattoo at sixteen and fell in love with the traditional style. When I asked her how many she had, she had the typical response of the heavily-inked: she wasn't sure.<br /><br />The guns and roses along the waistline are a traditional motif and part of her desire for ink is to fill in space, to keep working with the body's canvas. The sheriff's badge exemplifies this, as she noted it was added as an afterthought.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOC4TeEKQPhE2lVchitcPkw8meYs_r8UUXgcHyyKhBR9U5hcruWh7SuJPAfYrY8yXPekXVkSCi-VIkF8uupDKO4q5h2mwdC7oG6w0Nz-M3ONxvTeZXqYK4ICG_3hujZEnr9zZRlzWIDy3U/s1600-h/Melanie'sbadge.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260312433945678210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOC4TeEKQPhE2lVchitcPkw8meYs_r8UUXgcHyyKhBR9U5hcruWh7SuJPAfYrY8yXPekXVkSCi-VIkF8uupDKO4q5h2mwdC7oG6w0Nz-M3ONxvTeZXqYK4ICG_3hujZEnr9zZRlzWIDy3U/s320/Melanie'sbadge.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 320px;" /></a><br />The "City of Sin" identification on the badge is consistent with the piece's theme, and it artistically brings the whole tattoo together, centering the focus at the ends of the gun barrels, and providing a stronger sense of balance in the design.<br /><br />Thanks so much to Melanie for sharing her traditional holsters with us here on Tattoosday!

Melanie's Traditional Revolvers

As I mentioned above ( here ), Melanie crossed my path on a day last week when I had been having some bad luck with inkspotting. However, wh...

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