Brian's Mat-tree-monial Tattoo

Late last month, I met Brian on the 34th Street A platform and he shared this amazing tattoo:

The piece was relatively fresh, having been inked only a couple weeks before.

He explained that this tree represents the Tree of Life. He alluded to the roots that spread out, firmly symbolizing family.

Brian also explained that it was an investigation piece: he added a key, hanging from a branch. This symbolizes his desire to unlock the meaning of life.

What's doubly special about this tattoo is that it is also a marriage tattoo. Brian's wife has a similar tree on her right arm (Brian's is on the left), only with cherry blossoms instead of a key, and a baby in the design as well.

The couple are linked not only by their vows, but by their similar ma-tree-monial tattoos. Sorry, I couldn't help it.

The tattoo is by Kaz at Brooklyn Adorned. Work from Kaz has appeared previously on Tattoosday here. And this tag, links all previous Adorned work on the blog.

Thanks to Brian for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

One Last Friday the 13th Post, for Melanie

So one of my friends Jenise had contributed to the Great Friday the 13th Tattoo Experiment and her votes for my tattoo were not along the finalists.

She was also keenly aware that we collected $31 in donations for my tattoo, $11 more than needed. Ginger, another friend, had added a dollar to the kitty for my lovely Friday-the-13th born wife Melanie, so Jenise, in an effort to make the experiment a complete success, chipped in the funds to bring us to an even $40, and she, Ginger, and Melanie separately concurred that this design was the one for her:

Much to our surprise, when we went back at 6:00 pm, business was brisk but it was only a 30-minute wait.

Artist Joey Wilson tattooed the Zoe Sonenberg-designed flash piece right below Melanie's $14 Valentine's tattoo (that story here).

The end result is lovely:

Thanks again to all contributors and supporters of Tattoosday through this process, and for everyone's patience while I went "off-book" for the last couple of days.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Tattoosday's Trip to Hand of Glory

As alluded to in the previous days' posts, I got a little carried away with a Friday the 13th tattoo experiment and opened up the idea to readers who contributed the funds for a tattoo ($13 special plus lucky $7 tip).

I had seven people send me money (thank you Ginger, Jen, Sean, John, Jenise, Janet and Nicole!) and then vote on the design out of five sheets of flash (seen here).

the flaw in my plan was not collecting the money, but dealing with the votes. I asked everyone to vote for three choices, and assigned 5 points to 1st choice, 3 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd. Fifteen different designs were selected, and only four were selected twice.

The winner was this classic, simple design by Derik Snell:

I was early and first in line, so I got the first tattoo of the day at Hand of Glory's sister shop, down the block, called The End is Near.

Brian Faulk was the assigned tattooer and he made quick work of the design:

Photo by Zoe

The end is result is a little messy, but it should heal nicely:

Thanks to all the kind people at Hand of Glory/The End is Near for their help this morning. I am planning on returning later with Melanie for her addition. We'll see how it goes....

Update on the Great Friday the 13th Tattoo Experiment

Well, many generous souls allowed me to reach the goal and now we're halfway to a tattoo for Melanie. You can still donate, though. It will allow you to vote for what I get, and all proceeds go to the artist(s).

Here's where I'll be:

And here are our choices. Sponsors can pick the top three choices, along with where they want it to go. Check out the flash:

Flash by Joey Wilson

 Flash by Zoe

Flash by Derik Snell

Flash by Jacob Des

Flash by Brian Faulk

So those generous souls who contributed, please vote. And don't forget to choose a limb!

If you want to vote on my tattoo, you can still contribute to my (and Melanie's) ink fund by clicking on the "Donate" button to the left. Thanks, all!