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Les's Wild Geese Poem Tattoo

Yesterday, I went to the Body Art Expo at the Cow Palace, with the art in hand for a new tattoo.

The quote is taken from a poem called Wild Geese by Mary Oliver, which I first heard during a massage sometime in the mid-1990s, from a massage therapist I worked with regularly from 1993 to 2002. It spoke to me of the “I need to listen to myself” and to be present in my body.

I chose a Bernoulli spiral, because to me it represents growth, change, movement, cycles, and changing perspectives. The font is penshurst, which I like because of the curliques on the h, m, n, v and y. lj user=the_ogre helped me translate my concept into a design.

The original design, as shown here is slightly smaller.

Click for a picture of the final product, as well as more information about the tattooing process.

-Les

Israel’s Virgen de Guadalupe Tattoo

This was my first tattoo. As soon as I turned 18 I new I was going to get tattooed. For years I knew I wanted to get the image of the Virgen De Guadalupe somewhere on my body for life. I grew up in a catholic family going to church and all that good stuff. I always loved catholic art and the Virgen just seemed to draw me in.

Here in Escondido, CA we have about 7 or 8 tattoo shops. I knew most of the shop owners and their staff but I chose a hispanic/aztec tattoo shop, there I met Dominic Vasquez I told about what I wanted to get and he was excited because he said that he hadnt done one in color and done one so big before. I chose to get it from my wrist to the inner bend of my elbow.

I went in for 3, 2 hour sessions and in that time Dominic and I spoke a lot about everything from then on we became friends and to this day he is the only artist I let tattoo me. I have complete confidence in him. Even though he has moved multiple times I still get my ink done by him.

-Israel

Also check out Israel’s “Kid” Memorial Tattoo

Israel’s “Kid” Memorial Tattoo

This tattoo is a memorial tattoo. It is two doves holding a banner with the word “kid” on it. On December 7th, 2006 a great person left this place. My girlfriend’s 15 year old sister passed away. She was an awesome kid much wiser than her years. We were real close. Because of her sickness she couldn’t go to school so my girlfriend would bring her along when we would run our errands. I still think I am a kid at heart so I get along with kids I know how to joke around so we got along great.

As if having her wasn’t great enough she has a twin sister just as beautiful and just as amazing. Anyways, after she passed away I went to my tattoo artist and gave him an idea of what I wanted, trusting him I let him do whatever he wanted with the idea and he did. He freehanded the banner and the word. Kid is what I called her so I wanted to get Kid instead of her name because I wanted it to be more personal. Anyways I hope you enjoy it. R.I.P. Kid Love You.

-Israel

Also check out Israel’s Virgen De Guadalupe tattoo.

Shep’s Fallen Heroes Tattoo

My name is Shep. I just recently got this tattoo done in Anderson South Carolina at Artistic Ink. Lance Wilson hooked it up for me.

I choose this design for many different reasons. I am an Operation Iraqi Freedom war veteran, and a proud American. I am dealing with being out of the military right now. Its not an easy road to go down. For three years that was the life I knew and now I am starting over. Some times a fresh start isn’t the easy way to go. I picked this tattoo in part to help me remember the good times I had, and to honor those Heroes we lost during this time.

You can see there are 5 stars showing on the folded Burial Flag, those stars each represent one Hero from my unit. Some of those guys I did not know personally, but I occasionally cry for them and their families (as I type this). At any point in my tour I could have been represented by a burial flag.

The grieving mother/wife/sister is there to represent all who have lost someone due to war. I simply cant imagine how it would feel to lose a family member in this war. I hope I never have to find out.

This tattoo is very nice and a really cool looking tattoo, but it is much more than just another cool tattoo. This is to forever remember those fallen heroes.

-Shep

Jack’s Mother Tattoo

This is a tattoo I recently got. It’s not all the way done and I am now considering turning it into a 1/2 sleeve. It’s a photo of my mom when she was 20 years old and getting married for the first time.

The reason I got it is just because it’s my mom, it’s an awesome picture and she’s an awesome person and has always been there for me and always helped me when I needed it. It’s on my right forearm. I plan on getting my dad and grandma tattooed on me as well, but that will have to wait.

-Jack

Tattoo Artist: Karl Otto
Tattoo Shop: Twisted Images in Louisville, KY