Ashley's Ink: On Her Own Two Feet

I met Ashley in the <a href="http://www.njtransit.com/hp/hp_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=HomePageTo">New Jersey Transit</a> section of Penn Station last week after I spotted this tattoo on her right foot:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdU0LQJP3VuRMHaUs0dLNVa3TwpHIrYQolEAhhwTjJFggUYqWqkiZ2wL3iYmqq90N8O1wILi7g7Gfr80MQL0hwMdCBKpIZvNec_fmGNBJ6Ztp1zJ3wv1zqxE7hjuaLe3HhrYTIRo1c1k/s1600/patronus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdU0LQJP3VuRMHaUs0dLNVa3TwpHIrYQolEAhhwTjJFggUYqWqkiZ2wL3iYmqq90N8O1wILi7g7Gfr80MQL0hwMdCBKpIZvNec_fmGNBJ6Ztp1zJ3wv1zqxE7hjuaLe3HhrYTIRo1c1k/s640/patronus.jpg" width="334" /></a></div><br />Now, if you've not read the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter">Harry Potter</a> series, perhaps it is best to skip the rest of the post, because it might not make a lot of sense.<br /><br />Those in the know will understand what I mean when I explain that the ghostly creature on the top of Ashley's foot is the <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Patronus_Charm">patronus</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severus_Snape">Severus Snape</a>, as described in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows">Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</a>, the final installment of the seven-part series by <a href="http://www.jkrowling.com/">J.K. Rowling</a>. The patronus takes the shape of a doe.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/index.php?title=Patronus_Charm&image=Silverdoe-jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="313" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080605175252/harrypotter/images/thumb/1/1d/Silverdoe.jpg/253px-Silverdoe.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><br /><br />The quote above the doe is "It's real for us..." as remembered by Snape when speaking with <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Lily_Evans">Lily Evans</a>, the girl at <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Hogwarts_School_of_Witchcraft_and_Wizardry">Hogwarts</a> who became Harry's mother. Identical creatures appear when they cast the patronus charm.<br /><br />Ashley's friend drew it up and she had the piece done at <a href="http://www.tattoonationonline.com/">Tattoo Nation</a> in Wayne, New Jersey by <a href="http://tattoonationonline.com/montleon.html">Matt "Monty" Montleon</a>.<br /><br />This is one of two tattoos that Ashley has. The other resides on her left foot:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_m0fe9gA5YZxYfRgGyj1pIB-ArJT4p45cg9Pqa3WtOH4tAE8PqOiy_8JE2ECHb4jKTHVRaUCPCBAneF0RCIfMeKt22eB5QZv9M7hKr5Nmkyvhl3TesrFTfi_IHdFE5w2Ga9hJm7kvQgU/s1600/snowflake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_m0fe9gA5YZxYfRgGyj1pIB-ArJT4p45cg9Pqa3WtOH4tAE8PqOiy_8JE2ECHb4jKTHVRaUCPCBAneF0RCIfMeKt22eB5QZv9M7hKr5Nmkyvhl3TesrFTfi_IHdFE5w2Ga9hJm7kvQgU/s320/snowflake.jpg" width="186" /></a></div><br />The snowflake was also inked by Monty and is a memorial to Ashley's grandmother, whose last name was Snow.<br /><br />Thanks to Ashley for sharing her two tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Ashley's Ink: On Her Own Two Feet

I met Ashley in the New Jersey Transit section of Penn Station last week after I spotted this tattoo on her right foot: Now, if you've ...

Read more »

A Bright Spot in December: A Phoenix and a Pin-Up

As one would expect, inkspotting is tough during December. Here we are at the end of the month, and I have only interviewed three people since the 1st. There were a few times over the summer when I interviewed three contributors during my lunch hour!<br /><br />The last person whose work I photographed was Megan, who I found upstairs at the <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/StoreDetailView_582">Penn Plaza Borders</a> store.<br /><br />Megan has seventeen tattoos, but it was this one that caught my eye:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7volz1f2F3hQbvolVovy4ApxRHiocgkrkLiXn0TmqZ6-Fy_sGARivaJlpiyrlsXRV2mDydSGxygtaSp2Y7TLLXV8sVhvnFyjh5fH2xepS49YRbJyGDiq7o-WofBm4EHSYs6SV1Qmogdo/s1600/phoenix+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7volz1f2F3hQbvolVovy4ApxRHiocgkrkLiXn0TmqZ6-Fy_sGARivaJlpiyrlsXRV2mDydSGxygtaSp2Y7TLLXV8sVhvnFyjh5fH2xepS49YRbJyGDiq7o-WofBm4EHSYs6SV1Qmogdo/s640/phoenix+collage.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />This is a phoenix, of course, but fewer people may recognize it as <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Fawkes">Fawkes</a>, the phoenix of <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Albus_Dumbledore">Professor Albus Dumbledore</a>, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Order_of_the_Phoenix">Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58bk7TwYfBDGVROOEzwan1hwu4hvgygvjP1-RCyLTP_rpdi1v_HRPosugzDQCpbG4ub2UbnYHMjUnWhpRaz7wCKW86VU0WBfXh3VHDcxcA8ymvhIXefUYL35dElKS60MgRO9lVfjKa2M/s1600/phoenix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58bk7TwYfBDGVROOEzwan1hwu4hvgygvjP1-RCyLTP_rpdi1v_HRPosugzDQCpbG4ub2UbnYHMjUnWhpRaz7wCKW86VU0WBfXh3VHDcxcA8ymvhIXefUYL35dElKS60MgRO9lVfjKa2M/s640/phoenix.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />The artwork is based on the illustration by <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Jason_Cockcroft">Jason Cockcroft</a> on the cover of the UK edition of the aforementioned book.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNU9sCoQT36aSo96xaLLTMZCqNVFdkwy8KESKlpQSjbEoqsE6g9bJnW0XvbObKCtXUW6n4FF0VJyCuLT_M2I1ZVHdS-LooM2-3KIbLDR4vVi51T-YaNrxJ0i81k0xzNXMfgZjbf6NhUNc/s1600/order.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNU9sCoQT36aSo96xaLLTMZCqNVFdkwy8KESKlpQSjbEoqsE6g9bJnW0XvbObKCtXUW6n4FF0VJyCuLT_M2I1ZVHdS-LooM2-3KIbLDR4vVi51T-YaNrxJ0i81k0xzNXMfgZjbf6NhUNc/s320/order.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br />The tattooist Jamie Nichols at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gargoyle-Tattoo/278773049770">Gargoyle Tattoo</a> in Aberdeen, Washington, completed this piece in about eight hours over two sittings.<br /><br />Megan also has this pinup on her upper left arm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqiz2dQZP6x2jnIf2DZ2Svlkc2iBRYVIdTAkJ3KyGYH5WJTIIILegnpIZ6oIj7SCuvADShcuTN10BVYDynETSOqjtLnqzMuuE63RM_JbZcVoPd_IrRQoiC5hooTqqxVvG2ncnxLKHDx7k/s1600/pinup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqiz2dQZP6x2jnIf2DZ2Svlkc2iBRYVIdTAkJ3KyGYH5WJTIIILegnpIZ6oIj7SCuvADShcuTN10BVYDynETSOqjtLnqzMuuE63RM_JbZcVoPd_IrRQoiC5hooTqqxVvG2ncnxLKHDx7k/s640/pinup.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br />The use of negative space for the bombs is pretty cool.<br /><br />Marcus was the artist at Gargoyle that Megan credited for creating this piece..<br /><br />Thanks to Megan for taking the time to speak to me about her cool tattoos!

A Bright Spot in December: A Phoenix and a Pin-Up

As one would expect, inkspotting is tough during December. Here we are at the end of the month, and I have only interviewed three people si...

Read more »