The song sparrow is one of the most familiar North American sparrows. Now, there are many different regional species of sparrows but this is the one you should suspect if you see a streaky sparrow in an open, shrubby, or wet area. And if you catch one singing what is described as a “stuttering, clattering song,” then you have probably just encountered the song sparrow.
Two were brought to life on K’s forearm this week. Take a look! We highly recommend clicking the image to see a larger version.
There’s still quite a bit to go, but Abbey was kind enough to post an in-progress shot of her mermaid backpiece on F-Yeah, Tattoos! Tumblr is an interesting social networking/blogging site, and the photo has about 790 likes and reblogs. Thanks, Abbey!
The phoenix is said to have a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (which means “sun city” in Greek).
Sunday was no day of rest, but sometimes going in to work for the purpose of tattooing a friend is worth cutting a weekend in half for. This is the result of the second session of a back piece on Sarah, who is another client who traveled a considerable distance to be tattooed, and who also has a job to be envied (hint: it involves Alex Grey) along with plenty of interesting stories. She’s an all around cool lady, and it is always a treat to have her at Witch City Ink.
Scarabs were popular amulets in ancient Egypt. According to ancient Egyptian myths, the sun (Ra) rolls across the sky each day and transforms bodies and souls. Modeled upon the Scarabaeidae family dung beetle, which rolls dung into a ball for the purposes of eating and laying eggs that are later transformed into larva, the scarab was seen as an earthly symbol of this heavenly cycle.
And so this client traveled a fair amount of distance to have this scarab on his ribs, which was done at Lightwave yesterday. A transformation symbolizing transformation.
Regardless of what you may believe, parts of the bible are incredibly fascinating, including the four horsemen, which are described in the last book of the New Testament (thanks, Wikipedia!). Wiki goes on to say:
The chapter tells of a “‘book’/’scroll’ in God’s right hand that is sealed with seven seals”. The Lamb of God/Lion of Judah (Jesus Christ) opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons forth four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses. Although some interpretations differ, the four riders are commonly seen as symbolizing Conquest, War, Famine and Death, respectively. The Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen are to set a divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment.
Pretty cool/frightening, eh? We’ll keep showing you the progression of this tattoo. Here’s phase one!
natanalexander.com 