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By infmom, January 14, 2009 2:52 pm

Image via Wikipedia

Let’s start off the new year by talking about tattoo designs.

Some designs have been around for a very long time.  I have one of them–stars.

No one knows when the five-pointed star symbol was first drawn, nor how our ancestors decided that it represented what they saw in the sky, but it’s a very ancient symbol.  Ancient people saw meaning in the stars, and the rising and setting of the stars throughout the year signaled changes in the seasons.  So it’s not surprising that the star was used for body art in ancient times, and continues to the present day, along with its variation, the pentagram.

The pentagram is also a religious symbol and its orientation changes according to religious beliefs.  (Some people think that any pentagram is a representative of Satanism, but not so.)

The six-pointed Star of David is also used to represent religious beliefs.  This is also an ancient symbol and has deep symbolic meaning.

Then there are other variations such as the shooting star (or comet) and the nautical star, which has been popular for hundreds of years as a sailor’s tattoo.  The nautical star has variations such as the compass rose, and they share a similar pattern of alternating colors on each spoke of the star.  The nautical star also has symbolic meanings for some people.  It is commonly rendered in shades of red and black.

When I got my first tattoo, I chose a design of seven five-pointed stars.  The stars have personal meaning for me and I used them to symbolize something I felt deeply about.  I have never been able to articulate exactly what I meant by them for anyone else, though.  I originally wanted just the stars, but the artist suggested a “swoosh” of multicolored dots around them, and when he drew what he had in mind I could see that it was a much better idea.  So that became my very first ink.  The colors have faded a bit in the ten years since it was applied, so one of these days I’ll go back to the shop and have it retouched.  The meaning stays the same. 

Do any of you have star tattoos?  Would you care to share a photo?  I don’t have a good picture of my stars, but this might serve as a reminder to get one.

photo credit: corvidmagic

photo credit: MAMJODH

photo credit: Allmightymo

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By infmom, November 5, 2008 3:50 pm

Now that we’re past Halloween and the Day of the Dead, I’d like to consider the use of death images in body art.

Skulls, skeletons, and other ancient images of death remain incredibly popular as body art.  In ancient times such markings would have been used as a symbol of power, or for protection from evil (archaeologists turn up such designs all the time, all over the world).  Today, at least in “western” society, those images are often used to convey a message.  Politely phrased it would be “Don’t mess with me.”

Gang tattoos are loaded with death symbolism, in an attempt to convey power, fearlessness and the disposal of enemies.  But the skull-and-crossbones motif once used to identify a pirate has long since passed into popular culture and adorns many bodies today as well.  Some body art explicitly displays the destruction of other living beings.  Some just conveys the threat.

As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat.”  To my somewhat mystical way of thinking, such toxic images would be poisonous to the soul of the wearer.  I feel that body art should represent something positive to its wearer–even if that image is in honor of someone who has died.  One of my tattoos is in memory of my grandmother, but it’s a bold and colorful dragon.  I would not put a tombstone on my skin.

What do you feel about images of death and destruction?  Are they just so much ink, or does their presence affect their wearer in some way?  Am I just too far over the moon?

photo credit: katie cowden

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By infmom, August 24, 2008 3:42 pm

….put a sports logo on my arm?

There’s a TV commercial that’s getting a lot of airplay these days, showing sports fans displaying their lovefor their teams in different, mostly creative ways. Painting a car like a team uniform. Wearing a costume representative of the team name. Getting a credit card with a team logo. Getting the team logo tattooed on your arm.

It’s obvious, of course, that the team logo in the commercial isn’t a real tattoo. (Obvious to anyone who’s ever come within ten feet of a real tattoo artist, that is.) But I have no doubt there are people so devoted to their teams, or to their favorite athletes, that they’ve got some kind of sports logo inked on their skin.

I’ve never been a big enough fan of any team or athlete that I’d want a sports emblem permanently attached. Heck, I never even replaced my Green Bay Packers jersey when it finally wore out (I’m not as big a Packers fan as I once was–I guess the days of “The Pack will be back! Way back!” did my early enthusasm in). My grandfather was a lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates fan, but I can’t imagine him buying a jersey, much less getting a tattoo.

On the other hand, I watch “American Chopper” and look at how crazy Grandma Teutul is about the Yankees. I could totally see her getting a Yankee logo tattooed on her arm (and Paul Sr. paying for it with no questions asked). Sometimes I tune in the Channel 5 news a few minutes early and catch the last minute or so of their wrestling extravaganza du jour, and I can totally picture the people screaming in the audience lining up at the local tattoo parlor to get a pro wrestling emblem or a portrait of their favorite bruiser permanently applied.

Would you get a tattoo of your favorite team emblem or something else related to a sport of some kind? Or is that the kind of thing you might be seeing a tattoo removal specialist about after a few bad seasons or big losses? Is that kind of “sports memorabilia” worth the money?

photo credit: Mac(3)

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By infmom, May 7, 2008 11:22 am

I am a big fan of tattoo web sites, as one might imagine. This one caught my eye today and it definitely deserves a wider audience.

Carl Zimmer’s Science Tattoo Emporium. My daughter the Linguistics Ph.D. candidate would like the tattoo of the glottal stop.

Yet more proof that not all tattooed people are hirsute bikers.

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By infmom, September 27, 2007 10:02 pm

In doing research on Asian tattoos for my discourse about tattoo history, I came across a marvelous blog called Hanzi Smatter. I already talked a bit about how people should not blindly slather other languages across their skin if they don’t understand exactly what they’re doing. This blog drives home that point, with example after example of “Asian writing” gibberish.

Check it out!

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By infmom, September 5, 2007 11:16 am

Here’s a quick reference guide to the blog, so far.

An Introduction

Before You Ink, Think

Preliminaries
About The Actual Ink
Where To Put It
Important Considerations
Family Reactions
What To Wear (And Not Wear)
Yes, It Hurts (And How To Deal With That)
Religious Objections

Aftercare

About Plastic Wrap (Don’t!)
About Bandages
Protecting Your Newly Inked Skin
Tattoo Specific Skin Care Products
The Healing Process

Choosing Your Design

Languages As Graphics
Inspirations For Original Designs, Part 1: Your Life
Part 2: Your Family And Your Fan Clubs
Part 3: Your Spiritual Beliefs
On Copying Other People’s Artwork
Part 4: Memorials
Part 5: Reworking Your Existing Tats

Next up, a brief look at the history of tattoos.

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