I ran into Susan, walking south on 3rd Avenue last Saturday. She sports nine tattoos in all, but the one that jumps out at you is the piece above on her lower left calf.
I have yet to master the art of photographing a wrap-around piece, so bear with this one (although I think I did ok).
First the story behind the ink. Susan is a proud parent and, like most parents, her body art reflects her love of her child. She has been getting tattooed since her son was 3 (now he's 10) and he has even collaborated on designing some of her work.
If memory serves, her son's name is Nicholas, which explains the "N" on the locomotive.
He is a HUGE fan of trains, to the extent that he knows subway lines and is adept at giving directions and the MTA routes. Thus, the central element of the piece.
In front of the train is a railroad crossing signpost
and at the back is the caboose,
complete with hearts and a Pac-Man symbol to reflect her son's love of video games.His love of rainbows, as well, is reflected by the multi-colored arc over the train. The piece is completed by the rising sun (a play on "son").
The end result is a vibrant, wonderful piece of body art which is poignant and visually-appealing.
This tattoo, along with all her other work, was inked be Peter Cavorsi at Body Art Studios in Bay Ridge. Peter inked my guitar-cherub (at the bottom of the page) and has appeared on Tattoosday many times before (click here to see the various pieces).
Thanks to Susan for bringing some colorful maternal ink to us here at Tattoosday!
