Cute Tattoo Designs: symbols

<div class="MsoNormal">On this, our fourth day of the third annual Tattooed Poets Project, we are honored to have work from <a href="http://www.marthaserpas.com/">Martha Serpas</a>.<br /><br />Readers may wonder where we find all these tattooed poets. Most come our way by word of mouth, but a small handful, like in Martha's case, agree to participate after we send out e-mail inquiries, without even knowing if a poet is inked or not. Most poets don't even respond, a handful do, but are not tattooed, and once in a blue moon, we find a tattooed poet who is happy to participate.<br /><br />Anyway, here's one of Martha's tattoos:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOiA9tppkXcEQyhBbnfm8OXVyO1k3wCr0PxVyhrhwVJrgZOSQwLzonBCduxnxXWDqgv-LAV2Kp3_zCA1bhcWScxk-4ikvGZpLTE2cbcWOj32ahUmU0_WI9VBkiDRCT0FWNzgSZKwJVM34/s1600/serpas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOiA9tppkXcEQyhBbnfm8OXVyO1k3wCr0PxVyhrhwVJrgZOSQwLzonBCduxnxXWDqgv-LAV2Kp3_zCA1bhcWScxk-4ikvGZpLTE2cbcWOj32ahUmU0_WI9VBkiDRCT0FWNzgSZKwJVM34/s640/serpas.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Martha explains:</div><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This tattoo is a montage over 20 or so years in the making. First work, Willie [at Willie's Island Tattoos] on Staten Island; <a href="http://www.manta.com/c/mm87f6p/daniel-williams">Dan [Williams</a> at the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bpttattoo">Bridgeport Tattoo Shop]</a> in Bridgeport, CT; <a href="http://www.tattoobydesign.com/bonniejean.htm">Bonnie Jean</a> in Yachats, OR at [<a href="http://www.tattoobydesign.com/">Tattoo by Design</a>]; and a guy in Houston I never should have let reline it. Bonnie Jean <strike>was</strike> is old school and taught me that tattooing is like coloring in a book: anybody can do it if the lines are really thick. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The tattoo’s a chronicle of a tumultuous time in my life. The wind/water symbol (my design) traversing the image was first. It felt like a spiritual emblem. The bird represents a goal of peace (brought it in from somewhere). The moliere/Celtic cross  (graphic artist friend, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/people/cjanuska">Carla Januska</a> designed) is modeled after the one on the chapel at my divinity school and doubles as a setting sun. It is my graduation ring, of sorts. The feathery flame shapes (Bonnie Jean’s freehand) <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6058251288236499429" name="_GoBack"></a>within the wings and tail came last—my attempt to soften up the image when my life became more tranquil.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I have a small tattoo on my ankle that precedes this one(s); a memorial to my best friend on my thigh; a reverse hurricane symbol on my thumb (post-Katrina); and a symbol of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perichoresis">perichoresis </a>(divine revolution) on my forearm. I’ve been told I look like a doodle pad. I get tattooed about every 5 years. If I ever become content with life, I’ll stop trying to achieve the ideal personal emblem. For now, I doodle.</div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">•••••••</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Martha also contributed the following poem which, she explained, "was inspired by a photograph on the cover of <i><a href="http://www.easyriders.com/tattoo/">Tattoo</a>."  </i>One note, Martha adds, is that "<a href="http://www.studiotattoo.com/suzanne.html">Suzanne</a> owned the shop in Ann Arbor where I got my first ankle tattoo: Creative Tattoo by Suzanne. Great T-shirt: Go forth and live as art. I heard she passed away: Her breast piece was amazing."<br /><div class="MsoNormal"></div><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Tattoo</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">She knows being chosen means to choose herself</div><div class="MsoNormal">and seals upon her breasts the Sacred Heart—</div><div class="MsoNormal">a thorn-bound garnet against open lilies,</div><div class="MsoNormal">a pink-and-white ink triptych on her chest.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Every shadow, a creed professed by lines </div><div class="MsoNormal">from votive needles to her deepest cells. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Her body gives life to art, reflects the fade</div><div class="MsoNormal">of dying flesh, and honors God’s design.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">No second thoughts, she thinks that pain</div><div class="MsoNormal">is easily a choice we make ourselves,</div><div class="MsoNormal">as is admiring her canvas skin</div><div class="MsoNormal">as it ages. Affirmed with words spelled</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">on a defiant ribbon across her chest,</div><div class="MsoNormal">her blazón: <i>Even the blackest sheep are blessed.</i> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">            [Appeared in <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1930974175/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1930974175%22%3ECote%20Blanche%20%28New%20Issues%20Poetry%20&%20Prose%29%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=1930974175%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E"><i>Côte Blanche</i></a> (New Issues, 2002)]</div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">•••••••</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.marthaserpas.com/">Martha Serpas’s</a> two collections of poetry are <i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1930974175/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1930974175%22%3ECote%20Blanche%20%28New%20Issues%20Poetry%20&%20Prose%29%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=1930974175%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E">Côte Blanche</a> </i>(New Issues, 2002) and <i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393331431/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0393331431%22%3EThe%20Dirty%20Side%20of%20the%20Storm:%20Poems%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0393331431%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E">The Dirty Side of the Storm</a> </i>(Norton, 2007). Her work has appeared in <i><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2008/04/07/080407po_poem_serpas">The New Yorker</a>, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/node/22941">The Nation</a>, </i>and <a href="http://smu.edu/southwestreview/"><i>Southwest Review</i></a>, and in </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">anthologies such as <i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802864643/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0802864643%22%3EBearing%20the%20Mystery:%20Twenty%20Years%20of%20IMAGE%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0802864643%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E">Bearing the Mystery: Twenty Years of Image</a> </i>and the Library of America’s <i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193108274X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=193108274X%22%3EAmerican%20Religious%20Poems:%20An%20Anthology%20by%20Harold%20Bloom%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=193108274X%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E">American Religious Poems</a>. </i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A native of Bayou Lafourche in south </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Louisiana</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, she is involved in efforts to restore </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Louisiana</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">’s wetlands. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">She teaches creative writing at the </span><a href="http://www.class.uh.edu/cwp/"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">University</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> of </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Houston</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> and is a hospital trauma chaplain.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />You can learn more about Martha and her writing at her website, <a href="http://www.marthaserpas.com/">http://www.marthaserpas.com/</a>.<br /><br />A sincere thanks to Martha for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday! </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1930974175" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0393331431" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div><br />This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. The poem is reprinted here with the permission of the author.<br /><br />If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Martha Serpas

On this, our fourth day of the third annual Tattooed Poets Project, we are honored to have work from Martha Serpas . Readers may wonder wher...

A few weeks back, I met Kristina, after spotting the top of her tattoo peeking out from under her shirt and reaching toward her neck.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgonOvYQKag3ynfRjY-MaO0De1tENgwYVAOWOnrK-rgoCt7sbvNarbnyPeZghJQOGjKDCSdFVq63jkmZg6HnW9aLFBQitjdjlqy3TQtCjUS0753nupMelA0vLM7HHXEsserImqt-yri/s1600/Kristina+sneak+peak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgonOvYQKag3ynfRjY-MaO0De1tENgwYVAOWOnrK-rgoCt7sbvNarbnyPeZghJQOGjKDCSdFVq63jkmZg6HnW9aLFBQitjdjlqy3TQtCjUS0753nupMelA0vLM7HHXEsserImqt-yri/s400/Kristina+sneak+peak.jpg" width="255" /></a></div><br /><br />I was intrigued and asked her about it. She revealed it to be a much larger piece than I initially observed and explained that it is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi">Hopi</a> symbol of mother-daughter unity that accompanies her on her spiritual journey through life.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzr-FaiYN6nqNTqdppJj4igZ0ma8wCBHlSQe-H77RSZtLhKlsxWxNNMY4q2qEmg7c5EqZsprOLIOA4SUH0ttDOwwdEkmnx0nhYb12mw43uFAS12X8jcFr1-w2QPavGLdMJtsRa66HP/s1600/Kristina+symbol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzr-FaiYN6nqNTqdppJj4igZ0ma8wCBHlSQe-H77RSZtLhKlsxWxNNMY4q2qEmg7c5EqZsprOLIOA4SUH0ttDOwwdEkmnx0nhYb12mw43uFAS12X8jcFr1-w2QPavGLdMJtsRa66HP/s400/Kristina+symbol.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br /><br />From what I can gather, this is a variation on the symbol for <a href="http://www.manataka.org/page29.html">Tapu'a</a>, or Mother Earth, and the maze-like construction of the emblem represents one's journey through life.<br /><br />She had this inked at a shop in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.<br /><br />Thanks to Kristina for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Kristina's Labyrinthine Symbol of Hopi

A few weeks back, I met Kristina, after spotting the top of her tattoo peeking out from under her shirt and reaching toward her neck. I was ...

Cute Tattoo Designs

The Tattooed Poets Project: Martha Serpas

Kristina's Labyrinthine Symbol of Hopi

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