The Tattooed Poets Project: Adam Deutsch's Miltonic Tattoos

Today's tattoos come from Adam Deutsch. We started with this photo:

Photo taken by Lillian Bertram.

A cool photo, and Adam explained the piece:

It's based on a Gustave Doré etching from his interpretations of Milton's Paradise Lost, the lines "He the Almighty Power/ Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky" (I. 44-45) when Lucifer is waging war, before the fall to Hell.


White ink is incorporated in the rain, and on the halo over his head, as he's still an Angel. We've all got something we turn to over and over again; Paradise Lost is always there.

The tattoo was done at Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York. The artist was Sunday Dawne-Marie.

Despite the awesome nature of this tattoo, I pressed Adam for something more, as it's a bit hard to make out the images of the tattoo in the photo, and I really want to showcase the work.

Our discussion progressed and Adam ended up sending me photos of his leg piece, as well.




Adam points out that this piece, on his right leg, is based on the depiction of Pandemonium, also from Paradise Lost. This is the mock-cathedral in Hell where the fallen angels meet to decide what is next on their agenda:

Mean while the winged Haralds by command
Of Sovran power, with awful Ceremony
And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim
A solemn Councel forthwith to be held
At PandÆmonium, the high Capital
Of Satan and his Peers (lines 752-757)

The detail in the piece is phenomenal:


Adam notes that the two tattoos, both on the right side of his body, "talk to each other....it's a conversation between an angel & devil". He adds that, "in that context, my arm becomes Elijah, fallen, but re-risen."

The arm took about two hours to complete, but the leg took approximately ten hours, in two sittings of four and six hours, respectively, about a month and a half apart. The two pieces seen here are among four "literary" tattoos Adam has. He also has a whole sleeve based on Emerson.

Head over to BillyBlog to check out one of Adam's poems here.

Thanks to Adam for sharing his amazing work with us here on Tattoosday, with a special thanks to Jill Alexander Essbaum (whose literary feet kicked off the Tattooed Poets Project here) for sending Adam our way!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Rachel Mallino's Vine Entwines

Today's tattoo is from Rachel Mallino:

Rachel explains this tattoo:

"This piece was done in the summer of 2001, on a vacation to New York City. A friend and I were walking the Village together and I decided to stop at a random tattoo parlor- unfortunately, the name of the parlor escapes me. I had been playing around with the idea of getting a tattoo on my foot for several reasons, one of them being that the foot was not a popular place to have a tattoo at the time. I wanted something like a vine that symbolized my very unhealthy relationship with my mother, a subject I also write a lot about. I didn’t have anything sketched out, so I approached one of the artists and told her what I wanted. She was able to find a ready-made outline of a vine that looked similar to what I had imagined. I told her to use the outline but directed her in which direction and how I wanted the tat to wrap around my middle toe, up the foot and around my ankle. For the record: it was really painful. Artistically, I don’t think the tattoo is spectacular. Conceptually, I’m pretty pleased. People ask me all the time what it means, and I never tell them. In fact, I haven’t really told you, either."

Thanks to Rachel for sending us this tattoo.

Please head over to BillyBlog to read one of Rachel's poems here.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Raffaella Ciavatta's Trio of Amazing Tattoos

Today's tattoos were submitted by Brazilian-born, New York-based poet Raffaella Ciavatta. She heard about the Tattooed Poet's Project earlier this month from Jackie Sheeler at a local reading. Jackie's tattoos were featured earlier this month here.

Raffaela sent three photos:


Raffaela says that this is "my own design mixing a Chinese dragon, representing strength, and the lizard, for the soul's search of awareness, so that it could protect me and guide me through the eternal pursuit of knowledge."

This piece on the lower left side of her back/hip was her first tattoo, done at Studio Tat 2 in Brazil.

Next is a piece on the right side of her chest, near the collar bone:



The "mater" is the Latin word for mother who, Raffaella proclaims is "done for the most important person to me in this world, my mother, father, best friend!" This piece was inked at Fabio Tattoo, also in Brazil.

And finally, this last tattoo, which you get a small glimpse of in the first picture above, is just breath-taking:

These are her angel wings, "done to achieve my dream of reaching New York." She adds, "I definitely flew from Brazil to NY." They were tattooed over six months. The tattoo was started by Eric Codo ("just the outline...he had to move to Rio de Janeiro) at Steel Star Supply in Sao Paulo and was finished by the "Amazing Fabio Renato".

Head over to BillyBlog to read one of Raffaella's poems.

Thanks to Raffaella for sharing her amazing work with us here at Tattoosday!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Nathan Logan's Tattoo Punctuates the Flesh

Today's tattoo was generously donated by Nathan Logan, who presents a tattoo on his left arm:


Nathan explains:

This tattoo was a gift to myself for getting into graduate school. I wanted to get a line of poetry, but the options overwhelmed me. I couldn't decide. So after giving it some thought, I chose my favorite punctuation mark, which can be found in many lovely poems and pieces of prose. I think it covers all the bases. It was done in April 2007 by Nate Harmon at Ground Zero in Muncie, Indiana [now known as 111 Arts Gallery and Tattoo Studio].

Please check out one of Nathan's poems over on BillyBlog here.

Thanks to Nathan for sharing his semi-colon tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Todd Heldt's Chicago Owl

Today's tattoo was submitted by the poet Todd Heldt:


This is on his right bicep and is based on one of his favorite Chicago landmarks, the owl perched on the Harold Washington Library, the central library for the Chicago Public Library system.


The owl is often used as a symbol to represent knowledge.

The tattoo was created by Esther Garcia at Butterfat Studios in Chicago.

Please head over to BillyBlog to read one of Todd's poems.

And, if you like owls, you must check out a blog dedicated entirely to owl tattoos here.

Thanks to Todd for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Anthony's Skate and Destroy Tattoo

Just a brief note...despite the Tattooed Poets Project for National Poetry Month, I still plan on spotting ink on the streets of New York, and posting it here. This is one of those posts....

I ran into Anthony outside of Madison Square Garden on Thursday, April 9, during the lunch hour.

He is a skateboarder with four tattoos, the most visible of which curves around his inner right forearm:


This tattoo features the pentagram logo for Thrasher magazine, a periodical devoted to the skateboarding lifestyle.


He added the "Skate and Destroy" text to the banner below the design, as it is a popular creed among skaters, and graces some Thrasher merchandise:


Anthony, who has been skateboarding for nine years, had this tattoo inked to commemorate his passion for the sport. The piece was created at Addicted to Ink in White Plains, New York and tattooed by Mike.

Thanks to Anthony for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Cheryl Maddalena's Beautiful Tattoo

Today's Tattooed Poet is Cheryl Maddalena. Cheryl is a performance poet from Boise, Idaho.

Although the photo above is small, the tattoo is big, bold and beautiful.

Cheryl writes:

"It had occurred to me, as a performance poet, that I could never read other poets' tattoos from the audience. Mine is 200 point lowercase Times New Roman, the same font as all my poetry but a larger size."

The tattoo was done by Sean Wyett at Black Cat Tattoo & Piercing in Boise.

For a poem by Cheryl, not coincidentally titled Why I got the word “beautiful” tattooed on my arm in 200 point lowercase Times New Roman, head over to BillyBlog here. There's also a clip up of Cheryl performing.

Thanks to Cheryl for sending us her amazing tattoo!