Tattoo Replicas of Audubon's Birds

Stephanie Brown is a Chicago-based tattoo artist and painter who specializes in tattoos of John James Audubon’s famous bird prints.

Here's a quote from the California Audobon article featuring Brown's work that stuck with me:

"A visible tattoo will always be a conversation starter, whether you want it or not. I hope there is some opportunity for education in those everyday encounters out in the world, even if it’s just sharing the name of the bird."

See more images of Stephanie Brown's Audobon-inspired tattoos and an interview with the artist here.

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Ginkgo Twins

Christina Ferwerda shares this story of how her post on the MPT blog inspired another museum person's tattoo!

In 2014 I shared a short blog post about getting Ginkgo leaves tattooed on my shoulder for Museum People’s Tattoos. It’s a tattoo that people remember and comment on a lot. Its even been on my business card for years, because it starts lots of great conversations (though it has yet to segue into a new exhibit project!)

Flash forward 4 years. I’ve been consulting for the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum for nearly a year, and I was reintroduced to Danielle Hiliken, the Education Manager, on a particularly warm day in July. The director, Melissa Branfman, mentioned offhand that we have similar tattoos.

Danielle asked hesitantly, “Was your tattoo on a blog for museum people!?” Turns out, she had seen my post and it inspired her own tattoo. 

I have rarely gone back to look at my old post, but have checked out MPT a few times in between after seeing a particularly interesting notification on Facebook or realizing that its someone I know. I’m excited to think about museum people finding inspiration for all kinds of projects – tattoos, exhibitions, or otherwise, on Museum People's Tattoos.

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Neuroscience Tattoo

This past January, I went to see an exhibition in NY at the Gray Art Gallery curated by a friend named Natasha Boas. The exhibition was about an Algerian woman artist in the early/mid-20th century named Baya, and her work was extraordinary.  But at the same gallery upstairs was an exhibition about a Spanish neuroanatomist and artist Santiago Ramon y Cajal.  Ramon y Cajal was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on the anatomy of brain cells (along with Golgi), and the drawings he made from his observations are still used in neurology textbooks.  

I recently became friends with a neuroscience professor at UC Berkeley, and his book Foundational Concepts in Neuroscience and the drawings by Ramon y Cajal inspired me to get this tattoo, which is based on Ramon y Cajal’s drawings (tho not an exact copy.)

Eric Siegel is the Director of the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley.

Want to share your own story and tattoo?

Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Transitions and Flowers

I got this tattoo to mark several important transitions and periods in my life. I started a graduate degree program in Ecology (it was an interdisciplinary program and allowed me to study science educational outreach & communication but did include many classes on ecology which was a new subject for me) and I chose the plant theme to fit that new focus in my life. The flowers represent places I've lived: the rhododendron is the Washington state flower, the columbine is the Colorado state flower and the star gazer lily is a personal favorite. I may have to add something or get a new one to represent California and science museums after my recent move to the Exploratorium. The leaves are in a lace pattern to represent my marriage/wedding that occurred in the same year I started my graduate program.


Katie Boyd is a research coordinator at the Exploratorium. Before that, she was involved with science educational outreach and communication efforts for several organizations. You can find out more about her at her website: http://kathrynboyd.weebly.com/ or by following her on twitter: @katieboyd03


Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)

I've been many places across the US, but there is only one place that really speaks to me—Joshua Tree National Park. I first experienced the park when I moved to San Diego in late summer of 2013, and upon my first visit, I knew that this was a place that was incredibly special for me. Many see it as an arid place with weird outcroppings of rocks and spiky trees. For me, those rocks are puzzles in which to climb with ropes to test my own skills, or to scramble up on then sit to admire the gorgeous view and have time for me, and the Joshua Tree, well, it's just amazing. They are only found in this one part of the world, they look Dr. Seussian, but are part of the yucca family. From the first time I saw them, I fell in love with them.

Due to climate change, this species is moving towards being an endangered species. My tattoo is of a specific Joshua Tree that can be found at 34°02'19.8"N 116°11'03.3"W. Thanks to Mike Stobbe at Avalon II for giving me my own Joshua Tree.

Beth Redmond-Jones
Vice President of Engagement and Education
San Diego Natural History Museum

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Maple Syrup

I worked in a natural history museum in the Midwest for over 20 years and was lucky enough to have a great biologist on staff who would answer all of my silly cabin questions. Over the years, we started making our own maple syrup all the while learning more and more about the nature all around our little cabin in the woods...

This is one of my tattoos that always brings a smile to my face in remembering all that he taught me from his perspective...

Me...I was a collections gal :-)


Jackie Hoff
Independent Museum Collections Care Consultant








Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Vegas Strong

After the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, several tattoo shops around town started doing Nevada and Las Vegas tattoos and donating 100% of the proceeds to the victims and first responders. A few museum people I know have participated, and I'm sure there are many more I don't know of yet.

In addition, people across the museum community, who I mostly know from emails or quick meetings at conferences, have reached out to check on us and offer much-needed kindness and support. It's a little bit of beauty at an otherwise difficult time.

Emmi S.

Curator

Springs Preserve


Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Lamppost Tattoo

Eliza Sanders is a writer for Corporate and Foundation Giving at The Field Museum.

Here is her tattoo tale:

I got this tattoo at the end of a crazy year. In 2015, I finished a Ph.D. in English and moved in with a family friend in Chicago rather than attempting the crushing academic job market. I wanted to be able to choose the city I lived in, and to have more structure in my daily life…but among my university colleagues, I was a pioneer. Before that move, the largest town I’d ever lived in was Iowa City, and I’d never had a 9-5, non-academic job for more than a summer. It was a huge leap, but within a month I had found an apartment (in the same building as a brother I’d recently discovered – long story) and a job working as a grant writer at The Field Museum. It was a complete transition into a new life.

This image is taken from the original illustration of the lamppost in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It’s an object that marks a transitional point from one world into another. It also represents my scholarly identity, since I studied the ways that religion has influenced science fiction and fantasy literature. It reminds me of my childhood reading experiences. Most importantly, though, the lamppost is a symbol of light in dark places, and of hope. I got this tattoo out of an incredible feeling of gratitude that I had leapt into the unknown and been caught and set down safely – by God, by my new city, by all the people who selflessly helped me get to where I am.

The Field Museum's Tattoo exhibition, opening October 21, 2016 explores how and why people have been marking their skin as a means of expression for more than 5,000 years. Share your tattoo stories on Instagram and Twitter using #TattooFM, and your story may be featured in the exhibition or on the Tattoo website.  

Learn more: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/at-the-field/exhibitions/tattoo

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Nautical, New Jersey, and Tolkien Tattoos

Janine Napierkowski is a Project Coordinator at Rube Goldberg, Inc. and she was kind enough to share the following images and stories about her tattoos:

While I have numerous tattoos, I’ve chosen to feature three here because they are the most emotionally significant to me. All of my tattoos are a bit of a work in progress, as I am constantly adding more as ideas come to me. 

First is my largest work, the full sleeve on my left arm. The entire piece is nautically themed, with my favorite elements being the diver’s helmet/octopus and the ship-in-a-bottle. The quality of the line work and weight, in a “wood cut” style, to convey specific textures like wood, metal and glass while keeping the piece lacy and open, was very important to me and my artist did a wonderful job! (I often get asked if I am going to color it in and the answer is no). 

I grew up being fascinated by boats, romanticized pirates and buried treasure stories; I always feel calmer near the water, and this piece reminds me of the feel of salt on my skin and smell of the sea even when it is far away.

The second piece is on my upper back and is by far my geekiest tattoo. It is a quote from Tolkien’s the Fellowship of the Ring and reads “The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began.” I’ve always been a fan of fantasy books, but this piece is much more a reminder of the person who introduced me to LOTR than it is a fan-girl work. He passed away after a long medical struggle as the result of a car accident. This quote reminds me that life continues on from its starting point and to not take it for granted. 

The third piece is my newest work: on my inner ankle is an image of Tilly from the Asbury Park arcade on the Jersey Shore. This was originally just an outline of NJ (that’s where I grew up), but when my high school art teacher and first mentor passed away this spring, I decided to fill in the outline in his honor. I love the bold Americana (Jerseyana?) colors and shapes, and it makes me smile.  

All of Janine’s tattoos featured on this blog were done by Mike Wingate at Big Joe and Sons' Tattoos in Yonkers, NY between 2012-2016.  

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Jorge's Infinity and Turtle

Currently, Dr. Jorge Perez-Gallego works as an astronomer and exhibition developer at the new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in the magic city of Miami, where he leads the development of the upcoming Frost Planetarium and Feathers to the Stars exhibition.  You can learn more about Jorge and his work by clicking over to his SCIENCE MUSES blog.

Here's what Jorge had to say about his tattoos:

As the Museum People's Tattoos blog reminds us, many museum folks have a love for tattoos—their cultural significance, their artistic quality, their documentation of the natural world, and some, just for their own personal meaning. The abstract stories behind mine, written by a younger version of myself, at the time I got them, are below.

Infinity (2009)

one day you realize

forevers are not forever

and only then you fall

for all those forevers you had

and only then you fall

for all those forevers you await

maybe one

maybe more

maybe none

one day you realize

you are perishable

and although neverending

infinity hides a notch

deep in your heart

only then your eyes smile back

again

as they did at dawn

and your soul dances

to the music of colors

water your gifts

with care

before they become givens

and shrivel

your eyes closed

embraced from behind

white kisses

and hope

all that

in your wrist

for real

forever

Countdown (2005)

You open the eyes while Morfeo is still reigning. You get away from his fantasy kingdom. You sweat, you always do. You look around and see nothing but darkness. Shadows. You wake up and see someone next to you, someone who looks at you faithfully while resting. Your loneliness. Forever. You have breakfast. Fractals made out of cocoa and milk. You wash your face energetically. Cold. You ride your bike. You curse the luck of a colleague that will not do it again. You ride your bike. You arrive to your office. Lonely, dark, empty. A paradise, ephemeral, intermittent, vanishing. You work without stopping for six long hours. Proposal. Telephone. Proposal. Paper. Web page. Email. Proposal. Email. You yearn for the salty silence, the sea breeze, having goose pimples, a supernova in your retina, your feet disappearing under the sand, the swinging of the waves. Only then you realize how far away you are from yourself. You look your conscience in the eyes. You smile. You have lunch. You fall and look at the sky. They hurt. Your fingertips, your palms, forearms, shoulders, chest. You close your eyes and imagine yourself climbing outdoors. You like to get home before it is dark. You call your parents, your sister, your grandma. You do it every now and then. You do not always like to talk for talk's sake. Communication. You talk with your virtual family seven thousand kilometers away. So far, so close. You have dinner out. The design burns in your pocket. Among the nostalgic pages of the red notebook that someone gave you. With your stomach full. After one thousand and thirty seven days you finally show the drawing to a stranger. Thirty two minutes later you are not the same anymore. You are a little bit more... Yourself. A cake with the shape of a turtle. You go to bed and only then you are aware that your ID put yourself for the first time closer to turn thirty than to have turned twenty. ¿Twenty what? ¿Thirty what? You smile. You are happy. The world thinks it knows who you are, where you come from, where you go. It has no idea. You still feel like a kid... and you love it. Alive. A turtle is climbing on the back of your right leg...

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Big Dipper and Flying Skull

Charissa Ruth is a freelance educator working primarily in museums. 

Here's what she had to say about her tattoos:

I love museums (as do probably most people who work in museums). To me museums are a reminder of just how amazing the world we live in is. 

My family didn't visit too many museums growing up, but we did make it our business to stop into Civil War battlefield sites and old churches whenever possible. My dad is both a church historian and a Civil War buff. 

I was first introduced to the image of a skull with wings in the many cemeteries we visited as part of our old churches field trips. The skull with wings was a popular symbol used on tombstones in colonial America and was known as "Death's Head." For that time, death was a much more regular occurrence and it had not yet become popular or acceptable to use more flowery or sweet images such as flowers, cherubs, and crosses. I like this practical approach; death comes for us all so let's face it head on. 

The Big Dipper constellation also has historical significance. For those familiar with the history and stories surrounding the Underground Railroad, the Big Dipper constellation was a trick for finding the North Star which pointed North and North meant freedom.

The people who traveled that road as well as the "conductors" and people who offered shelter knew the risk involved- fines, violence, repercussions. If families or individuals were found aiding runaway slaves, homes were burned, families ostracized, disowned, possessions seized, jail time was served Everyone involved lived in fear of being discovered. 

And yet, the Underground Railroad covered hundreds of miles and helped untold number of people. Like those persons who hid Jews during World War II, they did a courageous thing. They harbored those that were hunted. They overcame their fears and their doubts to put others before themselves. Others who may never be able to pay them back, others who they may never see again.

So for me, the constellation is a reminder to be brave. When the chips are down, when it really counts, will I also rise to the occasion to do what's right? Will I also be able to look death in the face if need be?

Both tattoos done by Ryan Roi at Triple Diamond Tattoo in Brooklyn, NY. 

Photos courtesy of Jon Mayer

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Florida Tattoo

Jen Elliott,  a Museum Educator in School and Teacher Programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum was kind enough to share the story of her subtle, but meaningful, tattoo:

My tattoo is fairly straightforward, but means a great deal. I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and then went to college in Gainesville, Florida before moving up north for grad school and the inevitable job hunt. I visit as often as I can - seeing family, dear friends, and hitting the beach - but I'm slowly realizing that the chances of going back and settling are decreasing the longer I live and work in NY/NJ. So now I have home with me...

This is my first tattoo and I love it! It was done by Mandy Fabrizi at Clockwork Tattoo in Lyndhurst, NJ.

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

For Christmas in 2005, my son gave me a gift certificate for a tattoo. In January 2006, he went with me to have it done. I keep wondering how many sons would do that for their mother? Anyway, I have always found dragonflies to be kind of magical and there are a lot of different kinds where I live.  I like being outdoors (I should be at a natural history museum instead of Archaeology!) surrounded by trees, birds, butterflies, flowers and dragonflies.  I take long walks in the woods with my Border Collie, who is another one if my passions.

Kate Carras
Kelsey Museum of Anthropology

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

I had been wanting a tattoo for years, but couldn’t settle on the design, having several stored up in my mind, on paper, bookmarked online and in books.  I picked up a book on Vintage Tattoos and came across the flash of Bert Grimm.  Many had a military or patriotic themes as he tattooed quite a few servicemen.  I’ve been collecting militaria, particularly WWII items and am keen on “V for Victory” as it was a rally cry for both the military and civilians during the war.  “V”s could be found gracing many ads, business cards and homes, in addition to being made out of silver and gold jewelry.  

Both of my grandfathers being veterans of WWII, they would have known what a simple “V” stood for at a time that helped and influenced them to become the men they did.  So, this design proved to bring so much more together then at first glance.  It serves to honor them and their comrades as well as having a piece of 1940s flash art from one of the foremost tattoo artist of his generation.  I’ve enjoyed carrying it on me for about 3 years now and talking about it with anyone who simply wants to know “why I did that”.

Matthew A. Mickletz

Supervisor, Preventive Conservation

Winterthur Museum

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Bouquet of Wire Flowers

Although I didn't do so well in undergrad art history, I did discover a love for Alexander Calder. In 2013, as part of a hair/blog project (changingthelocks.com), I decided to get another tattoo. Scouring Calder books, I found this image:

Apparently, it was a gift. The caption reads, "When she was in the hospital, Calder visited and left on her bedside a bouquet of wire flowers (fig. 63), explaining that they would last longer than the real things." The flowers on me represent my family—me and my babes: 

Having done museum exhibits for years on a variety of topics, a new job has me faced with art for the first time. I'll draw inspiration from my ink.

Beth Kaminsky
Exhibit Coordinator
Denver International Airport


Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Space/Ships

Dan Bramos was kind enough to share some images of his tattoos and the stories behind them.

My story is reversed. I had the ink and then became a museum guy.

In 2011, I retired from the Navy after 21 years. Over my career, I traveled to many places, some pretty cool, most not very cool at all. On my travels, I picked up some mostly sub-par tattoos. Once I retired, I decided to do better with my ink, especially not having to make it on just a Sailor's income.

In addition to being a Sailor, I've been a space, spaceflight, science, and science fiction enthusiast my entire life. I grew up knowing that I was born on the day Apollo 16 splashed down, but what really kicked it into gear was watching Columbia launch for the first time. I was nine, drew a picture, wrote a letter and sent it to NASA. Very shortly, I received a letter and autographed picture from John Young and Bob Crippen. That sealed the deal. I've been a space geek ever since.

Through my Navy career, I've been privileged to work with a lot of great Sailors and Officers, a few of whom have gone on to be astronauts that I've kept in contact with.

Early in the summer of 2013, my wife and I were looking for an above average tattoo shop and found Lucky Bird Tattoo in Annapolis, Maryland. I sat down with Tyler McKinney and explained that I wanted something that combined my naval career and love of space. The sailing ship encompasses my time underway, the wings and engines on the ship are representative of the time I spent working on all kinds of Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.

I told Tyler to fill in the rest with a space-scape, which he did entirely freehand. My only request was that he use the Butterfly Nebula in there somewhere since it's my favorite pic from the Hubble Telescope.

This past year, I met a couple of gentlemen that were working on opening a spaceflight museum in Southern Maryland. I took the opportunity to volunteer and put some hours in to help get it ready. Now, after a year I'm the Operations Manager (which really means I'm the head box mover and astronaut impersonator) of the Spaceflight America Museum and Science Center in Prince Frederick, Maryland. We'll be having our Grand Opening on May 29th and 30th, 2015 in just over a month! The SAMSC is located in the Arthur Storer Planetarium at 500 Fox Run Rd. and specializes in STEM activities with a concentration on manned spaceflight.

Thanks for sharing your Museum People's Tattoo story, Dan --- and Good luck with the opening of SAMSC!



Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Ötzi the Iceman's Tattoos

We're counting Ötzi the Iceman as an honorary participant in the MPT blog, since he is inside a museum and he does have tattoos!

This cool article from Discover magazine, highlights how anthropologists have mapped the tattoos on Ötzi's  5,300-year-old remains using a new imaging technique.

Researchers hope this new census of the tattoos will help explain why Ötzi may have had the over 60 distinct linear designs on his body.  The tattoos may have indicated the locations for acupuncture treatments, or perhaps the tattoos were the treatment for various injuries.

Interesting to think that we can still discover new things from some very old tattoos!


Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Methuselah Tree

I had been pursuing another idea based around my life as a musician, but this image of the Methuselah tree kept coming back to me. The Methuselah tree, at about 5,000 years old, is the oldest continuous living non-clonal organism in the world. (For info on clonal organisms, check here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonal_colony). It is a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) that grows in the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. I love the toughness of the shape, its gnarled quality, and its textures. It makes me feel young! The four birds are about our family, my wife and twin daughters who have graduated from college and are (sort of) leaving the nest. Ian Healy of Vanguard Tattoo in Nyack, NY did this tattoo. 

Thanks to the Museum People's Tattoo page for the encouragement!

Eric Siegel
New York Hall of Science


Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org  or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Athenian Owl

Jennifer Caleshu was kind enough to share this story of her tattoo:

Based on the Athenian Owl from coins of ancient Greece - symbol of Athena, goddess of wisdom.

Owls also remind me of listening, and symbolize my new career (teacher, coach). The oak leaves are for my home, and the acorns are my kids. On the top of the owl's wing are what the artist called "Thai dragon scales" - which is amazing since I first committed to getting an owl when I was in Thailand this summer for the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute - right when I left for Thailand we had hired my replacement at the Bay Area Discovery Museum - so it was a real time of transition...

Tattoo artist Buffy Lauer at Sacred Rose Tattoo in Berkeley:
http://sacredrosetattoo.com/section/146209_Buffy_Lauer.html


Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: beth (at) redmond-jones (dot) com or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.

Occult Musings

One thing I love about being an exhibit designer is that you learn about so many fascinating things and meet such interesting people. I have very wide interests: this tattoo represents a few of my more spiritual or occult musings. It is also meant to look weird and cool. The hand with the eye is sometimes seen in a more abstract form as the Hand of Fatima: it offers the wearer protection form the evil eye (this I find useful). Ouroboros, the snake swallowing its own tail, is an infinity sign and reminder, to me of, Karmic cycles. The other symbols are: Sacred Earth, Anhk, Moon, Yin-yang, Triskele, Venus, Mercury, and Virgo. I find these symbols, along with the Hinduism reference implied by the blue hand, to each have a personal significance and reflect my pan-agnostic and ever-intrigued world view. The tattoo artist is Juli Moon, www.julimoonstudio.com, in Lynn, MA.

Paula Millet
Exhibit Designer/Consultant
millet3@verizon.net


Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bethredmondjones (at) gmail (dot) com or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.