Spring is here

Spring is finally here though you wouldn’t know it where I live since the snowbanks are all over 6 feet high. This beautiful piece by Platon Sosnitsyi, from Kipod in Israel, makes me hopeful that we will actually see green around these parts again.  I love the way that hummingbird pops and depth in the flowers.  It makes me ache for some new ink. And for summer!

BME

Don’t forget to submit your photos to BME!   See more tattoos in the Tattoo Gallery.

Raven Scratch

Meatshop Tattoo is quickly becoming one of the names to watch in terms of both abstract and dotwork tattoos.  You’ve seen Peter Madsen‘s works on ModBlog quite a bit over the past couple of weeks, and now he’s joined IAM, allowing us to get to know him a little better.

The last 12 years of my life have been all about creativity: big or small, simple and sophisticated, everything from painting and sculpting to building special-effects. The same creativity has sent me in many interesting ways, I used to run a Special Effects company, and resided in the United Kingdom and Sweden.

At some point in my creative rush, I realized that I was not doing anything in particular that had deep meaning for people. I began to wonder how I could put my creativity to some more rewarding use. One day it struck me: tattooing was simply the way.

In early 2010 I did my apprenticeship with an old friend of mine, Jesper Berthelsen, who now works primarily as an armourer and silversmith, but also has been a tattoo artist for many years. He taught me the basics of the ancient art form that is tattooing, and I had a good start before I was allowed to throw myself in the actual craft. Since then I have worked very hard every day to perfect my craftsmanship and I am very pleased to say that I do not regret my choice. Tattoing is live-giving, both for me and my customers.

About my work: Tattooing for me is an art that must be combined with man’s natural beauty. Trying to do “painting” on the body does not work for me – my desire is to create art that goes hand in hand with the skin and the body. For the same reason I have a fondness for ornamental designs, dotwork tattoo and scratch-work tattoo. My style is heavily inspired by Old Norse and Scandinavian art, Middle Eastern, geometry, black work and body dynamics.

Here’s one of his scratch-work pieces, a full raven sleeve.

Be sure to check out his BME Portfolio Gallery to see more of his work.

Through the Fire and the Flame

This biblical sleeve by Jackie Rabbit is meant to be a representation of the biblical Armageddon.  Here’s how she described it.

Its a juxtaposition between the peace and love of God and violent destruction promised by the Bible.

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Orchids in the Wind

It’s time for another piece of art from the masters of Hong Kong’s Tattoo Temple.  This orchid by Wang really highlights the paintbrush style that he specializes in.  What’s really cool is if you look close, you can see that he added what looks like pollen in the wind on the top of her shoulder, giving the tattoo an even greater sense of movement.

Help out the youngest member of the BME family. Get a limited edition 2012 BME Classic Logo t-shirt. Read all the details here.