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Tattoo Wrap-up #22

01 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

art, elephant tattoo, filigree, filigree tattoo, flower tattoo, memorial tattoo, octopus tattoo, skull tattoo, tattoo, tattoo artist, tattoo cover up, tattoo studio, tattooing, willow tree tattoo

I wish I could say it’s been a hot minute since I last posted, but let’s be honest, a large portion of the country is in the grips of this polar vortex thing and it’s been damn cold out. I’m permanently cold, but when I tattoo I tend to overheat. Luckily, it’s been pretty busy at the studio the last couple weeks so I’ve stayed toasty and warm. Here are the highlights:

octopus-erinkingsbury_compressed

Super proud of this one. This was the winner of a holiday giveaway I did.

filigree-carolynwilborn

A little in love with this one, too. It’s something I could even envision on myself.

elephants-chrissymucha.jpg

This one has sad story behind it. The customer got it because her son was shot and killed recently. After getting approval from the health department, we added some of his ashes to the ink so she’ll always have him with her.

believe-janeencalvert

A very cheerful cover-up.

marshapresnell-jennette

It’s a symbol of inspiration for a woman on her 70th birthday.

moondesign-joanneblase

How cute is this? The customer designed it herself.

girlswithcanphones-kristaprinceandannapatton

Cute friendship tattoos.

symbol-jovihagenburg2

No story here, it’s just cute. 

symbol-jovihagenburg

Same customer as the one above.

weepingwillow-photogrid

A couple came in and wanted different versions of a willow tree with their kids names/initials. 

weepingwillow-sarahstoeckel

This is the other version of the willow.

wildflowers-kendallwood

The customer wanted her parents’ birth flowers for this pretty tattoo.

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Tattoo Wrap-up #21

10 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

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Absalom tattoo, alphabet blocks tattoo, butterfly tattoo, calico tattoo, commemorative tattoo, corgi tattoo, Emily Page, Emily Page tattoo, gecko tattoo, harry potter coat of arms, harry potter tattoo, lady tattooers, lizard tattoo, memorial tattoo, moth tattoo, nc tattooers, poppy tattoo, Ratatat Tats, salamander tattoo, sea horse tattoo, seahorse tattoo, sploof, tattoo, tattoo artist, tattooing

I don’t actually know if it’s been a week, or two weeks, or what. Life is a blur. Not because I’ve been doing anything particularly exciting. Mostly just because I must have traded brains with a goldfish at some point in a drunken stupor. Bourbon. It’ll get you every time, amiright? Anyway, here are some more tattoos I’ve done in the last several days:

0103191717a

Let Your Light Shine…for her grandfather, who she called Poppy.

0104191816

The sploof!! With a heart tail!

0105191631a

I love that the customer requested a snaggle tooth when I was designing this sea horse for him.

0108191900a

Memorial tattoo for her little sister.

0108192112a.jpg

A tattoo to commemorate her trip to Barcelona.

0110191717a

For a true Harry Pitter fan. She’s a Slitherin, by the way, so don’t mess with her.

photogrid_1545968563813

I didn’t get a great, clear shot of this one, but here is Absalom, dropping some wisdom on yo’ ass.

photogrid_1546468876462

I felt so bad for this customer. Look at the one on the left. A local tattoo shop owner did that one. The wings don’t even match each other. I was able to even them up a bit and make it more dynamic, but there wasn’t anything I could do about the fuzzy antennae.

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Tattoo Wrap-Up #20

02 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

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butterfly tattoo, catdog tattoo, Emily Page, Emily Page tattoo, greyhound tattoo, lady tattooer, Maine tattoo, nc tattooer, owl tattoo, Ratatat Tats, raven tattoo, starfish tattoo, tattoo, tattoo artist, tattoo love, tiger tattoo, trash polka tattoo, tree tattoo, yin yang tattoo

Notice that I’ve totally ditched the word “weekly” in the title. It’s 2019. Time for more realistic expectations, and realistically, based on past history, I’m not going to manage weekly tattoo wrap-ups. So here are the tattoos that I closed out the year with:

bull - Colin Trumbull

Aaahhh, bull. Looking forward to seeing this one healed so that the lighter grays are easier to distinguish.

 

butterfly - Jamie Stewart

Fairly self-explanatory.

catdog - Robert & Stephanie Freeman

I actually did 2 of these for a brother/sister duo.

compass rose - Ujjwal

Follow your arrow wherever it points.

de-livered - Steve Harris

I love this one. The customer had part of his liver removed, so he’s been “de-livered.”

dog ears - Marisa McKay

This one and the one below were to memorialize their rescued greyhound.

greyhound - Connor McKay

The numbers were tattooed in the ears of the actual dog.

heart - Kiran Chitla

As a surprise for his wife.

raven, timepiece trashpolka - Foster Nethercott_compressed

This customer is going for a good vs. evil theme. The other shoulder has a dove and a rose and a beautiful time piece. For this side, we’re going more trash polka.

starfish - Ray Merritt

This is to remind himself of the story of the little boy walking on the beach and throwing starfish back into the ocean. If you don’t know it, look it up.

tiger - Carl Cook_compressed

I’m so glad the customer decided not to add color to this one. His original plan was to include color in the tiger, but I love it as a black and gray tattoo.

tree with Maine in roots - Austin Merando

The space in the roots is Maine.

yin yang - Carol Engrahm

Just a lovely little watercolor yin yang.

Krista Prince - tree

No story here, just a nice tattoo.

owl - Veronica Lauvray

Cute little own.

And that’s it for 2018!! It’s been a long, crazy year, but I’ve learned so much – mostly that I love calf and forearm skin. So good for tattooing.

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Weekly Tattoo Wrap-Up #19

13 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bulldog tattoo, cary tattoo, cover-up tattoo, eagles logo, female tattoo artist, floral tattoo, flying pig tattoo, lady gaga tattoo, mom tattoo, polar bear tattoo, raleigh tattoo, Ratatat Tats, tattoo, tattoo artist, tattoo cover up, tulip poplar tattoo, wolf tattoo

It’s SLOW here. Soooooo sloooooow. It huuuuuuuurts. So there hasn’t been a ton of stuff to post. But here’s what I can share from the last couple of weeks:

Aaron Walker - polar bear

For a customer who is slowly getting tattoos that represent all of her dogs. This is for a dog she calls Polar Bear because he’s so big and white and fluffy.

Adam Agostini - Eagles logo

No explanation needed.

bulldog - Rob Tolentino

Doggie portrait

dandelion and saying - Chritine Rafter

I don’t really recommend foot tattoos, but the customer was forwarned that they don’t last as well. But since she went ahead and got it, it’s pretty darn cute, I think.

flying pig - Linda Tolentino

This customer’s first tattoo – because she believes anything is possible.

heat with mom - Kaleb Barker

Nice twist on MOM in a heart.

Ki Hids

From a Shel Silverstein book. Yes, it IS supposed to say “Ki Hids.”

Krista Prince bouquet addition

This customer had had a bad experience at another tattoo shop and didn’t trust the tattoo artist to finish and fix the tattoo. Luckily, we were able to finish it up so that she was happy with it.

lady gaga watercolor - Jason Snyder

This is my brush with fame. This guy is the cousin of Esther the Wonder Pig (i.e., his cousin owns Esther).

Mason Whitaker completed

This was a cover-up I posted a while back. It used to be a dream catcher. Finally got to finish it.

tulip poplar - Liz Underwood

A tulip poplar for a customer who I’ve known for years thanks to the sip and paint business I used to own.

 

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(Not So) Weekly Tattoo Wrap-up #18 (Part 2)

19 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

black and gray tattoo, black and grey tattoo, cabin tattoo, chesapeake bridge, cover-up tattoo, dream catcher tattoo, duck tattoo, evergreen tattoo, full moon, mandala tattoo, moon tattoo, nature tattoo, pine tree tattoo, pocket watch tattoo, sanskrit, skull and flowers tattoo, skull tattoo, stop watch tattoo, tattoo cover up, UFO tattoo, wolf tattoo

As promised, here is part 2 of the sorta-kinda-almost weekly tattoo wrap-up #18:

mandala - Paige Crapser

A mandala for a friend I haven’t seen in 20 something years. I love people who you can go that long without seeing and it still feels totally natural to hang out. It was also nice to do some color work, since so many people have been requesting black and gray tattoos.

sanskrit - Lacy Bailey

Yes, I wrote down what this means. Yes, I threw the piece of paper out that I wrote it on. So no, I can’t tell you the meaning of the sanskrit.

pocket watch, dove, rose - Foster Nethercott

A fun walk-in on a random Thursday night. Looking forward to tattooing this marine’s other shoulder soon!

bridge - Krista Prince

The Chesapeake Bridge.

pine tree - Lacy Bailey

I love this little tattoo. I ended up doing a bunch of tree tattoos over that week…

wolf in moon - Matt Hancock_compressed

…including on this guy underneath the wolf and moon I did for him the same day.

cover up dream catcher to wolf - Mason Whitaker

And still more trees as part of this cover-up for a customer who found out via DNA testing that he wasn’t actually Native American after all. I really loved doing this one, in part because I got to use his grandfather’s train-engraved pocket watch as reference, and it was on my dad’s birthday. So I channeled my inner train-lover.

cover up cabin and ufo - Matthew Meredith

The guy that got the wolf tattoo above was here for work from Texas, and he came in with his buddy who got this cover-up, and the next 2 tattoos below. More trees anyone?

ducks and motorcylce helmut - Matthew Meredith

Okay, I never got the story for why he wanted the motorcycle helmet in the same scene as the ducks, but what the customer wants is what the customer gets…within reason. This is on the other side of the arm as the UFO and cabin scene.

moon - Matthew Meredith

A moon a little farther up the arm from the UFO and cabin scene. I’m guessing he’ll eventually fill in the space between.

Skull and flowers - Harlie Silvernail

Another walk-in who was excited to not have to wait several weeks to get her tattoo like so many other places had told her.

And that’s that! Several weeks of tattoos that were interesting enough to share with you. Several of these were walk-ins, which was really freaking cool, because I’ve been starting my weeks with almost nothing on the books, and by the end of the week I’m doing half sleeves. Loving it!

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(Not So) Weekly Tattoo Wrap-Up #18 (Part 1)

17 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

cary tattoo, collar bone tattoo, cross and banner tattoo, cross tattoo, Emily Page tattoo, flower tattoo, hamburglar, lion tattoo, passport stamp, playing card tattoo, raleigh tattoo, Ratatat Tats, tattoo, tattoo artist, tattoo studio, tattooing, tribal tattoo

Holy shit, I’m behind on these supposed weekly tattoo wrap-ups, you guys!! Mostly, because reasons. And also, because less legitimate reasons. So I’m going to break this one up over a couple posts because there are just a fucklot of tattoos to share with you. So here’s the first installment, going all the way back to October:

Playing cards - Gio

For a guy who hasn’t found love yet, but really believes in it.

Lion - Jordan Thomas

Roar.

tribal - Tristan Miller

Recognize the pocket watch on the left? He came back for the tribal across his collar bone…

cross and banner - Tristan Miller

…and this cross and banner one. I swear, this guy sits so quietly I’ve decided he’s impervious to pain.

Flower chain - McKinnea Estridge

This girl came in with her parents to get this for her 18th birthday.

Aaron Walker - Hamburglar

One of my regulars is getting memorial tattoos for all of her dogs. They called one of her dogs The Hamburglar, so…

passport stamps - Nick Juers

I think getting passport stamps for the places you’ve been is such a cool idea. It was fun trying to get the tattoo to look like actual stamps.

ship and whale - Morgan Schore

No real story here, but it’s cool tattoo.

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Weekly Tattoo Wrap-Up #17

09 Tuesday Oct 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cary tattoo, chain tattoo, commemorative tattoo, cover-up tattoo, cystic fibrosis, cystic fibrosis tattoo, Emily Page, Emily Page tattoo, morning glory tattoo, oni mask, oni mask tattoo, raleigh tattoo, Ratatat Tats, sixty-five roses, snake tattoo, stopwatch, stopwatch tattoo, sunflower tattoo, tattoo, x-ray flower tattoo

I’m a day late and eleventy-twelve dollars short on the weekly tattoo wrap-up. Sorry. It’s been a really good couple weeks. I mean, not if you’re woman, or a person of color, or really, anyone who’s not a conservative white male. But tattoo-wise, it’s been a good couple weeks – especially for women. It was a week of empowerment for several of my female friends/customers. So, we’ll start with those, then tack on a couple tattoos I did for guys just for funsies.

First up, the cover-ups. I keep forgetting to take pics before I’ve drawn on them or stenciled on what I’ll be covering with, but here you go:

cover-up X-ray flower - Stephanie Watson

For a customer who turned 45 and said she was too old for “boob cherries” and that it was time for a grown-up tattoo.

 

cover up star - Hannah

For a friend who had outgrown her old tattoo.

Sunflower cover-up - Italia

For a customer who needed to get rid of her ex’s initials.

morning glories - Lisa Latu

For one of my favorite customers (who happens to have MS) who wanted to commemorate her family. I really love this one. It wraps all the way around and there are song lyrics and an MS ribbon on the inside of her wrist. And one of the morning glory vines says “Bomba” which is what her grandfather called her.

Love Mom - Sarah Dewan

For a friend who lost her mom to breast cancer a few years ago. She’d been looking for her mom’s handwriting everywhere and couldn’t find it. Then she suddenly stumbled across it and she’d signed it with this. Not gonna lie, we both teared up when we put this on her.

Sixty-five roses - AJ Darling

This one was really special to me: a girl I’ve known since she was 9 years old drove from VA to get a tattoo from me to celebrate having reached her 35th year. This is a big deal, because she’s got cystic fibrosis, and not too long ago, kids with CF really didn’t live beyond their early 20’s at best because their lungs gave up. She got “just breathe” on her rib cage when she turned 30. When they teach kids about cystic fibrosis, they often teach them to call it “sixty-five roses,” because it’s easier to remember, so we went with that theme for this tattoo. I’m so honored to be able to help my friend commemorate having made it this far. Looking forward to giving her the next tattoo when she hits 40.

I also had a customer who got 6 small tattoos to help her leave her divorce behind and move forward into the next phase of her life, but I didn’t snap photos because it would have required me to take my gloves off 6 times to use my phone, and that was a royal pain. But take my word for it, they were lovely.

I also-also got a message from a friend who I’ve tattooed several times who thanked me for helping her start to love parts of her body that she’s always been ashamed of. Having something beautiful on her body makes her accept and love it more. Best message I’ve gotten in a long time.

And now for the guys:

chains-alashuan-hunter.jpg

Not entirely clear what the story was here. He said it had something to do with anime and there being links on the chain of life.

stopwatch - Tristan Miller

Not sure this one requires much of an explanation. But damn, y’all, tattooing circles is haaaaaard. Why are stopwatches round?!!

And finally, I had a young man come in who sat for two 5-hour sessions and it was his very first tattoo. He had a pain tolerance like you wouldn’t believe, but he was also a Crohn’s sufferer, so maybe he’s used to pain? Also, he lost his dad to the same disease as my dad when he was only 9 years old. Made me super grateful that I had my dad for as long as I did:

Oni mask half sleeve - Sean Doherty_compressed

Not the greatest picture, but it’s an oni mask and snake. I’ll try to get a better one once it has healed. You can see a video of the whole thing on my instagram feed (@emilypageart).

And that’s it for the week. See? Some good things for some good people. So even though America is going to hell in supreme court justice robe, we still have individual wins to celebrate. Hang in there, friends.

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Pin-Up Roses

06 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

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Tags

art, artist, black and white portrait, Emily Page, Emily Page Art, harley quinn makeup, oil on canvas, oil painting, pin-up, pin-up girl, Raleigh artist, roses

My fellow tattoo artist at Ratatat Tats, Julio, loves drawings and paintings of women with Harley Quinn clown makeup. He had a bare wall in his studio room, so as a suprise, I made him two paintings. I took the pin-up girl style, added the clown makeup, and then, because he frequently suggests filling in space around tattoos with “some filigree and some roses,” I included each in these sister paintings as a little insider joke. I posted the filigree one yesterday, so here is the roses one. Both are available as prints, shirts, dresses, pillows, mugs, and other fun swag. Links below the image.

Pinup clown roses_compressed

Pin-Up Roses 20″ x 16″ oil on canvas

Merchandise available here and here.

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Pin-Up Filigree

05 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, painting, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

art, artist, black and white portrait, Emily Page, Emily Page artist, filigree, harley quinn makeup, oil on canvas, oil painting, painting, pin-up girl, Raleigh artist, tattoo studio

My fellow tattoo artist at Ratatat Tats, Julio, loves drawings and paintings of women with Harley Quinn clown makeup. He had a bare wall in his studio room, so as a suprise, I made him two paintings. I took the pin-up girl style, added the clown makeup, and then, because he frequently suggests filling in space around tattoos with “some filigree and some roses,” I included each in these sister paintings as a little insider joke. I’ll post one painting today (the one with the filigree) and one tomorrow. Both are available as prints, shirts, dresses, pillows, mugs, and other fun swag. Links below the image.

Pinup clown filigree_compressed

Pin-Up Filigree 20″ x 16″ oil on canvas

Merchandise available here and here.

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Weekly Tattoo Wrap-up # 16

24 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

broken heart tattoo, cary tattoo, Emily Page, Emily Page tattoo, goodbyes, ladybug tattoo, lavender tattoo, lighthouse tattoo, mandala tattoo, nautical tattoo, raleigh tattoo, Ratatat Tats, tattoo, tattoo artist, tattooing, yoga tattoo

After a lousy week due to the hurricane, this week was a lot more interesting. I turned 41, for one thing, which wasn’t my favorite thing. It was one thing to have to say I was 40. It’s a whole other thing having to say that I’m “in my 40’s.” Le sigh. But I got to do a few fun tattoos and I wasn’t bored out of my skull while stuck at home waiting for the storm to kill me. First up was this trio of tattoos a yoga practitioner requested:

Andrea Shipman - breathe
Andrea Shipman - rise
Andrea Shipman - root
Fox mandala - Lindsay Easley

The customer wanted 2 foxes coming out of a tunnel that was also a mandala, so…

lavender - Kash Nizami

I wish I had taken a photo from farther away because this was on the customer’s sternum, and it just looked so damn good there!

ladybugs

For sisters whose mom calls them ladybugs.

broken heart - Zach Peltonen

Didn’t get the story behind why he wanted a broken heart, especially when he came in with his girlfriend, but this is his first tattoo.

Bonnie's lighthouse

The 7th tattoo I’ve given my friend Bonnie. She’s got a nautical theme going on both of her thighs. Looking forward to seeing this once it has healed.

Chandler Davis

Rib cages are a pain in the ass to tattoo, just FYI, but this turned out pretty well, considering.

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