A bouquet of poison flowers over the heart for my dear friend Alecia. Thank you for trusting me with this. Done at @firstclassnyc Done with @yesneedle

𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. . HEALED . Thank you for this incredible honor, fellow artist @surrenderink 🖤 done at @nyempirestatetattooexpo

From the archives for Dean. Thank you for the trust with your first, and for letting me run wild. It’s been so fun exploring an abstract, sketchy style like this🖤 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 - 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 - 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 182 Done at @firstclassnyc With @yesneedle

For Angela. What an incredible journey this was. Love big projects like this, and how my clients wear them. Thank you for the trust ✧.* Done at @firstclassnyc with @yesneedle

𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘖𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘓𝘺𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦. 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦: 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Thank you, my dear friend Spencer. What an honor to work on this piece for you, and to add to your brilliant collection. @yesneedle @firstclassnyc

Meet Sasha Davydova, a multidisciplinary artist from St. Petersburg 🇷🇺 and our longtime neighbor in the Lower East Side, often spotted with her sweet companion, Odin (aka Ody!).⁠ 🐾 Sasha is a professional tattooist whose creative work spans drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, music, and plant medicine. During her Soup Studio residency, she’s working on a series of hand portraits inspired by people who’ve shaped her life, 👐 along with surreal sculptural paintings exploring the connection between wounding and healing. Sasha has also been experimenting with handpan music and guided meditation as part of her process, reflecting on the visible and invisible marks we leave on each other. 🍃🫶〰️🌝〰️☝️🌿 📷 @hivictorcastro

𝘌 𝘮 𝘦 𝘳 𝘨 𝘦 𝘯 𝘤 𝘦 . The nature of decay is cyclical, violent, and acutely beautiful. The more exit wounds we have, the more light we can choose to allow to shine through. This shedding and forging we must all go through is as constant as it is painful - it is the purifying fire through which we can truly encounter the good in the world. As human beings we have enormous capabilities that allow us to rise above our suffering. We are hardwired for transcendence. . Thank you @3rooke.w for choosing this and for trusting me. I love that you wear this now. It is yours, and has been waiting for you. Done at @firstclassnyc

For Christine, a very special one to keep her dad close. Thank you for trusting me with this. Done with @yesneedle Done at @firstclassnyc “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵 - 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 - 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯.” 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥? - 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳

On Tuesday, March 7th, 2023, Pinar walked into First Class Tattoos, sat across from me on the couch with conspicuous grace and said, “I want a dark, magical forest to grow over both of my arms and my back. And I am choosing you to do it.” Over the next year and a half, every month like clockwork, we would greet each other with a big hug and bring our heads and our hearts together in joyous work to uncover a world on her skin. Our journey has transformed, supported, and humbled me in more ways than I can say. How bittersweet it is to mark the end of this chapter and come out the other side of countless flowers, homemade sourdough loaves, books, a few Nordic trips, two moves, and one big cry. Better now, and unimaginably changed. Thank you, Pinar. You are a goddess of a woman. It has been an incredible honor tattooing you, and an even greater one entering your orbit and becoming your friend. All the work in these photos is healed 🖤 done at @firstclassnyc 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 — 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 — 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. Red Hand Files # 105

From the archives♥️ My grandpa used to make me bowls of pomegranate seeds. He’d take his time picking, peeling, and scooping every last one, clean and careful. He approached it with the temperance of a heart surgeon; it seemed like taking apart either would be safe in his big hands. The bowls were pristine, as if filled with jewels. I’d eat them fast, and make a big mess. I’d see how many I could fit in my mouth, red and sticky all over, and he’d laugh. It feels like I haven’t really tasted pomegranate since then. It lives on the Eastern bloc, behind dusty laced curtains and clicks of his typewriter. And a little bit of it, in this tattoo. Thank you for the trust. Done with @yesneedle