JoeJoesDojo

I wanted something cool on my shins, so I sent a rough drawing of a knife with a skin break. At the top, where the knife’s tip would be, I suggested it could be a skull, a goat’s head, or a moth. The artist came up with this design, which is far cooler than I imagined. So, I got it done.

I thought I needed a companion piece. Since I have a goat on one side, I decided to put a lamb on the other. It has some religious connotations, and though I’m not religious, I like the iconography. So, I suggested switching the knife to point upward and adding a lamb’s head. The artist agreed, saying, “Great.”

The cardinal is in dogwoods, representing my mom. She passed away from cancer. We’re native North Carolinians, and one of her Facebook profile pictures was a cardinal in dogwoods. So, I decided to get that as my tattoo.

After my grandmother, my dad’s mom, passed away, I walked out to let my dog out the day after her funeral. On the pitch of our roof was a red hawk. I’ve never seen a hawk on my house before, not once, nor have I seen one since. I’m not a religious or spiritual person, but I thought, “Man, that’s kind of a neat, interesting thing. I’ve never seen that before.” With Memaw gone, I remembered her beautiful hydrangea bush in front of her house. So, I got a tattoo of the hawk in a hydrangea bush for Memaw, alongside the cardinal in dogwoods for my mom. Cool.

The phrase “I’m everywhere, ever, so all the time, everyone, everywhere, everything that is” comes from a mewithoutYou song about forgiveness. It serves as a reminder for me to be more forgiving of others, though it doesn’t always work.

The tattoo “C-A-P-O” is a memorial piece for Capo, one of my pets.

The tattoo of a beetle in a lantern is inspired by mewithoutYou’s song “King Beetle on a Coconut Estate,” which explores themes of flying too close to the fire, much like the Icarus myth. It’s a traditional-style representation of that song’s imagery.

About 20 years ago, I had a friend who was in a car accident and nearly lost sight in one eye. She was close with a tattoo shop, I believe in Clayton or Garner, North Carolina. They held a flash day to raise money for her surgeries and medical expenses. The arrows were one of the flash designs offered that day to support her.

The Hanged Man is a classic tarot card that I got as a tattoo simply because I thought it looked really cool. I’m drawn to religious and occult iconography for its artistic imagery, even though I don’t believe in it. I got the Hanged Man tattooed on me while I was in Asheville one year.

The Dogwood tattoo, with a touch of pink in it, and the woman on the back of my arm are somewhat connected. The Dogwood was part of a breast cancer benefit event, with the pink symbolizing the cause. The tattoo was done as part of a fundraiser where proceeds were donated to a breast cancer research foundation.

My forearm features a vibrant, cohesive tattoo scene inspired by the mewithoutYou song “The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie,” which draws from a Sufi parable about ego. This parable serves as a warning against the dangers of ego. The design includes a fox, a crow, and a cookie, vividly capturing the parable’s cautionary narrative. To unify the composition, clouds weave through the entire scene, creating a dreamlike effect, as if you’re lying on the ground during an LSD trip, gazing up at a surreal sky.

The scene incorporates my first-ever tattoo, a sugar skull, inked before the mewithoutYou-inspired piece. Nearby, a hand with an eye in it enhances the surreal, otherworldly vibe. Another element is a Foo Dog paired with an Oni mask, blending Japanese and occult iconography. This is complemented by a goldfish, symbolizing good luck, merged with imagery from the Seven of Swords tarot card, which signifies betrayal, creating a fusion of Japanese and tarot symbolism.

There’s an image of a Native American woman, part of a breast cancer fundraiser, with a touch of pink to honor the cause. This ties into the broader theme of meaningful iconography. The clouds flow through all these elements—Mexican, Japanese, Native American, and occult—unifying the sugar skull, the mewithoutYou parable imagery (with its warning against ego), the Foo Dog, the Oni mask, the goldfish, the Seven of Swords, and the Native American woman into a single, cohesive scene. This reflects my love for diverse cultural and symbolic art, despite not being religious or spiritual.

The runes represent prosperity, health, and wellness—small reminders and tokens of good luck.

The number 56 represents our anniversary date, which adds up to 56. My wife and I both have it tattooed on our fingers.

Poppy flower. I got this when I graduated from graduate school. It’s a cover-up tattoo. What was covered up was very terrible in my life. I found an artist that was really into Alfons Mucha. I wanted an Alfons Mucha-inspired tattoo. We put this together. She drew all this for me and it took about 5 hours. She told me areas that were going to hurt badly, which was great because she was also covered in tattoos. She gave me a good warning. It had a lot of the line work from Art Nouveau/Alfons Mucha. It still looks perfect after 13 years. I got it in 2010.

This is also Alfons Mucha. “I am I am I am” is from a poem by Sylvia Plath. This is my, “I survived my divorce” tattoo. To me, it is representative of “I am still alive, I am still here, I survived this thing, I am holding onto my identity, and growing as a person.” The flower is an iris which is also common in Alfons Mucha’s work. This is only a year and a half old.

I got this tattoo when I was about 20 years old. It is the character Delirium from Sandman. Jill Thompson did an art piece where they were all babies. This is based on that artwork. I got done in 2001. Sandman the comic had a huge impact on my life when I was 15. It changed my life forever. I needed a Sandman tattoo and this one was super cute.

Scissors with a rose. It’s a subtle Morticia tattoo. If you watch the original series and the movie, you will know that Morticia loves growing roses and cuts the heads off the roses. This is because she values the thorns over the beautiful roses. My vibe is very Morticia-inspired. My wedding dress was Morticia-inspired. She is a loving mother and a wonderful wife. Happy stable person, but also dark and spooky at the same time. My partner and I are also very Morticia-and-Gomez over the top in love. I kind of got it for them, but mainly got it for me.

This is not a tattoo. This is an experiment with nitrogen branding. You put a wire in liquid nitrogen for 30 seconds. It will look scary. Then I hold it to my skin for 3 seconds. It will leave a scar on your body. It can last from six months to a year.

The hummingbird was my first tattoo. I got this in remembrance of my grandmothers. One grandmother’s favorite bird was the hummingbird. I got the yin-yang behind that because they were best friends. The roses on that represent my other grandmother.

Snow White. This is my latest tattoo. I got it in Columbia. I got this because Snow White is my favorite Disney Princess. I grew up looking like her. When I was younger, I had short black hair. I love the element of witchy-ness. I love it because I am that aesthetic.

I Love You in sign language. When I was growing up I was part of the deaf community. I then wanted to be an interpreter to be more in the community. I took a different route to be with animals.

I got this on Friday the 13th. I got it for my mom because it was her birthday. I pet-sit for this cat. I asked the owners if I could get a tattoo of their cat, and they said that is weird but sure.

Simultaneously saint and sinner in Latin. I am both good and bad. It’s a blue rose and a snake.

Mary Magdalene is my favorite character in the Bible. She got a bad rap. They said she was a prostitute. She was not a prostitute. She was a good person.

The wolf is my spirit animal.

Peace and good from St Francis.

This was because I was an aviation ordnance man. I went to the Arctic Circle.

This is a picture of an old girlfriend as a crystal skull.

The tattoo artist decided to add that. He asked if I wanted it and I said cool. This tattoo is above the crystal skull.

The first tattoo I got was the blue wolf with Chinese characters. The top one is family, and the bottom one is friends. I have that close to my heart because I care about those people. They are in Mandarin Chinese. I took Mandarin Chinese in middle school. I love the language.

You are wanted. You are loved. This is in my mom’s handwriting. It’s a meaningful tattoo to me.

The blue wolf. I am a lone wolf with a lot of things. Blue is my favorite color, and wolves are my favorite animal. It seemed perfect to get as my first tattoo.

I got the red dragon tattoo. I am a lone wolf, but I am also like a dragon leader in that I take charge if I need to. I got the tribal tattoo because I find myself as a warrior. The moon is because I am not like the sun. Instead, I am cool and calm like the moon.

This was my first tattoo. I got it when I was 16. I was very much into world peace and serenity. I made it up and felt like it was fitting.

I got the wolf tattoo after my freshman year at NC State. My mom sent me a tough love card that I didn’t know I needed to hear. This was the picture on the card.

This is two koi fish around peonies and a little peony in the back. I wanted to get something natural, and I gave the artist a lot of liberty in what they wanted to do. That was what they did. I just got this worked on 2 days ago.

Love Nelson. This is my stepdad’s signature from a graduation card from NC State. He is known for his cards. I got that for him.

The weight bar. I am a competitive weightlifter. I got this several years into lifting, and it hasn’t stopped being a hobby.

This a cat with violets on the inside. My middle name is Violet, and I love cats. I have 3 cats. I used to joke if I got tattoos for all my cats I would be full. So I just got one cat for all of them.

This is a blue heron. I used to live behind a pond. There was a blue heron I used to see on my morning walks. I loved him so I got this tattoo.

My spouse is in the military. We had friendship anklets for a long time. We made them permanent. We both have this band now. It’s a permanent friendship bracelet.

I did not get the story from this one.

I got the mail tattoos first. There was no real story. I had some extra money. I got one and then I got the other, just for fun.

All of these are from Webster’s pictorial dictionary. It’s a book of old artists’ proofs. They are these cool etchings. I picked a nautical theme and just kept pieces from that book. It’s a cool book.

Love god fear nothing is a motto I came up with years and years ago. I am a professional patient. Kidney failure, dialysis, cancer, all kinds of stuff you would not believe. My faith carried me through this idea of loving god and not fearing what is going to happen.

The lion has 2nd Timothy 1:7. For God gave us not our spirit of oneness, but the power of love and self-discipline. That is one of my favorite verses. I got it in an area where every time I gave blood, the lion would be looking at me.

The real reason I got my head tattooed is that I ran out of space on my body. Into The Wild is a book by Jon Krakauer. It is a true story about a kid who lives with his parents. His parents are rich. He is not trying to live under society. He ventures out to live in the wild. He eventually died in the wild. He went to live in the wild, he camped in the wild. He made his own living, he didn’t care about money. He was happy. I just like tattoos and ran out of room.

The rose is because my mother is a Catholic. I love roses. To me, there is nothing higher than god. He is always watching down on me. I have an angel on the back of my head. Everything else had to do with my street life before. The one in my eye is my son’s initials. There used to be teardrops. There is also a south side.

There is the Virgin Mary and Jesus. This is for my mother. She is Catholic. I also have a Sacred Heart for my mother. Primera Flats (First Flats) was my hood back in East LA.