Celtic 'Queen Thistle' Tattoo

July 24, 2014

Today a Scotswoman with flaming red hair FINALLY laid to rest the assumptions of Irishness that have plagued her all her life. Yes we are all Celts, but we Scots have the fondness for thistles and bagpipes and the Irish can have their shamrocks and harps. So she commissioned this piece with three weaving thistles rising from a knot, to fill the side of her calf. And what got her to finally stop saying she was going to do it "someday" and finally DO IT? Her 91 year old mother, a Scotswoman, told her to hurry up and get it so she could see it before she died! And her mom doesn't even LIKE tattoos, but she will like this one! It celebrates their transmitted heritage.

Celtic 'Queen Thistle' Tattoo by Pat Fish

Viking Claddagh Tattoos

July 23, 2014

A couple engaged to be married came in for the best possible wedding band...... permanent matching ones! She's Irish, so they knew they wanted a claddagh, symbol of friendship, loyalty, and love. He's got Viking heritage, so we took a band found on ancient Nordic gravestones to form the link. Their initials in each others hearts complete the romantic tribute, symbol of their affection.

Celtic 'Hunting Team' Tattoo

July 22, 2014

It took a decade for this returning client to feel like he needed something to balance the Celtic dogs tattoo I did for him way back when. This time I created a custom knotwork uniting a pair of hunting hounds with falcons, representing the animals who willingly go to the chase in service to their human masters.

Celtic 'Hunting Team' Tattoo by Pat Fish

The pattern for this tattoo design is available for purchase and immediate download at: http://www.luckyfishart.com/huntingteam.html

Celtic Python Tattoo

July 21, 2014

Today a very special request made an interesting challenge. The client asked for a green tree python as a memorial for his father, a herpetologist and physician. At one time in his childhood they had over 100 snakes in a room in their house! So this was a person who would know if I rendered the snake accurately! Fortunately the studio in-house zoologist, ColinFraser, was able to find a photo of the right pose so characteristic of this species, and I could render that into line art and add it to a Celtic ring representing a branch. Tough color to achieve in a tattoo, a unique visual, and a fine way to memorialize his father.

"Morelia viridis, the green tree python, is a species of python found in New Guinea, islands in Indonesia, and Cape York Peninsula in Australia.
Primarily arboreal, these snakes have a particular way of resting in the branches of trees; they loop a coil or two over the branches in a saddle position and place their head in the middle." -Wikipedia