TomFOGARTY - Blog

10 October, 2010

My Tattoos

Filed under: Liam Sparkes, Moustache, Photos, Shangri-la, Tattoos, Uncategorized — Tags: Liam Sparkes, shangri-la Tattoo, tattooing, Tattoos, Tom Fogarty — spiderwebdesign @ 16:42

I’ve always been a big a big fan of tattoos. I enjoy the juxtaposition of art and seediness. I got my first tattoo when I was 18, my second at 22, but only recently have I started getting them regularly. I currently have 12, and they’re all quite random. They’re also pretty stupid but I don’t regret any of them. You can try to rationalise tattoos – to justify your choices with personal significance (I got an angel to represent my dead aunt who watches over me…); but at the end of the day tattoos are impulsive, reckless foolery. And I love that.

Here’s a picture of each of them, with a brief description. I didn’t know whether to list them in chronolgical order, or reverse chronological order etc… so in the end I decided to listy them in random order.

This is a piece of Liam Sparkes’ flash. I really like the image and it looks like the pub signpost, “The Slaughtered Lamb”, from the film An American Werewolf in London. My favourite song from the film’s soundtrack is “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, hence the tattoo text. The song was written by Tom Fogerty, so it seemed like fate to get the tattoo. It’s underneath my right bicep.

This is a Russian criminal tattoo of a black widow, by Liam Sparkes. In Russian prisons, tattoos have deep symbolic meaning, and have to be earned (tattoos = status). If you are found to have a tattoo that have not “earned” – they will kill you. This one either means “murderer” or “thief” (I can’t remember which). I got it for shit and giggles. If I go to Russia and remove my trousers I’m a dead man! It’s on the front of my right thigh.

Smiley acid face. This is my second tattoo – I had it done when I was 22. I’ve always liked this symbol and I used to be a fan of acid during my university years. People still think this is a transfer when they see it (and I still love it). It was done by some bloke in Greenwich. The yellow is fading fast…

This was an “X” inside my lip – I had it done done for a girlfriend at the London Tattoo Convention in 2008. After about 2 years it turned into a “Y”. I guess that’s the power of chromosomes for you. We’ve since split up but it’s still a funny story of whim and folly.

This tattoo was visible in the last photo so I might as well list it here. It’s a moustache on my finger. It was done in the middle of the night (a work night I should add) by Liam Sparkes. I had it done after I shaved off my handlebar moustache.

I’m not a huge Ghostbusters fan or anything, but I’ve always been a fan of this image. It’s on my inner thigh, next to the black widow spider tattoo (quite a sore place to get done). People usually think this is the most stupid of all my tattoos. This was also done by Liam Sparkes. A lot of the red ink fell out after it healed, needs touching up (ooh er..).

I did this one myself! It’s very crude but I’m still proud of it. It says “CRIPS”, a Los Angeles street gang. Again, it means I’m a dead man if I go there and remove my trousers.

My first tattoo when I was 18 (12 years ago now!). It’s a sun on my hip. I don’t even notice it’s there anymore – I’ve had it so long it feels like a birth mark I’ve learned to live with. Done by a big fat man in Nunhead while I was still at school. Happy days…

This is taken from an old wood-cut of Vlad the Impaler (i.e Dracula). It was done by Liam Sparkes as a part barter for me setting up his website (it’s sort of his trademark piece). It’s on my right bicep and might be my favourite tattoo…

I did this one on myself with a needle, thread and Indian ink – prison-style-eee. Took bloody ages to do and it’s wonky, but I love it just the same. Nothing else to say really…

This is a cat on my knee by Liam Sparkes. I love cats, me, so I had to get a cat tattoo. Because it’s on my knee it gets distorted quite a bit, and it seems to have bat/rabbit ears. This one hurt. A lot.

Last one (so far). Also by me, not finished yet – another Russian prison tattoo. I messed up the crown, and it needs lots of shading added. Front of left thigh. Work in progress…

Comments (6)

5 September, 2010

What’s in a name?

Filed under: Film, Liam Sparkes, Random, Tattoos — Tags: a history of violence, an american werewolf in london, creedence clearwater revival, david cronenberg, films, Liam Sparkes, names, Tattoos, Tom Fogarty, tom fogerty — spiderwebdesign @ 21:54

I’m not an ego-surfer in particular, but recently I have been entering my name into Google rather a lot. Not out of vanity, but instead to see how highly Google indexes my site based on certain keywords – mainly my name (which happens to be Tom Fogarty in case you wondered.. although there is a clue in the title of site).

There happens to be a famous guitarist who shares my name, although he spells it with an “E” – Tom Fogerty. He’s dead now, but he used to play with a really cool band called Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Now my favourite film is An American Werewolf in London. Actually it’s my third favourite, Withnail & I and Big Trouble in Little China are my tops faves – but I digress. By coincidence, Creedence Clearwater Revival feature on the soundtrack; providing the best song of the film in fact – Bad Mood Rising. It was until years later that I found out that I shared a name with one of the band.

Here’s the band (he’s the one with the big bushy beard no less):

Recently I had this tattoo done by Liam Sparkes – it looks a bit like The sign outside the Slaughtered Lamb pub in the film, and I asked for the “Bad Moon” text to be added to reference the song, which in turn links back to my name. Random I know, but that’s the way my brain works…

There’s another Tom Fogarty ahead of me in Google – he’s a doctor and he invented the Fogarty Balloon Catheter (I’m not making this up!).

Here’s the other Tom Fogarty:

Lastly, there’s a really good David Cronenberg film called A History of Violence. The hero of the piece is called Tom, whereas the villain is know as Mr Fogarty..

And here they are (guess which is which):