With a Cherry on Top and a Side of Morrissey

I met Jasen several weeks back outside of the Whole Foods in Chelsea.

Jasen's left right forearm has a variation of the torn flesh motif in tattooing where the artist creates an illusion that a person's flesh is ripping away under pressure from the matter below the skin.

I have seen people with biomechanical tattoos, showing steel below the skin. Or patriotic pieces reflecting red, white and blue deep below the surface.

But Jasen is different. He is a Vegan with not one, but many "sweet teeth". So, with the help of the tattoo artist, Nick Baxter, they devised the design that would reflect delicious desserts bursting out of his skin. Jasen agreed that he wanted something "colorful, fun, and kind of ridiculous".


Okay, I know, the quality of these photos is not great. Very sun-washed. So, I was fortunate enough to find the artist's photo on his website:


Nick's site is cool because he even comments on the pieces. For example:

"Why can't every tattoo be a ridiculous skin tear-out? I'm proud to add this to the collection I've done, along with the gay unicorn and the surfer kool-aid man. It's on an awesome vegan dude who wanted to pay homage to the sweeter side of our shared dietary choice. Thanks Jasen for giving me a good excuse to have some friends over for a dessert-making and reference-photographing party...this tattoo was fun before it even started."

Nick tattooed this at a shop in Branford, Connecticut called Transcend Tattoo & Art Gallery, but has relocated to Austin.


Jasen also has the autograph of the singer Morrissey tattooed on his outer right forearm:



He saw him in concert in Philadelphia two or three months back and had the opportunity to meet him.

We talked about people getting musician's autographs tattooed (see all that have appeared on Tattoosday here), and he told me that Morrissey was the only famous person he would do that for. The singer is a vegetarian and is very outspoken about vegetarianism and animal rights.

Thanks to Jasen for sharing his cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!