The phoenix is said to have a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (which means “sun city” in Greek).

Natan is currently booked into July, so if you’d like to be tattooed by him, we recommend scheduling a consult and getting the process started soon! 978.744.9393

And Witch City Ink is still seeking an experienced tattooer for our team! Check out this post for more information.

And guess what else? The turtle is actually a coverup. The lines alone are a good start, so the tattoo below should be completely hidden once the color is put in! More pics will be on the way as these pieces progress.

Sharonn, as always, continues to be a busy lady. She’s definitely one of those artists who snaps a quick photo with her phone when a tattoo is finished, and that’s usually all she has time for (we don’t say this like it’s a bad thing!). But again we must say, these photos do not do her work justice. The good news is, we usually try and bribe her clients to come back when their piece is healed so we can take more pictures. Think of these as a tease.

Dana was the gentleman who had the marine biology emblem done, and he is an interesting fellow! Before he left yesterday, he showed us some cool octopus videos on youtube. Yeah, we’re nerds here. And we love it.

The gentleman: Cross with rosary.

The lady: Lotus and diamond.

You may have noticed that the photos in the last couple of posts about Natan have been looking a bit different than usual. That’s because the man can now be found on Instagram. Find and follow him at natanink!

And magically turned it into this:

Just kidding. The toast wasn’t used as a reference (although she would love to tattoo a Virgin Mary on toast *hint*), but this tattoo turned out beautifully.

And so this client traveled a fair amount of distance to have Natan tattoo a scarab on his ribs. A transformation symbolizing transformation.

In other news, Sharonn has been tattooing a pair of clients who run a squirrel rescue organization (as mentioned previously in this post). Today, Dave brought in a baby squirrel for us to say hello to. It was the most adorable thing to come through the shop all week (no offense to our clients).

Also, we’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about walk-ins recently. YES, we try to accommodate walk-ins whenever possible, but we always recommend making an appointment in advance if you can. Especially when it comes to the busier weekend days.

Steve is currently booked until early May, so get in touch with us if you’d like an appointment with him soon! 978.744.9393

“[The koi] is said to climb waterfalls bravely, and, if caught, it lies upon the cutting board awaiting the knife without a quiver, not unlike a samurai (warrior) facing a sword. This theme dates back to ancient China, where a legend tells of how any koi that succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate (on the Yellow River) would be transformed into a dragon. Based on that legend, it became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement.”

Natan loves doing Japanese pieces, so naturally koi are a favorite as well. Here is one that he finished recently.

Natan still has a few days open in May, so get in touch with us if you want to be tattooed by him! 978.744.9393

These days, we’re favoring Google over Yelp when it comes to customer reviews, and we’re trying to direct people there. Why? Because Yelp automatically filters 99% of our reviews, and in doing so, all of the kind words from our clients become hidden from us and the rest of the world. Plus, it’s unfair that our clients take the time to write about us, only for it to become filtered within a day or two! Here are a couple of our recent favorite reviews, now hiding behind Yelp’s filter (note: you can read filtered reviews by scrolling down to the bottom of our page and clicking the “# filtered” link).

“I am wicked glad I did NOT real the reviews before we went in! We had Steve, sure he is quiet but that allowed for my friend and I, getting matching tattoos, to chat! He was EXCELLENT at his job, which IS tattooing and not small talk and the front of store woman was spot on, polite, friendly and did her job excellently! My ex husband and I OWNED a tattoo shop and I think this one is lovely, clean, and in a great location!” -Gypsy

Gypsy also included this photo in her Yelp profile!:

“I recently got work done at witch city ink and I couldn’t be more satisfied! I was tattooed by Natan Alexander who did an amazing portrait of my son. The atmosphere of the shop was very serene and helped relax me before game time. By far the best parlor I’ve been to in New England. I’ll be going back real soon.” -Kyle

And those are just two of eighty-two filtered reviews! We’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating — we have the BEST clients.

So while we encourage you to leave us reviews over on Google rather than Yelp, we’d like to give a little thank you to for taking time out of your busy schedules to leave us kind words — if you leave or have left us a positive review, we would love to give you a t-shirt the next time you stop by the shop. Or hugs*. Giant ones.

*Hugs will be dispensed by Steve, the official Witch City Ink hug-giver.

This first one belongs to Paula. She’s known Natan for quite some time, so when she came in for her consult, she more or less told him what she wanted and where, with few guidelines, and left the rest up to him. On the day of her appointment, she was surprised that the drawing he had prepared was so large, and was a little nervous about having to sit for the entire outline! Most clients sit far better than they expect to, and Paula was no exception. By the end of the session, she earned a spot in our “champion” category. We can’t wait to see this piece progress, it’s already looking gorgeous!

Jessica is another lovely client that came to Natan with a handful of references and a whole lot of trust. She had been following his work online for years, and wasn’t at all hesitant about giving him creative license. She initially wanted a forearm piece that would also cover an existing small tattoo, but Natan’s ideas bloomed into something much bigger. Jessica came in, saw what he had prepared, and was excitedly on board. She walked out with a whole sleeve outlined, and all parties were thrilled with the results.

Natan currently has some openings for mid-May, so if anyone wants a later appointment bumped up, or wants to start something new, give us a call! 978.744.9393