May Thy Perogi dwell always in our bellies!
May Thy Sour Cream ever flow over the dough of our souls!
O fillings of our Perogi, Thou givest flavour to all things by the cheese and potatoes of Thy goodness!
I will not go until Thy Perogi has strengthened me, O Chef!
May the Perogi of The Plate be the King of my belly!
Blessed be Perogi. Amen.

A word of thanks to parishioner Burningbridges for submitting this image of the Sacred Perogi to the tattoo galleries.

This art-nouveau theme portrait was sent in by BME user 8qak-gracetaylo.  I would love to be able to give proper credit to the artist, unfortunately the information wasn’t provided with the image.  Please remember, when you submit your photos to BME to take a moment to fill in the all the boxes provided.  That way if your photo is featured on ModBlog everyone involved can get credit.

But enough about that, lets take a look at the portrait.

From the description provided this is a portrait of the owner’s mother, with Art Nouveau elements surrounding it.  If you head over to the portrait gallery, you can see the portrait from another angle.  This side of the arm has the butterflies created using shading, the other side has them created from negative space.

UPDATE:  The owner of the arm is Grace Taylor, and the artwork was done by Marcus Maguire from Custom Tattoo Inc. in Glasgow, Scotland.

Le génie du mal is the name of a statue by Belgian artist Guillaume Geefs.  The literal translation is “The Genius of Evil”, but the statue is most commonly referred to as “Lucifer”.  The state itself is known as one of the more famous artistic renditions of Lucifer, as it includes a number of images that support the Morning Star version of the myth.  Looking at it you can see how the wings are bat-like, he’s holding a broken crown and sceptre, and at his chained feet is an apple with a bite taken out of it.

The initial theme of the piece was “The Triumph of Religion over the Genius of Evil”.  Geefs’ younger brother originally crafted a statue but when it was unveiled the church felt that his interpretation of Lucifer was glorifying the fallen angel, and Guillaume was brought in to create a new version.  So while the second statue abides by what the church wanted, it also contains a number of subtle “screw yous” in it as criticism for how his brother’s art was treated.

Over the years many different groups have attributed their own interpretations onto the work, as is the case with most works of art.  Due to it’s prominence as a piece of religious iconography, it’s no wonder that someone has gotten a tattoo in the image of the statue.

As you can see by the watermark, the tattoo was done by Nick Bertioli, from Timeless Tattoo in Los Angeles.

This particular tattoo isn’t the only religious piece that Nick has done.  Over in the religious and mythological tattoo galleries you can see some more of his work.  You can also see this image in the fairies and angels tattoo gallery as well.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts not only on the tattoo, but also on the subject matter as well.  Does this image evoke the feeling that religion has triumphed over the genius of evil?  Or do you think that the chains and the posture are representing a type of oppression towards the arts?  Or something else entirely?

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.

–Thomas Jefferson

Now, when it comes to quotes from the founding fathers, there’s always room for interpretation.  Context is always key, which is something that tends to be forgotten in today’s political climate.  One thing is definite, the line about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, was a notion that at its core is a positive one.  Now people can debate until they’re blue in the face about how those ideals should be met, and what the original intentions behind them were, but if you were to just take the statement on its own, it certainly is applicable to the modified community.  For the most part, all any of us want is to be able to express ourselves in any way we see fit.  It just so happens that it involves modifying the physical body, as opposed to making a statement in a letter or painting a picture.

Recently Brian performed this blended scarification and branding piece on one of his clients.  With the choice of the word liberty as the focus of the piece, the owner is showing off just how she is able to exercise her free will, and take control of her own body in a way she sees fit.

As to whether the owner got this scar/brand with the famous words in mind, only she will ever know.  As observers we can just sit back and interpret it however we see fit, which is exactly what the philosophy of liberty allows us to do.

You can get a closer look at this piece in the Brian Decker gallery, and if you’re so inclined, feel free to leave a comment on the photo.  If you’re logged into your BME account you can add a comment to any image in the galleries.

…so here’s a three-eyed, crayon-horned, unicycle riding, purple people eater.

This interesting character comes from the gang at Studio Evolve Tattoo in Virginia Beach.  I think there may be turtle elements to this guy as well, given the chest and paws are vaguely turtle-ish.  In any case, it definitely is a creative design.  And it fits in well in the cartoon tattoo gallery.

Now I’m not sure if this guy is from something, or is a completely unique design, but it certainly is fun.  Anyone have any ideas for a name for this little guy?

Also, I’m always on the lookout for great pictures of modifications in any medium.  So if you’ve got something you want to share with the world, just log into your BMEzine.com account, go to your profile page, click on “Media”, and then click on the “Photo” button in the top right section of the media page.  From there you can upload your pictures, as well as tag them with what type of modification it is, and most importantly, you can give full credit to everyone involved in it.

If you don’t have a BMEzine.com account, what are you waiting for?  You can sign up at any time to get a free membership which gives you access to the galleries, so you can see more than just the first few pictures.  If you do have a membership and are having problems seeing the galleries, make sure that you’re logged in, I know I’ve forgotten to log in a couple of times and wondered why I suddenly can’t see everything.  It something so simple, that it really is easy to forget, but once you’re logged in, you won’t have any problems, and if you do, our support staff is on hand to help you out.

Walmart seems to have a monopoly on the crazies when it comes to shoppers.  Ok, maybe not crazy, but eccentric, as evidenced by the many images on the people of walmart website.  Now while Walmart may be the place to go to when you want to see someone walking around in an outfit created entirely of stuffed animal skins, Walgreens seems to be the place you go when you want to see attractive modified people.  If you happened to be in one recently, you may have had the opportunity to see a pretty girl like IAM: Whitney strolling down the aisle.

Earlier in the week some people were asking what happened to the BME boys and BME girls posts on Fridays.  I don’t know the status of the calendar posts, or the regular weekly column, but what I do know is that I personally don’t see why I should save the pictures of attractive people just for Fridays, but that’s just me.

As for Whitney’s picture, it popped up in the stretched lobe gallery this morning, so I’d imagine this picture is fairly recent.

Ahh, the wedding ring.  That timeless symbol of commitment between two individuals in love.  If you’ve ever been to a wedding, you’ve probably heard many sayings about the importance of the band.  How the circle is unbroken, just as the couple’s love for each other will be.  How it can signify the vows and promises, uniting the two together.  Regardless of the specific meaning that the couple places on the wedding ring, there is no denying that the tradition of the wedding ring has been around for centuries.

Originally a European tradition, it has now carried itself all around the world.  There are even different forms of etiquette regarding the rings which vary from region to region and culture to culture.  A relatively new spin on the tradition of the wedding band, is the wedding band tattoo.  Unlike a ring formed of metal, a tattoo is a permanent reminder of the commitment one has for their partner.  We’ve all heard the superstition about getting a loved one’s name tattooed on their body is the kiss of death for a relationship, yet the myth doesn’t seem to apply to wedding ring tattoos.

The one thing that makes a tattoo ring much more significant than a traditional metal band is that the ring itself can be completely customized.  So while jewelers can be extremely creative in their designs, tattoos aren’t limited by the physical properties of metal, which means you can get some beautiful designs.  Take this design from Sailor Dani from Mutiny Tattoo.  It is an exquisite example of just how wonderful and joyous a wedding band tattoo can be.

Ok, so maybe that last paragraph was a little tongue-in-cheek, but you have to admit, you did giggle a little when you saw the tattoo.

Well, it’s time to find out how everyone did with today’s Guess What pictures.  But before we get to the results, let’s take a quick look back at the images from today.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Do you think you got all 3 right? Well keep on reading if you want to claim bragging rights for this week’s game.

Read more…

A lot of the scarification pictures that we see are often clean.  What I mean by that is they’re taken after the work has been finished, and the site has been cleaned up for a good photo.  That or we see the healed scar some time later.  One of the most significant aspects of scarification is the process.  It’s not always just about the final result.

With a scar you have those first few cuts of the outline going in.  The blade slicing open your body, breaking the surface of your outer shell.  As it continues, the blade becomes a paintbrush, with every stroke a work of art being crafted out of your own flesh.  Then the removal begins.  These lines that have broken your skin are now used as point to remove whole sections of your flesh.  As your armor peels away, you become exposed fully to the world.  That thin layer of protection is forever gone, and you are forced to show the world what is truly inside you.  Then as the scar begins to heal, a new layer begins to take the place of the old.  While that old layer was a small barrier to the outside, this new barrier, having come from within is tougher, stronger, ready to show off what has come from deep inside you.

The process of a scar isn’t meant to be pristine.  It is a raw experience, where you shed not only your flesh, but your blood.  It is a cleansing ritual where the outside is removed, cleaned with the blood, and healed by the body into something new.  While other modifications use metal and ink as a form of expression, the scar is created entirely by the body.  Of course ink and metal can be incorporated into it depending on who the person is, but the process is on a base level the same.

In a recent addition to the skin removal scarification galley, we can see just how revealing this process is.  Here you have a person in the process of having their flesh removed, revealing the person buried just beneath the surface.

And here we have the final shot of this portion of the process, the traditional clean picture.

The rest of the images from the cutting can be found in the scarification gallery.  And yes, there is more blood.

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for another edition of everyone’s favorite game, The Guess What Game!

Here’s how the game works.  Over the course of the day there will be 3 posts made, each containing a cropped image and a small hint as to what it is.  In the comments section of each post, write down what you think the body part in the image is.  At the end of the day the results will be revealed, and you can see if your guesses are correct.

Last week we had quite a few people get 3 out of 3, so this week things are going to be a little more difficult.  Oh, and in case you didn’t get a chance to see last week’s results, there were no male genitalia used in any of the images.  Does that mean the penis is back this week?  The only way to find out is to keep coming back to ModBlog today to see.

The third and final image today might seem obvious at first, but you have to remember to take into account just how close the camera was when the picture was taken.

Think you know what this is?  Post in the comments, then keep checking ModBlog today to find out what it is.

If you’re getting to the game late, and you’ve made your guess but can’t find the results, just click on the following link.  It will become active once the results are posted.

Click here to see the results!

If you missed the first two rounds, you can find round 1 here, and round 2 here.