Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Floral Tattoos- Flower Power for the 21st Century

Those old enough to remember the days of Woodstock, Haight-Ashbury, and the Volkswagen microbus as the transportation of choice will also remember Peace Signs and Flower Power. There was even a 1967 hit song by Scott McKenzie with the lyrics, If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.

What goes around comes around, or so many a clich lover has said, and the Flower Power of the 1960s has resurfaced again, not in hairpieces, but in tattoos. Flower tattoos have an undeniable appeal to those of gentle spirit, both male and female. But politics aside, flower tattoos are simply lovely to look at and that alone makes them a favorite for women.

Women who began flocking to the boardrooms and offices of the American business culture in the 1980s also began flocking to the tattoo parlors of America, although at first their choices were both small and discreetly positioned. All that has changed in the past twenty-five years, and the 21st century woman is willing to match any man in her choice of tattoos. Yet flower tattoos still remain the one which women most often request.

Many women choose single small flower tattoos as their introduction to the art of tattooing, and add more to it to form a garland or use it as the basis for a larger and more complex tattoo at a later date. And flower tattoos allow the freedom to choose any colors in the tattoo artists ink palette, whether or not they are actually found in nature. Blue roses, for instance, are extremely popular floral tattoos, and represent a striving for the impossible, because there are no naturally blue roses.

Roses, blue or otherwise, are without a doubt the most requested of all floral tattoos. The have come to symbolize everything from passionate love to eternal beauty to, when their thorns are portrayed, danger and hardship.

Hawaiian floral tattoos, on the other hand, are generally considered unisex tattoos, and are as popular with men as with women. They can include everything from the big, showy yellow Hawaiian Hibiscus to the delicate Cattleya Orchids, the blooms of which can measure anywhere from the one inch to eight inches across. Miniature Cattleyas are perfect for floral tattoos on the ankle or shoulder blade, while the larger blooms can decorate backs, arms, shoulders, legs, or any place that one wants covered in beauty.

One of the biggest appeals of floral tattoos is that they will never become outdated; and a skilled tattoo artist can even create fantasy flowers with the colors of one variety, petals of another, and leaves and stems of a third. A floral tattoo of a single bloom can be centered around the navel; floral tattoos can be vines winding around arms or legs.

Floral tattoos, 21st century style, in fact, can do anything a garden full of natural flowers can do, and much, much more!

Author: Matt Garrett - 2007 www.TopTattooDesign.Com

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The Antiquity of Time

The only determination of where we are in the journey of life is time. If there was no way to measure time, it would be so very difficult for us to judge the age of the finest wine, the distance to the far away stars, the moments left for the loved ones arrival, the days left before the journey back home..

Prehistoric man, by simple observation of the stars, changes in the seasons, day and night began to come up with very primitive methods of measuring time. This was necessary for planning nomadic activity, farming, sacred feasts, etc.. The earliest time measurement devices before clocks and watches were the sundial, hourglass and water clock.

In Ancient India, time was measured in a hexadecimal system. The saying in Eastern India goes, 8 Prohors make a day. In India, prior to the British occupation and western influence, the Indians did not consider one day to be from midnight to midnight. The day (Din) was just the period when the sun was up and night (Raat or Raatri) was when the sun was down. The saying, 8 Prohors make a day also indicates that another 8 Prohors make the night.

This is not a claim in the air. It is substantiated by the fact that Dupur or more accurately Din Dupur (Duppahar). Now Du means two. So Dupur is the second Prohor. Since the day is 16 Prohors, the 0th or 8th Prohor would be at 9 AM and 9 PM, with 1 Prohor at 10:30 and 2 Prohor at 12.

Ancient Indians devised a detailed terminology for minute intervals of time. Although some experts feel that this terminology had no relevance to everyday life, this indicates the deep inroads the ancient Indians, especially those who devoted to scholarhood, had made in physics and mathematics.

18 Nimesas (Winks) was 1 Kashta (3.2 seconds)
30 Kashtas was 1 Kala (1.6 Minutes)
15 Kalas was 1 Nadika or 1 Nalika
30 Kalas or 2 Nadikas was 1 Muhurta or Kshana (48 Minutes)
30 Muhurtas was 1 Aho-Ratra (1 cycle of day and night or 24 hours)

Anuradha Kabra is the daughter of the world famous Indian classical guitarist, Pandit Brijbhushanlal Kabra of the "Call of the Valley" fame and Kamla Kabra-an artist in her own rights. She grew up with music in her ears and art in her fingertips.

Her passion for handicrafts and recognition of the arts and crafts of India multiplied as she scoured the varied Indian countryside and discovered the hidden wealth in her homeland. She supports many NGO's by promoting their products to her customers.

She has been manufacturing and exporting high quality Handmade Furniture and Antique Reproduction Clocks to various parts of the world, mainly Italy, Middle-East and USA. She also set up units for manufacturing of designer home furnishings and hand-crafted clocks.

Her dream is to take the beautiful art and craft of India to every corner of the world. You can check out some of the designs of her Clocks and Furniture at http://www.aesthetic.bz