Black and grey tribal tattoo with Celtic knotwork covering a man's shoulder and upper arm.

Tribal and Celtic knot shoulder piece

Blackwork · Shoulder · Black and grey · Photo

A bare shoulder and upper arm are covered by a bold tribal design with interlaced Celtic knotwork at the centre and sweeping black blade-like shapes around it. The solid black linework is set off by soft grey and skin-toned shading that gives the swirls a raised, three-dimensional look. The ink is confined to black and grey, and the design wraps over the shoulder point with the knot pattern filling the upper arm.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nessa,

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You will not believe the state of the marquee at Kinvara. Mr Duffy had the knot-board carved for the head table, the one he has been sanding since Easter, and when the wind came off the bay the whole frame rang like a bell. I held the lamp while Eamon hung it. Every interlace was cut deep enough to hold a shadow, and the black blades that run round the edge looked as if they were cutting through the cloth rather than sitting on it.

Eamon's mother wanted the old pattern, the one her grandfather scratched on the byre door, but Declan Ruane insisted on his own drawing. He had sketched it on the back of a ferry ticket in March and kept coming back to the knot in the middle, the one that never ends. He said a lovers' knot should be made of one line that doubles back on itself, so nobody can say where it starts. I thought that was sentimental until he showed me the pencil marks, rubbed out and redrawn forty times.

At the reception Declan made a speech with no notes. He lifted his glass towards the board and said the trick of a good knot is that you can pull on any strand and the whole thing tightens. Then the lights went out for the generator, and in the dark the carved shapes still caught the candles, sharp and raised. Nobody moved for a moment.

Write back soon and tell me if Mam forgave you for the cake.

Love, Siobhan

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