Bowling Day

I wish I could figure out a way to do a bowling day once a month. Everyone would be invited. We’ve been bowling at Concorde Lane but just calling people at last minute.. We should figure it out. Some more people can enjoy Sundays with us.

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What to name the Property?

My wife and I bought some property a while back. It’s in the Saint Francis Mountains and it’s pretty rugged country. We are 40acres I next to us my buddies got some property. Together with my buddy we have 88 acres. There’s no fence lines so you need a compass to get around. You also…

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Tattoo Apprentice or Unpaid Labor

My thoughts on Apprenticeship. The the book “Grit” by author Angela Duckworth, she talks about passion.  Through here scientific research she has found that passion is fostered.  It starts with interest.  “Is it a drag that passions don’t come at us all at once, as epiphanies, without the need to develop them? Maybe. But the reality…

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I’ve wanted this tattoo for 35 years.

When my buddy went off to the Navy he came back with some of the coolest tattoos. In 1988 I didn’t know tattoos could be so personal. I thought tattoos were just Eagles and flags and anchors that you picked off the wall. I had no idea that you could bring in your own image…

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Hot Springs Arkansas

Went on a vacation with the family. The spent a lot of time at the theme park. I tried to go but it was too hot in the theme park, I did take Lady on a few hikes. It was still hot but being in the woods is a different hot that asphalt hot. Here…

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Motorcycle. It’s a better way to see.

Some of my motorcycles through the years. If you own multiple motorcycles, you know they mark points in time. Looking at these pics of my old motorcycles. It’s like looking at different personalities I had. All good times Now that I’m older I definitely like dirt more. There’s something about riding a dual sport that…

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AI Adobe Firefly tattoo design!!

Let AI Help Yes, that is AI. Why am I using AI? Because I had no idea where to start with my clients design. She said it was very important that she had a treehouse on the beach with palm trees. No palm trees have no branches. This makes it very hard to build a…

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The Impossible Cover Up

It is wiser the take the energy of a tattoo and work with it rather than fight it. Some cover ups cannot be blasted over. Sometimes you just need to massage a new tattoo into it. This dark tribal design wasn’t going to be covered easily. So I used the old tattoo as the texture…

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Summer time is too hot for the big tent.

Tent Maintenance. I need to get the tent repaired. It’s a very durable canvas tent but without some TLC it will fall apart. So we went camping this weekend. It was awesome. 60 degrees at night. The shade keeps the campground cool till 11am even on the really hot days. It’s tucked away behind a…

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Attaching a Halfsleeve Tattoo!

Mike came back to finish a sleeve! I knew he would. That’s why I designed his halfsleeve to seamlessly connect to whatever he wanted to do next. It’s almost like I planned it this way! Clients are not always ready to get a whole sleeve but I am ready for when they are. When I…

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Catie

I have been tattooing catie and her family for decades now. We added a caterpillar- butterfly on her arm. Her back is 10 years old and I love how it has aged! Check out these photos I got this week.

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The Grand Reopening of Randy Adams Studio Party.

Matt Van Cura Inherits a Legacy. Technically Matt purchased the shop from the legendary tattooist Randy Adams. Randy is the fellow with the hat on backwards in the photo above. If you got tattooed in the 80’s in Fort Worth, Randy did it. I know Randy from the covers of old 80’s Tattoo magazines. He…

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The Arkansas “Little Grand Canyon”

The Ozarks has its Grand Canyon but if you head south to the Ouachitas you’ll find the Little Grand Canyon. The latter is one natural wonder you may have overlooked in Arkansas. This feature off of White Oak Lake is a peaceful spot and not to mention beautiful! Let’s go explore this underrated wonder. From…

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Church Van Upgrades

van life with Matt Hodel

The Van Build 2022 The Van Build started in May 0f 2022. It was built for my duaghter Emma’s 9 week road trip. This was a down and dirty build. I know some van builds are nicer than your house but this van is built to live out of, not live in.  It is made…

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Choosing Yourself!

What is ‘Choosing Yourself’ Codependency is widly known in most relationships whether we notice or not. It finds itself everywhere from our love lives, to work days. We often forget about ourselves in the mix of things. In the article, “What is ‘Choosing Yourself'” Ellen Nguyen gives a basic layout of focusing on yourself and…

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How Much do I Charge?

How much should I save for my Large Tattoo? The cost of a tattoo sleeve can vary widely depending on several factors, such as the size, design, and location of the tattoo. The experience and reputation of the tattoo artist is also a factor. Some artists are in such high demand that they can charge…

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Tipping Your Tattoo Artist

Tipping Your Tattoo Artist Lets talk tips. Like a server, bartender, hairdresser, etc tips are apart of the service industry. They are not expected but very much appreciated. The article “Tipping your Tattoo Artist” by Hamptons Ink perfectly outlines tipping in the tattoo industry. Not by percentages yet based on your overall experiance with the…

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Tonk The Tattooist!

Bringing Back Tonk! If you have followed this sight over the past year, you have already met! Back in Febuary 2022 we released the Zine, “Tonk the Tattooist”, ‘the first asshole of skin scribing”. As I noticed Tonks popularity rising again I figured I’d reintroduce him to everyone. I’ve Linked our original article in the…

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