Tattoo artists, patrons flood Civic Center for Ink Life Tour

For Stephen Loewen, the Ink Life Tour Tattoo and Music Festival is a chance to ease his mind for a few hours and expand his body-image inventory.

Loewen’s desire to get his first tattoo 10 years ago was simple.

“I wanted to decorate my body,” he said.

His first one was a bolt of lightning on his stomach. His 13th — which the 28-year-old got Friday afternoon from Ethan Kindle at the eighth annual tattoo and music fest that began Friday and runs noon to 11 p.m. today and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday — was a large bat head on his left upper thigh.

The reason Loewen continues getting tattooed is also simple.

“It makes me feel happy,” said the Pampa resident.

Loewen said he has some anxiety issues in his life, but during those three or four hours he’s relaxed and doesn’t think about anything — well maybe some pain, but not more than he can handle.

“It’s kind of therapeutic, in a way,” he said.

The bat head is located between a lion and a flaming church, another of Kindle’s creations.

The lion was done in South Africa and is the symbol of his favorite rugby team, Loewen said. He was in the Peace Corps in Zambia for a little more than three years, and the vacation to Cape Town was memorable. The same day he got the Lions’ tattoo, he went to watch them play. After the match, he went to a bar where some of the players had gathered, and Loewen said he showed them his tattoo.

“They said, ‘Why did you get that? We’re not really that good,’” Loewen said.

However, in the next few years the Lions’ fortunes changed dramatically and last season they capped a 14-1 regular season by falling just short of winning the league championship.

“It (the tattoo) brings back a lot of good memories,” said a smiling Loewen.

Kindle, who is originally from Pampa, returned to town in March and owns Outlaws Ink Tattoo at 103 W. Foster Ave. He has been working as a tattoo artist professionally for about a dozen years. He honed his craft at stops in Houston, Sacramento, Calif., New Orleans, and, most recently, San Antonio.

The bat tattoo was the fourth one Kindle has done on Loewen.

One of the best

For customers of Cartoon, an Amarillo artist who spends more time on the road than at his store, this weekend’s event is a rare opportunity to get inked by someone whom they think is one of the best.

Cartoon, the name he’s known by in the tattooing world, is a Caprock High School graduate. He owns Aristocrat Tattoo Studio at 804 S.W. 10th Ave. in Amarillo. He’s been in business for about 10 years but has been on the road working at events like Ink Life Tour for the past couple of years.

Associate Teddy Calahora said Cartoon averages four shows a month and won’t be back in town until the end of April. She said he travels all over the country, but “it’s his dream.”

The tattoo artist’s lifestyle is “fast-paced, that’s the best way I could describe it,” Calahora said. She said Cartoon is in high demand “but walk-ins are welcome to come by” this weekend.

Pushing boundaries

For Joe Grunow, the three-day tour stop at the Amarillo Civic Center is like a reunion.

Grunow has owned Amarillo Body Art Co. for eight years, with the last four being in its current location at 3307 Canyon Drive. A few years ago, he said he traveled almost as much as Cartoon, about 30 shows per year. Now it is down to 10 to 15, and this weekend’s event is a chance to catch up with artists he has met on the circuit.

He said the tattooing business is headed in the right direction.

“People continue to push the boundaries,” Grunow said.

He said with the advances in technology it has made his work more fun and more challenging. In the past, customers would come into his store and point to a design on the wall and say, “I want that one.” But now with the internet on people’s phones, they come in with their own design ideas.

“It’s expanding the realism,” he said. “The custom designs are increasing.”