Matt
“I don’t like Colorado. I don’t like the cold. I don’t like snow. I’m not a snow sports guy, so I don’t like skiing or snowboarding. I’ve never gone, and I don’t want to because it’s cold.”
Matt laughs when he says it, but he’s not kidding. He’s lived in Colorado for 41 years. He grew up here—spent a hefty portion of his childhood in the Springs—and now works in Fort Collins at Solana Tattoo Company. He despises the weather but will admit that the Centennial State has got its perks: the right amenities and kind people.
Matt enjoys drawing, painting, riding motorcycles, and hanging out with his kids. He started tattooing 12 years ago, though the art has appealed to him for much longer.
“I first got introduced to tattoos when I was six. My dad had biker friends that had tattoos, and I asked about them one time, and he’s like, ‘Those are tattoos. . . . Never get a tattoo.’
“I loved ‘em. I just thought they were so cool and tough looking, you know? And then after that interaction with my dad, I started drawing what I called tattoos, and then I continued on drawing in school, like I took art classes—a ton of art classes—in high school and in college. And that led me to tattooing.”
Matt’s most meaningful tattoo is on his left palm: the emblem of an old Sterling-based car club called “The Angels.” His grandpa was a member back in the 1950s and early 60s.
“Before he passed, he gave me his car placard to hang up . . . and so it had this insignia on it, and I asked him—cause, you know, he gave me that placard and his last car club business card that he had—and I asked him if I could get that tattooed on me for him. And he said, ‘Yeah,’ and asked me where I was gonna put it. And I told him my left palm. And he just looked at me, and he’s all, ‘Isn’t that gonna hurt a lot?’ And I was all, ‘Yeah.’ And he just laughed. He’s like, ‘I don’t care. Go ahead.’
“It took me two years after him passing to get the tattoo because I was scared. . . . That one’s for him. I think about him every time I see it.”
1119 W. Elizabeth St. Fort Collins, CO
