FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #35 Inks and Stories: The Art Behind Dark Horse Tattoos
Artistic passion meets professional integrity in this fascinating conversation with Cat Johnson, owner of Dark Horse Tattoos in Fredericksburg. With over 20 years of experience tattooing and 17 years running her own studio, Cat takes us behind the scenes of an industry often shrouded in misconceptions.
The journey begins with an unexpected spark of inspiration—an HBO movie watched by an 11-year-old Cat that featured a full-body tattoo that captivated her imagination. That moment of fascination developed into a lifelong passion and eventually a thriving business that has earned its reputation "one client at a time."
Cat expertly dismantles outdated stereotypes about who gets and gives tattoos. "We tattoo everyone," she explains, listing clients ranging from priests and doctors to soccer moms and surgeons. The demographic statistics are striking—approximately 85% of Americans between 18-35 have at least one tattoo, with the art form distributed equally between men and women. The days of "tiny tester tattoos" are long gone, with many first-timers now committing to full sleeves and large-scale pieces.
What truly sets Dark Horse Tattoos apart is their commitment to education and honesty. Unlike shops desperate for any business, Cat and her team prioritize creating art that will "last and look beautiful and earn you compliments for the rest of your life." This means sometimes redirecting clients to artists better suited for specific styles or explaining why certain trendy designs seen on social media won't translate well to skin. "We want you to get a tattoo that's going to suit your particular physique and your goals," Cat emphasizes, revealing the thoughtful consideration behind every piece they create.
Whether you're tattoo-curious or a seasoned collector, this conversation offers valuable insights into the artistry, business, and integrity behind quality tattooing. Visit darkhorsetattoos.com or call 540-288-8370 to experience the Dark Horse difference for yourself.
Cat Johnson
Dark Horse Tattoos
+1 540-288-8370
DHThelp@Gmail.com
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to another episode of the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. Today, joining us is Cat Johnson with Dark Horse Tattoos. Cat, welcome to the podcast. Oh, thank you so much. Well, I'm excited to learn more about you and what all you do. So let's start there. Share with us a little bit about you and your services. Sure.
Speaker 3:I am a professional tattoo artist. I have been tattooing since 2003, so over 20 years, and I opened Dark Horse in 2008. So this is our 17th year and we have five different artists and we specialize in custom tattooing.
Speaker 2:Amazing. Well, congratulations on 17 years. That's a really big deal.
Speaker 3:So big, so big, and we're excited.
Speaker 2:That's a big deal. Okay, I need to know your backstory, so tell me your journey. How did you get into this?
Speaker 3:So when I was young I'm 55 in 1981, when I was 11, hbo had recently come out and HBO did not have safe harbor hours at the time, so what it would do is it would say hey, this is going to be a rated r movie. Are you 18? If you're not, you shouldn't watch it. Needless to say, my parents weren't home. I ignored that totally and I watched a movie that was called tattoo and it starred Bruce Dern and Maude Adams, who are popular actors and actresses at the time, and it wasn't actually a tremendously positive story. It was about a tattoo artist who kidnapped a supermodel, tattooed her against her will and at the end, when he attempts to sexually assault her, she kills him with his tattoo machine. Horrible story. It definitely implied that people who either collect or give tattoos are not the most stable of folks.
Speaker 3:But because I was young, I was 11 and I was naive the climatic ending scene the male tattoo artist gets up. You see him from behind. He takes off his kimono and he has what is known as a bodysuit or a full body tattoo. Now, that was not body paint, that was an actual tattooed person, and I remember it was just like lightning. I felt like the most amazing thing had happened to me. I was like the person is nude but you don't really notice. What you see is the picture, and it was gorgeous. It was a big dragon tattoo and I was so impressed by the fact that it was as if the person had a skin tight kimono on. And although my father had a few very small tattoos, it really didn't occur to me that you could do large coverage and I was like that is for me and I totally went down that road and I always wanted to be a tattoo artist and when I got the chance, I absolutely followed through and I ended up in the profession, which I am so, so grateful for.
Speaker 2:That's a very interesting story. I love it. I love it. So, being in the tattoo industry, are you finding that there are any myths or misconceptions about the industry?
Speaker 3:I think one of the most common misconceptions is that people who either give or get tattoos come from a criminal background. They're not professionals, and that is absolutely not true. We tattoo everyone. We have tattooed priests, lawyers, doctors, soccer bombs, surgeons, you name it. The entire swath of humanity gets tattoos these days. So the idea that you are uneducated, uninteresting, perhaps with a dicey, dark background that might have been true in the 70s. It is not true in 2025.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you for dispelling that for us, and it sounds like it's probably a growing industry too.
Speaker 3:So every year, I think the reach of our artistry expands both through social media and just other people seeing heavily tattooed people in daily life. It used to be that people would get a little tiny tester tattoo before they dive into being tattooed. These days I have first-timers who are getting full arm sleeves, full leg sleeves, huge back pieces.
Speaker 2:They're just doing their thing and it is definitely not the same stigma that it used to be and people are starting to open up their eyes as to the many different styles of artistry that they can carry and how that can either say something about their own story or it can episode, and I was on your website and you do beautiful work so I can see where it's more appealing seeing beautiful tattoos and, like you said, on social media. So that makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3:Definitely it is popular.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think I don't think. I know many people that don't have a tattoo.
Speaker 3:So these days the demographic between 18 and 35, as best as we know, is about 85% of the population at least has one. If you're American between 18 and 35. Then it kind of skips to three and then it goes to many. You just have large coverage at that point. But it is equitably distributed between men and women. I have people who get their first tattoo at 16 with their parents' consent. I have people who are 90 who get a tattoo for the first time. They've always wanted one. They're like who's going to judge me at 90? I'm going to do it.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's fun. Yeah, I love that. So if someone were to approach you and tell you that they were thinking about getting into the industry, what advice would you give them?
Speaker 3:It's a very, very difficult industry to break into, very difficult, harder every day. And that's because the industry is relatively saturated both in metropolitan and rural areas. And the other real driver as to why it's difficult to get in there really isn't much of an incentive for a tattoo artist to teach someone else their trade. Typically you don't get a ton of money for doing that. Typically it could take anywhere from one to four or more years to learn, where the person who's teaching you really isn't getting anything in exchange. So because they don't have degrees in it, the way you could go get a degree as an x-ray technician, there's almost no incentive to teach someone how to tattoo. So it's very difficult to get in. You have to have something that that particular artist you know sees in you and wants to be part of their studio typically. But it's very difficult to get into.
Speaker 2:Interesting, Interesting. I did not realize that. So being a business owner for 17 years is no small feat. Clearly you have learned some lessons along the way. So what advice would you give another entrepreneur, maybe just starting out? Or what advice do you wish someone gave you when you first started your business?
Speaker 3:I would say the best advice I could give to someone else is find a reputable tax attorney. Typically, most people who go into the business do not have any kind of business education. They're just really good artists and typically that does not necessarily translate into a very good business owner. And so I think that having a good tax attorney is going to be very expensive, but it's going to pay you back, making sure that you're meeting your legal requirements, since you are essentially self-employed. Whether you work for a studio or don't, people who work for studios are independent contractors. Of course, the studio is the person who's employing the independent contractors, but because it's an IC business, everybody is their own individual business. They need a good tax attorney.
Speaker 2:That's really good advice. You need someone there to keep you out of trouble.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Great advice. So what is something that you wish the listeners knew about? Dark Horse Tattoos.
Speaker 3:So I think the thing that is most important to discuss to people who are new to our brand is that each artist has both a specialty and a generalization.
Speaker 3:So just because you don't see something represented in their portfolio does not mean that it's something they're not interested in or not capable of doing. Obviously, when you do certain types of work that attracts like types of work, but that doesn't mean that you can't do other things. So it's important that you approach the artist and say hey, is this a style that you're comfortable in? Can you do this? Can you work with me with this particular piece of art? Many times the answer is yes, but sometimes it's no.
Speaker 3:We are not averse in every single style. There are certain things that either the artist doesn't want to do because they don't enjoy that type of work, they don't feel it's where their talent lies, or it's just something that isn't as exciting as another style and that might be their specialty. So everyone at our studio has their own individual specialty, but also a very wide swath of generalization, and no one is afraid to say you know what? I'm not the right fit for this particular project. If there's somebody in the studio that is a good fit, we'll direct you that way. If no one is a good fit in the studio, we'll also let you know that. Hey, I'm sorry, that's just not a style that we have a lot of call for. We can't offer you that particular style of artistry. It's not like picking up milk from 7-Eleven. There's not just. Everybody does everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense. I imagine it's a lot of fun, though, when someone comes in and they have something a little bit different or challenging to try something new.
Speaker 3:So everyone loves to stretch their creative wings, so to speak, and everybody enjoys that.
Speaker 3:But we also have a sense of what can and can't happen as a tattoo, because tattooing is very different than Photoshop or drawing or painting, and many times people will come in with either AI generated references or Photoshop generated references, which are beautiful pieces of art but lack the structure to be technically sound as tattoos. So we want you to get a tattoo that's going to last and look beautiful and earn you compliments for the rest of your life, and we're going to give you honest advice because we're not desperate, we're established. We want you to be happy with our services, to tell your friends and neighbors, but also for you to get a tattoo that's going to suit your particular physique and your goals as to why you're getting that piece of body art particular physique and your goals as to why you're getting that piece of body art and I imagine that sets you apart from your competition is that it sounds like you value the education piece when someone comes in and you have a lot of integrity and you make sure that.
Speaker 2:Well, you won. You want your client to be happy, but make sure that they are making an informed decision and you're giving them all the information they need.
Speaker 3:Exactly. It is not worth it to any tattoo artist to do something that is technically unsound in a deceptive way. Now you might say you know what I want? A tattoo on the palm of my hand. I have one. They're very difficult to do technically well, they're extremely painful and I generally don't recommend it because very technically difficult to do, very slow and very painful.
Speaker 3:But if you understand the risk and you want to do it anyway, as long as you understand the risk, that's my goal. My goal is not to gatekeep. If you want something, we can explain what the technical consequence of that particular style of art or that particular placement is. We'll suggest things that we think will make the project more successful, more striking, more long-lasting. But if you're like hell-bent on doing something, as long as you consent and understand the risk, that's fine. We're not trying to gatekeep you from something you really want, but we are trying to give you a little bit of our professional advice regarding what's going to be successful, what's going to be flattering, what's going to last.
Speaker 3:So, for example, if you're a person that loves to tan, you get a lot of sun. Maybe pastel colors really aren't for you. They're very vulnerable to exposure to UV. But if you're like, that's what I want, I want a pink rose and I want it to have no black outlines. That's not going to have great longevity over time, but as long as you understand that, that's fine. We will do what you ask, as long as you understand what you're asking for. The general public, not having this as a professional background, doesn't always know the consequence of what they're asking, particularly when they're picking out AI or Photoshop references that they've seen on Pinterest and they're like oh, that looks great. I'm like well, that does look great, but that's actually a Photoshop over a model. That person isn't even tattooed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes a lot of sense and I know myself I would trust someone who has been in the business for 17 years.
Speaker 3:We have earned our reputation one client at a time.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, absolutely so. If the listeners want to work with you and learn more about you, where can they find you?
Speaker 3:They can go to darkhorsetattooscom. We have a booking form. They can fill it out. It is important that you attach the references because that tells us what you like and where the body part is. Or, if you prefer, you can always set up an in-person consultation by calling our receptionist. We'd be more than happy to coordinate with you and she's available at 540-288-8370. You can get with any of our artists. You can also check us out on Instagram at Dark Horse Tattoos, or Facebook at Dark Horse Tat.
Speaker 2:Amazing Cat. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Dark Horse Tattoos with us.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you so much for having me. It was super fun and I look forward to hearing from your audience, so I hope you guys have a beautiful day. Thank, you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg neighbors podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG neighbors podcastcomgneighborspodcast. com. That's fxbgneighborspodcast. com or call 540-534-4618.