On our visit Thursday afternoon, Beard, who goes by the nickname Tattoo Man, was at work on Randy Hatfield’s arm, creating a tattoo to celebrate nine months being cancer free. This fits in quite well with the message on the back of Beard’s business cards, “Come see us for your next ink therapy session.”
Beard said he had been an artist from a young age and took interest in tattooing because his father had a lot of tattoos. “I’ve always kind of been around it,” Beard said of the craft.
A Hope native and Hope High graduate, Beard said his friend Colby Powell, owner of Terry Powell’s Grocery, told him about the location being available. “I’d wanted to be downtown. And I couldn’t find anywhere,” Beard said, until the conversation with Powell alerted him about his present location which Beard he now thinks is the perfect place for his business.
Beard said his specialty is coverups, the kind of work you might need if a previous tattooist made a mistake or you regret a choice you made in an earlier time of life, but he loves “anything different.”
One of the more unusual tattoos he has done, he said, was tattoo “Your name” on the flank of an older gentleman. But he said roses are always popular. “I’ve done Razorbacks, plenty of them,” he said.
A line of certificates and diplomas Beard has earned decorate the south wall of the” studio. He said he has worked about ten years, starting after high school graduation and including training and an apprenticeship in Hot Springs to get to the point now of being the head of his own business with the ability to take on student apprentices of his own.
Beard named what, for him, makes being a tattoo artist worthwhile. “Putting beautiful artwork on people. Tattoos help people more than what people realize. With memorial pieces, it helps people heal from losing their loved ones. The whole process is therapy to a lot of people,” he said.
The hours and days InkLife is open are usually by 10 a.m. Thursday through Sunday. Beard asks that those interested in wearing his art make appointments by calling his number at 1-501-428-1292.
