Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Stone.
Caleb, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’m at tattooer at Modified-Design in Sherman, Texas. I grew up in Sherman most of my life, and I’ve been interested in art since I was very young. Most of my talent came from watching my mother draw and paint growing up. She really pushed me artistically most of my childhood until High School, when I pretty much quit drawing entirely as a rebellious act because she wanted me to be an artist, and I wanted to pursue music. She took her own life shortly after I turned 18. I became interested in tattoos when I was about 16, when some of my friends started getting tattooed. Some of them had turned 18 and got tattooed at local shops, and some of them were underage and got tattooed out of garages and kitchens, or made “prison contraptions” that they used on themselves. Either way I always thought they were rad. We all wanted to be rockstars, so tattooing sort of came with the territory. I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday, and instantly became obsessed. By the time I was 19 I had a half sleeve. At that time, I was getting tattooed by my friend and current coworker, Sean McAdams. I somehow talked him into showing me how to tattoo. I was an apprentice under him for a short time, until events lead to him moving too far for me to continue my apprenticeship, and shortly after I discovered I was going to become a father. Once my first son was born, I resumed my apprenticeship under Waylon Harp, Joe Narramore, and John Rhodes at Mad House Tattoos in 2009. I left Mad House in late 2010 and worked at a sketchy street shop until 2012 when I joined the crew at Modified-Design, where I reside currently. I have a wife and two boys, and when I’m not working at the shop I travel and work in shops and conventions across Texas and the US
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I make tattoos, and I’m a tattooer first and foremost. With the growing popularity of tattooing, it’s become more likely that a tattoo artist has had some kind of prior education or formal art training. My formal art education doesn’t extend past 6th grade, so my art mostly reflects what makes a good tattoo. Bold lines, bright color, dark black. Other than tattooing, I mostly do watercolor paintings, and lately have been doing some graphic design that I’ve been printing on t-shirts and hats. I used to try to replicate vintage traditional tattoo flash, but in the past few years my work has begun to evolve into more illustrative and slightly detailed work, but I still try to keep the boldness of the older tattoos. I like my art to have a toughness, or aggression to it. I’m honestly not sure why, I’m not a very aggressive person at all, but I am into anything that might make the upper class turn up their nose, haha. I’ve always been into the lowbrow stuff, from Ed Roth’s “Rat Fink” to Jim Phillips’ “Screaming Hand” on Santa Cruz skateboards, I’ve always liked art that went against the grain or represented such, so I try to follow those footsteps. I just want everything to look gnarly.
How can artists connect with other artists?
With the type of work that I do, I honestly don’t have a hard time with that. I get to work around other artists all the time, and it’s almost a requirement to be outgoing and get to know people in our world to make it. Right now the internet is the greatest tool of all to connect with artists. Instagram alone has brought me closer to so many people around the world. It also keeps you in the know of what events are coming to your area, or where you can go to attend. I think that and having the will to use that to get out and actually turn those online relationships into personal relationships is all you need. The worst thing that can happen if you email someone is they don’t reply, and you move on. I’ve made so many things happen the past few years by just sending an email to someone I looked up to, just to see what happens. More times than not, it’s had a positive outcome.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I can be found at Modified-Design in Sherman, Texas on most days. Travel dates and convention dates can be found on my website www.calebstonetattoo.com, where you can also submit booking requests, and purchase shirts and hats. You can also find me on Instagram @caleb_stone
Contact Info:
- Address: Modified Design Tattoos and Piercing
4520 Texoma Parkway
Suite A
Sherman, TX 75090 - Website: www.calebstonetattoo.com
- Email: calebstonetattoos@gmail.com
- Instagram: @caleb_stone
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/calebstonetattoos
Image Credit:
Personal photo: Off The Map Tattoo, Easthampton, MA
All tattoo photos were taken by myself
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