Inside Rise and Shine, it’s calm and cozy. Drawings and paintings by the married owners, Brandon Smith and Becca Basma Smith, cover the walls. It doesn’t feel like a tattoo shop — that is, until you hear the sound of the tattoo machine.
Smith is finishing up a large arm piece on a regular client. He specializes in American traditional and Japanese style tattooing, but his work is also inspired by the state’s flora and fauna. Many clients come to him for tattoos of native Texas flowers, animals and landscapes.
“A lot of the work I do out here is based on my experience as a trail builder and a Hays County Master Naturalist. I’ve applied those skills to the grounds around us,” he said. “A lot of that, to me, is slow art and is the same as tattooing. It just takes time to see.”…