Rise and Shine Tattoos sits off a quiet backroad in Kyle, not far from the bluffs of the Blanco River. The shop is in a mostly undeveloped part of Hays County, near prairies and ranch land. To enter, clients walk on gravel paths surrounded by native Texas wildflowers and plants.
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.”
Rise and Shine is in a mostly undeveloped part of Southwest Kyle, surrounded by native Texas wildflowers and plants. Hays County is planning to build a new road in front of the shop.
The couple was tattooing together at a shop in San Marcos for more than a decade before they opened Rise and Shine three years ago.
“I just wanted something closer to nature and something calmer and a place where people could feel relaxed while they’re getting tattooed,” Basma Smith said. “And I think we found that. … I hope we can keep it.”
Keeping up with growth
Rise and Shine is in a small part of Southwest Kyle untouched by development — but that will be changing soon. Nearby residential communities and commercial developments are growing fast.
Hays County will be expanding roads in the area to accommodate increased traffic. A new road will be built right in front of the 4 acres of land Rise and Shine sits on.
“It’s going to go through this beautiful farmland,” Basma Smith said. “And rip up stuff and put a bunch of concrete where concrete doesn’t need to be.”
“I think in order for tattooers to survive, everyone kind of needs to increase their rates, so that it becomes an accepted amount for everybody.”
Amanda Rae, tattoo artist
She said their landlord is considering selling the spot to escape the construction. They’re worried about what could change under new management.
The rent is too high in the more desirable locations, she said.
Highway construction in the Austin area has displaced other tattoo artists. In 2024, True Blue Tattoo on Airport Boulevard closed due to the I-35 expansion project.
In recent months, well-known shops like Moon Tattoo in Northeast Austin and Rock of Ages on South Lamar have announced their closures.
Amanda Rae, a tattoo artist at Moon Tattoo, said it’s difficult to own a shop and a rent increase didn’t help. Ultimately, she said, tattoo artists in Central Texas need to up their prices if they want to stay open.
“I think in order for tattooers to survive, everyone kind of needs to increase their rates, so that it becomes an accepted amount for everybody,” she said, noting Austin-area tattooers charge an average of $120 to $150 per hour.
Pandemic fallout
Rae said tattooers across the country are also still struggling with the economic fallout of COVID-19. She said the cost of certain supplies like gloves increased significantly during the pandemic and haven’t gone down much. Inflation has also increased the cost of tattoo machines and ink.
The pandemic forced the closure of at least one tattoo shop in Austin: Triple Crown. Scott Ellis opened the shop on the East Side in 2006.
“There’s almost nothing about tattooing that I don’t love, except maybe like mopping the floor or something like that,” said Ellis, who started tattooing in Austin in the mid-’90s. “The art form itself is something that I’m completely consumed by.”
Trained by a carnie biker he calls Notorious Ed, Ellis has become a who’s who in American traditional and Japanese style tattooing. He’s particularly well known in the Austin scene for his elaborate back pieces.
He said things were going well for Triple Crown up until the pandemic.
“I never really fancied myself much of a businessman,” Ellis said. “But in my opinion, the shop was greatly successful for a long time.”
Not long before the 2020 lockdowns, he and his family moved to Prague. They wanted to continue to run the shop in Austin while living abroad.
“It got harder and harder — especially through COVID — to come back often enough to really take care of the place properly,” Ellis said. “The year after COVID, tattooing got really hard for a lot of people, especially in the U.S.”
Triple Crown stayed open in Austin until 2024. Ultimately, Ellis couldn’t weather the impacts of the pandemic.
“There wasn’t really a choice,” said Ellis, who opened a shop in Prague.
He said tattooing is really popular in Austin — but the city has also become oversaturated with tattoo shops. That can make it harder for businesses to stand out and for clients to decide where to go.
“I remember even in the ’90s, the thing that a lot of musicians said was, ‘You know, Austin’s a great town for music if you’re a music fan,’” Ellis said. “‘If you’re a musician, it’s super f – – – – – – hard because there’s a thousand bands in every neighborhood. Yeah, there’s a lot of clubs, there’s a lot of opportunities, but you know, you’re a little fish in a small pond always.’ In some ways, tattooing is kind of like that as well.”
Trust in the universe
In late May, Smith and Basma Smith announced they had to leave their current location. It’s been hard to find something they can afford. So, they’ve relied a little bit on the universe to provide a new home for Rise and Shine. And for now, the universe seems to be responding.
Basma Smith recently told clients on Instagram they’ll be able to go back to their former shop, Classic Tattoo, in downtown San Marcos as guest artists. They’re in the process of trying to secure their own space in the city.