{"id":1318264,"date":"2020-02-15T21:57:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T04:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=993636"},"modified":"2020-02-16T08:04:33","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T15:04:33","slug":"making-his-mark-glenwood-tattoo-artist-matt-renner-knows-his-ink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/making-his-mark-glenwood-tattoo-artist-matt-renner-knows-his-ink\/","title":{"rendered":"Making his mark: Glenwood Tattoo artist Matt Renner knows his ink"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tattoo artist Matt Renner works on a client’s tattoo at White Lodge Tattoo Shop in Glenwood.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

During his freshman year at NYU, an advisor asked Matt Renner what type of art he wanted to pursue.<\/p>\n

The assembly was intended to show bachelor of fine arts students like Renner what career avenues were available. <\/p>\n

Sitting along the auditorium\u2019s front row, the Big Apple art advisor quickly zeroed in on the Rifle-raised Renner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2018I want to be a tattooer.\u2019\u201d Renner recalled. \u201cShe kind of gave me this dirty look and no one said anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aspiring tattoo artist tried to brush it off, but the advisor\u2019s glowing reaction to many of the other students\u2019 own art ambitions had Renner second-guessing if he was even in the right place.<\/p>\n

Having studied the intricacies of traditional Japanese tattoos and realistic tattoos in his spare time, Renner was dismayed by the art advisor\u2019s snub toward a craft that dates back thousands of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was amazing artwork,\u201d Renner said. \u201cWhen I saw one of my teachers kind of \u2018poo-poo\u2019 it I was like, whoa, there is something to be done here.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, Renner ditched being stamped with over $100,000 in student debt and instead returned to Colorado where he eventually became a tattoo artist in Glenwood Springs.<\/p>\n

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Renner prepares a client for a new tattoo. <\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

From NYU to White Lodge Tattoo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like most kids, Renner enjoyed playing videogames growing up. <\/p>\n

However, what the 6-year-old Renner relished even more was drawing his favorite videogame characters with his preferred tool \u2013 a No. 2 Ticonderoga pencil. <\/p>\n

\u201cI started drawing anime sketches and stuff from \u2018Pok\u00e9mon\u2019 and \u2018Legend of Zelda\u2019 and all of these videogames,\u201d Renner said. \u201cThings from my Nintendo magazine, I would draw that from reference.\u201d <\/p>\n

Renner\u2019s uncle, James Renner, was a painter himself who specialized in Western-style art.<\/p>\n

His uncle\u2019s oftentimes still-in-progress work inspired Renner to complete a series of photorealistic portraits centered on Native Americans, including one of Sitting Bull. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just kept drawing photorealistically and I built a massive portfolio of drawings,\u201d Renner said. <\/p>\n

Renner even did a photorealism portrait of one of his favorite film characters \u2013 Lloyd Christmas \u2013 from the 1994 comedy classic \u201cDumb and Dumber,\u201d which he later tattooed on his thigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took about 8-hours,\u201d Renner said. \u201cUpside-down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Renner still keeps those photorealism portraits near his workstation in White Lodge Tattoo & Gallery in downtown Glenwood Springs. <\/p>\n

In the basement of 824 Grand Ave., Renner has developed a following with locals and tourists alike. <\/p>\n

According to Renner, tourists often make their way down White Lodge Tattoo & Gallery\u2019s stairs wanting a pine tree or mountain range tattoo. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done a few straight-up outlines of Mount Sopris,\u201d Renner said. <\/p>\n

Additionally, from brookies to rainbow trout, Renner\u2019s bright and bold \u201cgummy style\u201d tattoos have caught on with plenty of locals, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t figure out what to call it,\u201d Renner laughed. \u201cA lot of people were just calling it that already\u2026gummy trout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, though, the 28-year-old tattoo artist\u2019s abilities extend well beyond his traditional color-work.<\/p>\n

From black bears to Gene Simmons, Renner has completed a litany of black and gray tattoos on a variety of body parts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a folk art,\u201d Renner said. \u201cProbably, in the last 20 years, people have been pushing the limits, experimenting and doing new things with tattooing that weren\u2019t ever done before.\u201d <\/p>\n

Oyen Hoffman, one of Renner\u2019s repeat clients, said he considered Renner not only a talented artist but also a dear friend.<\/p>\n

Collectively, Hoffman spent between 40-50 hours in White Lodge Tattoo in order for Renner to complete his rising-from-the-ashes, phoenix tattoo.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt Renner is very accepting of people and their place in the world,\u201d said Hoffman. \u201cHe just gets to know them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Renner carefully works on a client\u2019s wrist tattoo.
<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Taking the Taboo out of Tattoo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Generally speaking, Renner will tattoo just about any body part, except for the face. Especially if that individual has no other tattoos on their body and wants the first one to go on their face.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost honest tattooers will just say no to that,\u201d Renner said. \u201cYou should be cautious about that.\u201d   <\/p>\n

Renner said if a customer wants a face tattoo, he may consider doing it, if that person already has ink on his or her hands and neck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean I won\u2019t do it. I will and I have,\u201d Renner said. \u201cI make sure they know, for sure, what they\u2019re getting into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renner said he didn\u2019t exactly know what he was getting into when he traded in NYU for a profession in the tattoo craft.<\/p>\n

Although society hasn\u2019t quite warmed up to face tattoos, Renner believed it has with respect to tattoos in other visible places. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow could you, as a business, not accept someone who is perfectly capable of doing their job,\u201d Renner said. \u201cAnd, the only thing that they have \u2018wrong\u2019 is that they have a tattoo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily for Renner, his workplace readily accepts all of his tattoos.<\/p>\n

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A client holds still as Renner completes his tattoo.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tattoo artist Matt Renner works on a client’s tattoo at White Lodge Tattoo Shop in Glenwood.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent During his freshman year at NYU, an advisor asked Matt Renner what type of art he wanted to pursue. The assembly was intended to show bachelor of fine arts students like Renner what career avenues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1318264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-05 20:04:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1318266,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318264\/revisions\/1318266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}