“I got my last name and ended up covering it—it was very ugly,” the Roanoke resident said.
Years later, while serving time in prison for a drug charge, Padilla said he decided to take oil-painting classes. After seeing his artistic skills, his cellmate asked him to touch up an existing tattoo.
“I said I would start tattooing in [prison] because I kind of knew how to do it,” Padilla said.
Padilla’s friend, also a prisoner, was an experienced tattoo artist and taught Padilla the do’s and don’ts of the industry. Once Padilla got out of prison, he said he found work immediately as a tattoo artist. He said he also traveled to tattoo expositions and practiced to improve his artistic skills.He recently worked at a studio in Keller.
On May 5, 2021, Padilla opened Saint Cecilia’s Art Studio in Roanoke. He said he wanted to operate his own business so he could work around his son’s school schedule. Padilla said because of his business hours, his clientele consists mainly of soccer moms and dads, military personnel and young people. He said he fulfills multiple requests to cover up names from prior relationships.
Just because a person is 18 years old, the legal age to get a tattoo, does not mean Padilla will give them one. He said he gets in “dad mode” when young people come in asking for something he thinks they might regret.
“A young girl wanted gangster lettering—big, something you’d see on an older guy. I told her I wouldn’t do it,” the business owner said.
One client liked album cover art and had tattoos displaying his musical affinity, Padilla said. After the client’s death, his parents drove in from Weatherford, Texas, and asked Padilla to duplicate their son’s tattoos on them.
“They were older people, never had tattoos before, and were getting sleeved-out [as a] memorial of their son,” Padilla said.
Padilla said many of his clients are repeat customers.
“My clients aren’t just my clients. They are kind of like my family,” Padilla said regarding why he has such a high percentage of returning customers. “They trust that you’re going to do a good job on them.”
St. Cecilia's Art Studio. 4000 Haslet-Roanoke Road, Unit 25, Roanoke. 817-754-5001. Hours: Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.-Mon. closed.
