BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—What began as a rebellious high school curiosity turned into a career spanning nearly two decades for local tattoo artist and shop owner Brenton Potter. Today, he and fellow artists Matt Rister and Tori Robinson continue to shape the local ink scene — one meaningful tattoo at a time.
The shop, a staple in the Bucyrus community since 2010, is more than a business. For its artists and clients, it has become a place of expression, healing, and connection.
At 17, Potter — then a junior at Bucyrus High School — got his first tattoo: a globe on his chest that he promised his mother would be the only one. He soon talked his way into an apprenticeship.
In 2008, he started learning the ropes at The Tattoo Factory.
“A new tattoo shop came into town. I started getting tattooed because it was taboo, and I thought it was cool — I wanted to be rebellious, you know? Then one day it just kind of dawned on me that maybe that was something I could really be interested in,” Potter said.
His apprenticeship wrapped up in 2009. When the previous shop owner decided to relocate and open a studio elsewhere, 19-year-old Potter bought the Tattoo Factory in June 2010.
“I was young when I started. At the time, it wasn’t as popular as it is now. We were the only shop in Bucyrus — really the only one in Crawford County for a while. When I started, the closest shops were in Marion and Mansfield,” Potter said. “Back then, I didn’t know what to expect, but I dove in headfirst. I’m the kind of person who gets fully engulfed in something — and sometimes it’s short-lived — but tattooing stuck.”
Potter, Rister, and Robinson — who joined the shop in 2010 and 2017, respectively — are part of a tattoo team called Inkfusion. The trio has taken their artistry across the country, including appearances at Comic Cons, WrestleMania in Las Vegas, and Star Wars celebrations.
“It’s given us a lot of opportunities that way, and it has given us a lot of opportunities to try to give back to the community, too,” Potter said. “We’ve done toy drives, benefits for people who are sick or lost a loved one or something like that. It’s been really cool. At the end of the day, we’re just a bunch of nerdy kids drawing on people for a living.”
Those chances to give back—and the journey to build something meaningful—stemmed from a risk Potter wasn’t sure would pan out.
“Tattooing was kind of off the beaten path for me, and I thought, ‘We’ll give it a shot and see what happens,’” Potter said. “And here we are — eighteen years of tattooing and fifteen years with the shop.”
Back then, Potter wasn’t well known — just a senior starting an apprenticeship. He said early ridicule pushed him to work harder.
“I’m stubborn. I had something to prove — to myself and everyone else. I was still in high school. I turned 18 at the start of senior year. I got a lot of ridicule early on. So part of it was just me saying, ‘I’ll show them.’ But I didn’t have many responsibilities then, and the money didn’t come right away. It really clicked once I bought the shop. That was the turning point — that’s when it became long-term.”
Potter said the hardest part starting out was knowing he wouldn’t be great immediately — even though the art is permanent.
“Each tattoo is like a little piece of us walking around on someone else. My first shop tattoo didn’t go great — it was just a heart outline. The lighting was bad, and my nerves got the best of me. I connected the outline slightly off and still think about it, even though it was ten years ago,” Rister said.
“Even when we do our best work, sometimes people change. You get a tattoo, love it that day — but ten years down the road, you’re a different person. And now we’re tied to that decision, even though we did exactly what was asked. It’s weird sometimes,” Potter said.
As their skills have grown, so has their connection to clients — from simple designs to deeply personal tributes.
“There are so many layers to it. Sometimes you’re helping people heal from trauma. Sometimes you’re helping someone commemorate a loved one. Other times, it’s just something fun — friends getting matching tattoos or celebrating something special. That’s the beauty of tattooing — it knows no demographic,” Potter said. “We tattoo everybody — from doctors, lawyers, police officers and politicians to ‘scary people’ and people in recovery — just everyone in between. And unlike a hair salon or a barbershop, we’re often with these people for four, five, sometimes eight hours. You get to know a lot about someone in that time.”
Those hours together build bonds — and often lead to deep conversation.
“These days, I think one reason we stay so busy is because it’s rare to have a couple of uninterrupted hours of real conversation. People aren’t on their phones much while getting tattooed — there’s just too much going on. So there’s this kind of genuine engagement, and for a lot of people, it’s therapeutic,” Potter said. “We joke that we’re like amateur therapists — without the training. A lot of times people unload on us, and it can be heavy. But it’s also really cool to hear all those life stories. It’s not all bad — but yeah, sometimes it carries weight.”
Potter still remembers his first tattoo — a cross cover-up he did for practice.
“The first one I gave was a cross cover-up. A guy came into the shop with a tiny little cross on his arm — just two lines — and asked to cover it with something a bit bigger. My mentor handed it to me and said, ‘Do it for free — good practice,’” Potter said. “I didn’t see that tattoo again for years — then one day I ran into the guy at Outback Steakhouse. He showed me the tattoo, and it looked as good as the day I did it. That was a shock because, trust me, there were plenty of not-so-great ones after that. Trial and error is a real thing.”
At The Tattoo Factory, Potter said design isn’t one-size-fits-all. Artists take time to ensure each piece complements the client’s body.
“We have body flow charts in the shop to help guide placement so it complements their natural shape. That’s a big reason we stay so busy — we do sleeves all day, large pieces mostly,” Potter said. “That’s something we take a lot of pride in. As tattoo collectors ourselves, we haven’t always got that courtesy from other artists where they spent the time to make sure the tattoo fit that area properly and that the tattoo bumped up against it didn’t clash with it and things like that. So we try to be the kind of artists we wanted to have — ones who take time to make the design actually fit the person. Not everyone expects that level of care, but it matters to us.”
Though sleeves are their specialty, the shop welcomes tasteful and meaningful new requests.
“I tattoo eight to ten hours a day, five days a week. Some days I’m with one client all day, others I might see a group of six. It’s hard to say, but it’s a lot. I tattoo efficiently, but I understand time matters. I’ve got kids too — people are paying, getting babysitters, giving up their time. They don’t want to sit around longer than they need to,” Potter said.
“As both an artist and a friend, I’ll say it — he’s the most efficient tattooer I’ve ever worked with. It inspires me to stay on top of my game too. I lean a little more into the artsy side; when I’m overwhelmed, I tend to fall behind on messages or get emotionally drained. But his consistency — his follow-through with people — it’s something I really admire,” Rister said.
“Art came more naturally to Matt. For me, it was the business side — working with people, understanding them, being organized, valuing their time. That’s where I thrived at first. So it’s nice having both skill sets in the shop. We balance each other out,” Potter said.
When it comes to pricing, they focus on fairness and collaboration. If someone brings a budget, they work to design something they’re proud to send out the door.
“Some people are nervous to give a budget — they think it’s like dealing with a car salesman. But we’d never let anything walk out the door that we’re not proud of. And we’ve got lots of tricks in our repertoire that we can pull out of the bag when it comes to designing tattoos that still fit someone’s budget and still be a really nice tattoo,” Potter said.
Potter’s appreciation for the craft extends beyond the ink — it’s rooted in the relationships they’ve built along the way.
“We want Bucyrus — and the whole community — to know how thankful we are. Making a living here for 15 years isn’t something we take for granted,” Potter said. “We’ve worked for it, but our clients are incredibly loyal. We’ve weeded out a few who maybe didn’t believe in us early on, but now, I look forward to work every day. The people who walk through that door — they’ve been great to us. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”
After fifteen years of ink, artistry, and connection, Potter and his team aren’t just decorating skin — they’re leaving a lasting imprint, one tattoo at a time.
