Real Deal Tattoo Expo draws masters of body art to midtown KC

All 6 feet 5 inches of Steve Satrum is a collage of birds, skulls, flowers and feathers that he trusts to the hands of one man, Dan Kubin.

“Fantastic,” Satrum, a Kansas City truck driver, declared upon viewing the panther’s head that Kubin etched Sunday into the left side of Satrum’s torso.

It was one the few areas of his body unadorned when Satrum lay down to wince a spell at the eighth annual Real Deal Tattoo Expo in midtown Kansas City. The three-day show concluded Sunday.

Kubin and Satrum go back to 2007. Like lawyers and their clients, physicians and their patients or financial planners and their customers, the two have a working relationship that suits Satrum’s tattoo needs.

“The smart ones stick with an artist they like,” said Satrum, 44. “I moved in from Chicago and didn’t have a steady artist. It was hit and miss, hit and miss. But when I found him we sort of hit it off.”

The panther was the 11th tattoo Kubin has applied to Satrum. The female Japanese figure on his calf was the first, followed by five eagles in five places, the word “STAY” on Satrum’s right set of knuckles and “TRUE” on his left.

“I pretty much know what he wants by now,” said Kubin, operator of a Blue Springs studio.

The expo offered the curious a one-stop shop of area artists hoping to meet a first-timer and build that lifelong connection.

At artist Ronald Soriano’s booth, Denny Moncayo, 18, was getting his first — “Fear None But God” stretching from shoulder to shoulder above his chest.

“I’ve got to be as perfect as I can,” Soriano said as he worked. “If he likes it, he’ll be back.

“My customers, they all know me as Big Ron.”

A guest artist and judge at the event, Darren Brass, said tattoo-seekers who find the right artist form bonds similar to what many expect of hairdressers, bartenders and psychologists — good listeners, you hope.

“You’re giving someone a piece of your body and getting back something that’s permanent,” said Brass, who was featured on the TV show “Miami Ink.”

For Satrum, it’s about conveying an inner self by way of his guy’s artistry.

“When you get that first tattoo at 18, you really haven’t figured yourself out,” he said. “As you grow older you evolve as a person.

“Your tattoos evolve with you.”

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