A natural born artist. At the ages of three and four years old his mother would take him to Disney movies and upon coming home he would draw all the cartoon characters  which he committed to memory. He used anything he could get his hands on to

draw and create artwork. His obsession with art never stopped.

Bernardino who saw the kid had talent and started teaching him the craft. Bob died and Blane moved on. The kid had restless legs and a touch of wanderlust so he decided to hitchhike across the United States, did it four times back and forth from L.A. to New York, drawing, painting, tattooing and playing music wherever he went.

Due to a series of unfortunate events here and there across the U.S. he found himself in some of California's finer five star hotels designed specifically for the non-conformist at heart, which Blane happened to be in triplicates. During these times and within these environs he picked up a wide diversity of tattooing styles and applications multi-culturally which he later found out such styles were the precursor for what later on became known as "the California Fine Line Techniques" , which he embraced wholeheartedly. The kid was quick on the uptake, what can I say.

Moving forward. Blane has had the pleasure and honor to work with such pillars pf the tattoo community as Mark Mahoney, Bob Vessells, Bubba Whitesell, Jimmy Van Curen, Winona Martin, Big Red, New York's, Bob Grimmer, Big Bob "Hinge" Maines of Las Vegas, Jim Peters, and many more. With a voracious appetite for art and learning he improved his craft with each person he's worked with down through the years. And today after being in the business for 30 yrs, he still claims to be only scratching the surface of what one can learn in Art and Tattooing. There are so many brilliant artists out there today, and they are all a continual source of inspiration and a challenge to do better.

Early on in Blane's career he was told by old veterans in the tattoo biz that tattooing was a sacred art, and that every person that was tattooed on was being taken through a rite of passage whether they knew it or not. What was important was that Blane knew and acted accordingly always taking the utmost pride and dedication to his work. Because it was a privilege to create art on living, breathing human beings. He has never lost site of this ideal and still holds to the highest standards of tattooing.  The client in the chair is the most important person there, and they deserve the best one can produce.

Relocating to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Biloxi back in 1996, Blane went to work at Biloxi Beach Ink, where he enjoyed many years of plying the tattoo trade and embraced the Gulf Coast people as an extended family. It truly is "The Hospitality State" of the USA. When Biloxi Beach Ink had to close its doors he went to work for Vic Wilson at King Pin Tattoo. Spent a couple of yrs in Hollister, Missouri managing "Aloha Noni Lani's" Tattoo studio for Winona Martin, and then came back to the coast to open Barking Dog Tattooz in Gulfport, Mississippi. He runs a clean and sober shop (druggies and drunks need not apply), and has a great crew of dedicated young artists. At 51 yrs old he says, "Well, I've got six grandkids, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, so in the meantime I guess I'll just keep getting better at tattooing until I sort it all out". "More than likely I'll be doing this until they pat me in the face with a shovel, and that's okay with me".

Come on in and see Blane Hoffman and the Krewe any time. At Barking Dog Tattooz, "Quality Counts, And People Matter". That's the bottom line.

Other people Blane would like to acknowledge for where he is today:

"I think its always important to acknowledge those in life who helped along our journey of life. Firstly, I'd like to thank God. My Lydia for always supporting me and backing me up on my decisions, Bill Wilson, and all my friends there-from. Parthasarathi Raja Gopalachari for assisting in getting my heart right. Babaji, Melchizedek, Gwendy Penabad, Saranya Zaveri, Mark Mahoney, Jimmy " Rev Jimmy" Van Curen, Gypsy, Hinge, Andrew Rigg, Gregg Braden, The late "Tiny" SFV, of the Big Red Machine, who's help from the sidelines I will aways be grateful for and indebted to him and his extented family. Owner of The Ink House for giving me a shot when I was coming out of the bad days. Charles Bowes, Dan Rebuck. The late Sailor Moses, who didnt hire me, but because of that I ended up with the great folks at Biloxi Beach Ink, and me and Moses became good friends anyhow. The people at Delancy Street, Santa Monica in 1990, who really showed me what recovery was all about, from the raw end. And I'm grateful to all my customers who make it possible for me to earn a living doing what I love to do, its a real priviledge, thank you".