Matt and Chanel Cieutat founded Slow Fade Studio in December of 2009. Matt’s passion for art started as a toddler, when he would sit for hours watching the iconic Bob Ross. At 17 years old he answered an add in the newspaper from a tattoo shop in Mobile, Al looking to hire a piercing apprentice. It was his foot in the door to follow his dream of becoming a tattoo artist. In December of 2005 he met
Chanel and they quickly fell in love. August 1, 2008 they were married and in July of 2009 they welcomed their first child into the world and it became not only his dream but Chanel’s as well to open their own family business. After watching the movie Fireproof, they knew the name of the shop would be Slow Fade Studio. On December 1, 2009 they opened in Spanish Fort, after 10 years they moved locations and are now located in their home community of Stapleton, Al. Matt enjoys many styles of art, his favorite is anything in color. He says, “Which would you rather have, a black and white TV or a color TV?” On his off days he enjoys being on his motorcycle, helping others with their projects, and spending time with his wife and daughters. He is a gentle giant(unless provoked)that loves helping others. He loves children and animals. His heart is the size of Texas and he wants to help others because he has suffered from so much heartache in life. He loves Marvel comics and TMNT, watching movies and music. He is big teddy bear. Don’t let his size fool you, he has a light hand, although due to his ADD he tattoos at the speed of his mind, extremely fast. After pushing her husband to follow his dreams, she never thought she would be confident enough as an artist to tattoo anyone. After almost 17 years of her husband believing in her abilities, but afraid to apprentice her because he was afraid of the conflict in constructive criticism towards his wife, she finally made the leap and officially began her apprenticeship. Chanel has a background in emergency medicine as a paramedic, firefighting, and working in mental health with children and adults. She has also been a piercer since 2009. Due to her background, Chanel is extremely empathetic and enjoys helping others. She has often times cried with many of our clientele and listened to them as they told their stories of the meanings of their tattoos. She loves people, but more so she loves children and especially those with different “abilities.” She has always had a passion for makeup and recently spent countless hours researching, practicing, and learning about permanent makeup. She enjoys helping women and men feel confident. She has always enjoyed painting and many times she has drawn pictures for customers that Matt has tattooed. Although, now she is tattooing them. Recently they hired Jeff, a headstrong, stubborn, loud, aggressive, yet funny, authentic, ambitious and determined guy that earned his nickname of Fuk’err. He started as just a friend hanging out. He quickly became family. After months of him being here daily helping with daily shop duties, line drawings and stencils, appointments, and customer service, he and Chanel were talking one evening and she asked him, “Why don’t you apprentice?” He said he’d love to but with a newborn baby and unable to pay for an apprenticeship he didn’t want to let us down. Although, he had dreamed of being a tattoo artist since the age of 10. The next day he was hired. He quickly blew our minds with his incredible talent. His apprenticeship didn’t last long because as Matt stated, “I couldn’t teach him anything more. He wanted it and he sprinted after his dream. I’m proud to call him an artist even more than I do brother.” Don’t be afraid of his aggressive tone, or smart ass attitude, because I’ve been told he’s “light handed!” He is great at traditional art and black and grey realism.
