TATTOOS BY BILL CARLSON
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BILL CARLSON
As a kid Bill was fascinated by the local tattoo shop Ink Fever in Rubidoux California. Back then there were only a handful of shops in Southern California. This was the early 80's and things were a lot different back then. Now there are probably thousands of shops in the same area. Bill was apprenticed at age 15 under a crazy old school biker named Bernie Tillis. Back then when you apprenticed you owed the dude everything, even your life, it was rough. But Bill got through it.
With 4 years under his belt he moved on to go to work for the world famous Kari Barba, which were some of the best years of his life to date. Working with Kari was a blessing because when she took him in he was a mess, and when he left he was well schooled in all areas and styles of tattooing, owing most of it to both Bernie and Kari.
After working for Kari for almost 10 years Bill and his best friend Edwin Shaffer (an accomplished and award winning artist in his own right) decided to open their own tattoo shop in beautiful Big Bear Lake California. Why Big Bear? Because they didn't want to open up on any existing shops which was very important to them, that's the way it was back in the day. Artists today don't show that respect for other artists and there is a shop on every corner now.
Times were tough in the beginning years in a small snow resort town and so to keep the shop open in the beginning Bill and Edwin had to work at multiple shops down the hill (Sometimes 3 shops in one day with a 2 hour commute to some of the shops) in order to keep the doors open.
Now all these years later Bill and Edwin are still best friends and business partners, which is unheard of in this business, and no longer have to rely on guest spots to get by. Big Bear has become our home since 1996 and we are here to stay. Bill wants to thank all his clients and locals who have supported us through the years. It's been a wild ride.
