Originally from Rhode Island, Mild Bill never intended to become a tattoo artist. He was studying graphic design at the University of Oregon when he got into an altercation with an assistant dean. The assistant dean had Mild Bill escorted off of campus, and without expelling him, asked him never to return.

That same day Mild Bill went to get a tattoo. The tattoo parlor was impressed by the tattoos he had drawn himself, and ended up recruiting him to answer phones and help draw up tattoo designs, asking him to come back tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.

Mild Bill started at Tattoo by Design in Eugene, and then moved through eight different shops – some twice – before ending up at Evolved Ink. There’s a different story to each move, but most involve a difference in opinion. “‘Irreconcilable differences’, to be polite,” he says.

But Mild Bill notes that it’s good to move around, to get more exposure, meet different people and find more clients.

He also “spins” tattoo shops, buying them when they are going under and turning them into successful shops again. Ownership, however, doesn’t really suit him; as a hardcore Leo, he says he’s more of a natural manager.

Evolved Ink artist Joshua James explains that as a boss Mild Bill is good at “switching hats,” and can separate his authority and his friendship when needed.

“He’ll yell at you one minute for doing something stupid, and then later that night he’ll take you out and buy you a beer,” he says.

Mild Bill still remembers his first tattoo. He admits being completely nervous and that his hands shook so badly that there wasn’t a smooth outline in the whole tattoo. The client didn’t mind; there’s never a shortage of people willing to let an apprentice tattoo them as long as they don’t have to pay, he explains.

His most memorable tattoo? “A blossoming purple rose with dew drops falling off  of it,” he recalls. “But it’s upside down, and it’s where a gentleman used to have a penis.”

This particular client had lived with a very religious and abusive family that beat him whenever he became aroused as a child. Eventually this client could no longer stand the mental duress, and took a steak knife to his own genitals. He then wanted to become a woman, but couldn’t afford the surgery. Instead, he had the rose tattooed to resemble the missing female parts.

“He walked in and nobody else would do it, and I was like ‘I don’t care, I’ll do it,’” Mild Bill says. “If somebody tells me he cut off his own member, I’m twisted enough that I go ‘I want to see it.’”

In 1996, Mild Bill began training other tattoo artists. He had worked with other people at his shops that believed in the same style of rules and cleanliness as him, so to weed out the artists who didn’t share his values he started training those that would. Three of Evolved Ink’s current artists are former students.

Evolved Ink artist Kendra Clementine has known Mild Bill for 11 years. She met him as a client when she was 19, and was impressed by his professionalism. He supported her art concept and worked on the design with her.

“I didn’t get the feeling like ‘I’m so much better than you,’” she says. “I’ve got that a lot at other places that I’ve shopped.”

Clementine had known she wanted to be a tattoo artist since she was 14. She got the right vibe from Mild Bill – he was experienced and level-headed, and would give her the right kind of education.

“He cares about this industry, and he’s involved with it,” she explains.

As an artist, Mild Bill is superstitious. If he’s not in the right head space before a client comes in, he’ll call and cancel.

“I just won’t put my bad day into people,” he explains.

He does derive some Zen moments from taking a cigarette break. “I will go smoke my cigarette by myself and think about the colors I want to do,” he says.

He also physically prepares himself before sitting down to do a tattoo by doing Elvis Kung-fu.

“If you’ve ever seen Elvis on video, it’s not pretty and it’s not fluid,” he says, “but it would kind of limber me up a little bit.”

Sitting down for hours to tattoo someone is taxing on the body, especially as an artist gets older. Nearing 40, he can’t sit as long as he used to and breaks his sessions up into smaller time increments.

While tattooing, Mild Bill tries to keep his mind open. He’ll call on different artists or influences like Van Gogh and Monet, or even Jimi Hendrix, while doing the artwork.

“I call it ‘channeling dead people,’” he jokes.

Most of Mild Bill’s artistic inspiration comes from Maxfield Parrish’s work and his layering of colors underneath colors. He studies Parrish’s work and color combinations, and translates it onto human skin.

He’s also inspired by the jaggedness of Van Gogh’s works. However, Van Gogh was an impressionist while he considers himself an expressionist who paints feelings rather than imagery.

He also likes to do realistic tattoos that look like photographs. “I really like to take a picture, look at it, and then copy it onto skin,” he says.

So what is the logical next step for Mild Bill? “To try to stay put for once,” he laughs.

In all seriousness, he says he’s not necessarily looking for that next step. He’s really just living.

“I wake up everyday and wait to see what happens,” he says. “It might be sunny in the morning and rain in the middle of the afternoon.”

]]> http://mizpayne.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/a-tattooed-legend/feed/ 0 mizpayne http://mizpayne.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/who-has-been-painting-my-roses-red/ http://mizpayne.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/who-has-been-painting-my-roses-red/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:29:12 +0000 mizpayne http://mizpayne.wordpress.com/?p=98 ]]> I took a trip to the Owen Memorial Rose Garden today, to take advantage of my new camera and to learn how to use it manually. Boy, did I pick the right place to go. The rose garden is incredibly beautiful. According to eugene-or.gov, there are over 4,500  roses and 400 different rose varieties.

My pictures don’t really do it justice; you should for sure go check it out yourself.

I was having a semi-difficult time imagining myself baking cupcakes in one of these stoves, but then I realized that the stove in my apartment…

… isn’t much bigger.

The Oregon Department of Education offers this spreadsheet that breaks down the drop out rates by school district and high school.

Almost two years after Kesey’s death, this bronze statue (The Storyteller) was cast of him reading to his three grandchildren. The statue sits downtown at the corner of Willamette and Broadway.

The Daily Emerald posted this article on 11/03 about the then upcoming symposium/dedication: http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2003/11/14/News/Ken-Kesey.To.Be.Honored.During.ThreeDay.Event-1982518.shtml

When asked her opinion about local issues arising in Eugene and Lane County, local shopper Bonnie immediately responds with the economy and follows with the rise in property tax and the lack of transparency of where that tax money is going. “There needs to be a better appropriation of where the money is going to go,” she says.

Affected by the economy, local shopper Monica worries about the education budget. Already slashed, she fears that this time it might not be renewed.

However, not everyone at Oakway mall seems to be affected by the economic crunch. Local teens Andrew, Alex, Ryan, and Josh take no apparent issue with what’s occurring in Eugene. “I don’t really do anything,” Alex explains.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/proiranian_regime_hackers_inva.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,528967,00.html