Hometown Glory

EAGLE RIVER — “Hi, welcome in!”

It was customer appreciation day at Eagle River Tattoo. A shop that rarely does promotions or giveaways, ERT extended an olive branch to the community that has supported their business for the past 8 years by offering a full day of free tattoos.

Isabella Yarian, the only daughter of shop owners Don and Deb Yarian, greets me immediately. Packed into a small space off the highway in Eagle River are loyal customers of the town’s only tattoo shop. I step forward to put my name on the list, unsurprised when Bella flips all the way to the back.

“We have two slots left,” she says.

66 hand-drawn designs, each done by one of the shop’s resident artists, are on display at the front of the shop. The rules, posted early in the week on ERT’s Facebook page, are simple: “On existing customers only, no new customers [on] this day. First come, first served—no lining up for one artist. Designs as is, color and shading at artist's discretion. Tips greatly appreciated. Limit one per customer.”

Some people waited four hours for their turn in the chair. Despite the wait and limited seating, the air within the shop was electric and positive. Artists Eli Yarian, Deb Yarian, Don Yarian, Nick Yarian and Roger Sparks all shout back and forth amongst each other—and even at their regulars.

“Belle,” Don calls out to his daughter after finishing up a tattoo, “I’m gonna need another trash bag.”

When the space now known as Eagle River Tattoo came up for rent in 2008, Don and Deb were working in town at Larry Allen’s Anchorage Tattoo Studio. “We loved working at Larry’s shop, and he was great. But that’s a family shop, too,” Deb explains. “When we saw this space come up for rent I thought, ‘Boy, wouldn’t that be great.’” At the time, the Yarians’ younger sons were attending elementary school up the street; the shop is also walking distance from their house. “How ideal would that be?” Deb asked.

Their oldest son, Matt—known professionally as Matt Bagodonuts—grew up in tattoo shops. “I was tattooing before he was born,” Deb says. “And then when my second son was born, Matt would come to the shop with me and Nicholas would be in a play pen.”

The couple not only wanted all of their kids to grow up in a tattoo shop, but felt it was important that they each had that unique experience. “It’s such a big part of our lives,” Deb explains. “I’ve been tattooing since I was 19 and I love it.”

As the clock rolled toward 8 p.m.—an hour after ERT’s regular closing time—the crowd started to thin. One after another, customers came in and out of the booths sporting black dressings held down with masking tape. A young girl with long blond hair steps out of Don’s station. She makes a point to say goodbye to Deb.

“Goodbye, dear,” Deb replies, “Tell your mother I said hello.”

Don and Deb’s second oldest son, Nick, loves working in his family’s shop. “I don’t know if I could work anywhere else,” he admits. For a time, Nick tried attending college instead of following in the footsteps of his parents. Both cast a large shadow—well respected and well known in the tattoo community—and Nick didn’t want people claiming he was riding on his parents’ coat tails. “I went to college for a year because if I wasn’t tattooing, I’d want to be an art teacher,” he explains. “But I just love tattooing and I hated school.”

Deb, for her part, is thankful for how close tattooing has brought her family. “Three of my sons are tattooers and they were all getting really heavily tattooed. For a minute I thought, ‘What the heck is going on?’” Deb says. “And then I thought, ‘How many parents have their children want to emulate them?’ They want to look how we look and do what we do for a living, so why wouldn’t I want my children to have that?”

The final drops of ink hit skin just before the clock strikes 11 p.m. As artists finish their last tattoos for the night, the crew begins the arduous process of cleaning up. After 12 hours of tattooing, one would expect them to look tired. Instead, they cast lazy smiles at one another.

Someone shouts, “Hey Belle, who did the most tattoos?”

There’s a moment’s pause as Isabella flips through the pages, tallying up each artist’s total.

“Nick you did 24,” she says. Toward the back of the shop Nick curses.

“And Dad,” she adds. “You did 27.”

The shop erupts into chaos.