By Kelsey Avers September 17, 2009 Reporting 300 SF State University

Profile Barnaby Williams: Mamas Boy

Barnaby Williams doesnt fit the typical stereotype of the mamas boy he claims to be. Branded with more than 100 tattoos from his neck to his ankles, he is the opposite of what one would imagine of someone raised in Palo Alto, Calif. A collage of ink covers the skin on each of his arms, and etched into each of his fingers are various symbols, from lightning bolts to a question mark. Even with all this ink, his looks are not a problem for his career, as he is the owner of Moms Body Shop on Haight Street.

Williams typical workday consists of the buzzing sound of a tattoo gun filling the air, accompanied by the rattle of transfer paper and loud rap music blasting from the speakers on each corner of the shop. Hanging high in the back is a handmade quilt that says MOMS in large letters.

My mom made that, says 41-year-old Williams, gesturing toward the blanket with a smile on his face. As he turns his head, a large tattoo that says Mammas Boy reveals itself on the back of his neck.

Since he was a child, Williams has had a strong interest in drawing. His artistic talents are passed down to him from his mother, who is an artist as well. He attended San Francisco Art Institute to originally pursue theatre painting, and received a Bachelor of Arts. Against his mothers liking, Williams began his tattooing career in 1991. Seven years later he opened Moms.

I chose tattooing because its easy, he said, fumbling with the wires connecting the

tattoo gun by his wrist to the foot pedal on the ground. Right now I think its a horrible idea for a career. Its a saturated market, and if youre really talented at all, there are so many other jobs that you could make a lot more money doing.

To his mother, Alison Williams, the idea of him tattooing as a career was ludicrous, but shes happy hes made a success of it and isnt struggling.

I was surprised because all of his paintings for stage sets were huge, and none of them were miniature, she said. But I encouraged both my children to draw and sculpt and am happy to support Barnaby in all of his artistic endeavors.

As for how many tattoos he has exactly, Williams has no idea. Hes tattooed everywhere on his body except for his face, scalp, the inside of his thighs, backs of his knees and his groin. He says the most meaningful tattoo he has is the one of his moms name, which she did herself.

Its horrible; I mean, its wonderful. Its an absolutely atrocious tattoo, and technically not well executed, but its awesome to me, he said of the small tattoo on the side of his knee; the name Alison with a heart dotting the i.. My mom was the black sheep of her family, and Im the black sheep of mine, so we understand each other more.

Williams doesnt claim to be the perfect son; this mind-set due in part to his arrest in high school for shoplifting and drugs.

I obviously am not the mamas boy that doesnt do something stupid, he said. But I also didnt like upsetting my mom. Its almost like the classic, stereotypical Catholic my moms a saint kind of deal.

His mother, who speaks to him approximately two to three times per week, said she has always enjoyed Barnabys artistic side and the common appreciation of art they both

share to a greater extent than other members of the family.

Williams got his first tattoos in high school, when body ink was a rare sight, especially on teenagers. Most of his diverse markings dont necessarily have any spiritual meaning, such as the permanent black heart on his leg representing a breakup. He doesnt believe tattoos have to have a deep psychological meaning.

People go out and spend huge amounts of money on completely inane purchases to justify how they feel, like buying cars, breakup purchases, retail therapy; but they dont have to go and explain it, he said. You get a tattoo thats the size of a quarter and its the biggest thing in your world and you make a big deal about it, but its not. Significance isnt that important. Getting a tattoo because its Wednesday is a great reason to get a tattoo. Americans specifically want to create a deep significance and meaning to themselves in their own head without doing the research of what the real significance actually is. They want the surface, not the deep.

When Williams came to the Haight district looking to open up a tattoo shop, he sought the help of the Haight-Ashbury Merchants Association. After a membership of six years, he left and began to boycott the association for the unregulated numbers of tattoo shops open on Haight Street, which is currently at six. According to Williams, Moms is the only tattoo shop on Haight Street owned by a tattoo artist. He says this is the best way for a tattoo shop to be run.

You wouldnt want to go to a dentists office that wasnt run by a dentist, would you, he said. We wanted to stop [the HAMA] from opening more tattoo shops and they wouldnt hear anything. But when they wanted to stop more bong shops from opening, they expected our support. They kind of blew me off. Im sure there will be three or four more [tattoo shops] opened here by the end of the decade.

As for the regulation of the shops and questions related to Williams concerns, the

Haight-Ashbury Merchants Association declined to comment.

Williams sees the six tattoo shops on Haight Street, all within close proximity to each other, as competition. He would recommend Cold Steel America, a tattoo shop between Cole and Shrader streets, but couldnt say much else positive about the other shops either because of personal reasons or their quality of work. But just a block away, Soul Patch Tattoo shop owner Marie McCarthy has no problem with the number of tattoo shops in the district.

McCarthy has owned Soul Patch Tattoo since 2001, and enjoys the competitive edge that comes from so many body shops on Haight Street.

The more shops, the better. Our clients might not necessarily go to another shop on the street, McCarthy said. I want people to think Oh, I want a tattoo, Im going to go to Haight Street. Each shop has its own personality, and theres room for healthy competition. Through living and working in the Haight district, Williams sees it as a giant Hot Topic and has witnessed many cultural changes in the neighborhood in the past 20 years. The culture of America has changed, as well as the culture of Haight Street, he said. 25 years ago a girl with more than one ear piercing was whack. Now if you have a few no one even notices. Cute little girls should be scared of walking into tattoo shops and talking to tattoo artists, but they arent scary anymore. That reflects the entire cultural idea of Haight-Ashbury.