On Aug. 6, Rick and Gloria Kramer opened Spider Tattooz, introducing the Sycamore and DeKalb area to the world of tattoo studios.

Before opening up shop at 126 1/2 E. State St., Rick ‘Spider’ Kramer owned a studio in Oak Park for 10 years, and one in Belvidere for the past four years, both bearing the nickname he earned as a child for his spider collections.

However, before Kramer could open his studio in Sycamore, he had certain obstacles to face with the laws and codes in the city.

“Working with the city officials was actually easier than I thought,” Kramer said. “We worked with the city manager and city lawyer to rewrite the guidelines for body art and modification in the city, which now actually reflect the codes of the state.”

Previous to becoming a tattoo artist, Kramer worked in custom painting and started tattooing as a hobby. His jump into the world of professional tattooing was, in his own words, lucky.

“I was just at the right place at the right time,” Kramer said. “When MTV came out and showed all these music videos with rock stars and their tattoos, that really gave tattooing its push.”

While television may have provided the medium to bring tattoos to the mainstream in the 1980s, Kramer says current shows like Miami Ink and Kat Von D’s L.A. Ink are doing more harm than good. He explained that once viewers saw the artists on TV wrapping freshly inked artwork in cellophane or plastic wrap, they assumed this was the way a new tattoo should be cared for. However, Kramer points out that this is actually a major health code violation.

“[The cellophane] blocks off air, opens the pores and pretty much creates a petri dish,” Kramer said. “Any kind of bacteria you may have bumped up against is now trapped. That could cause a lot a tears and boo-hooing.”

Fred Rice came to Kramer for his first tattoo after hearing about him through a mutual friend.

“I’ve wanted [a tattoo] for a long time, but I haven’t trusted anyone enough to have them do it.”
Rice came to Kramer, who specializes in custom tattoos, with his idea, and Kramer drew the artwork.

“Here it’s 99 percent about custom work,” Kramer said. “That’s why you don’t see any artwork on the walls. People come to me with their ideas and I draw them. None of the lick and stick tattoos that you get with other studios.”

Kramer does have some parameters for the artwork and tattoos he does for customers. He said he doesn’t tattoo people who are under the influence, nor will he tattoo gang signs or anything ‘un-American.’

Kramer, being the only full–time artist, makes it a point to run his studio differently. He calls this “tattooing without the ‘rock star’ attitude.”

Some artists may think highly of themselves because of their profession, and treat people in such a way, he said.

“They don’t make time for people and they talk down to them,” he said. “They don’t realize that we’re just lucky to be doing this for a living and treating people good gets them in the door. I have a saying: it’s easy to make a bad name for yourself, but it’s hard to make a good one.”

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