We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kari Barba a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kari , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Recently I was diagnosed with Breast cancer. I completed surgery, and Radiation and now have a full recovery. I was trying to think of a way to give back. I’m a tattoo artist and thought of a tattoo a=for charity event, but was approached by a local restaurant to do a collaboration. FAM, FOOD, ART AND MUSIC. I thought it would be fantastic to give the money to kids with cancer, so we chose Millers Children’s Hospital, Kids Cancer Pavillion, Long Beach. We had 10 restaurants, 40 Artists and a musician. We sold every painting! The food and music were huge hits also. We were able to raise over 12,000.00 for kids with cancer. We enjoy doing fund raisers and have done this several times before, usually tattoos for Charity.

We will be doing this event yearly as it was such a success.

I was also asked to Tattoo a silicone arm for the Natural History Museum LA in 2016 for Exhibition TATTOO. This was also such a great honor as I was the first and only women to do this at the time. This exhibition now travels the world.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started tattooing at age 19 in 1979. I have been tattooing ever since and have been lucky to win over 500 awards in my career to date. Two time winner as Best Tattooist, and once as Best overseas Tattooist, all in my early career. I have owned 7 shops over my years and currently own the Oldest Continually running Tattoo shop in the Nation, Second oldest in the world, opened in 1927. We took over this shop in 2003.

We love to focus diversity, that everyone is welcome to tattoo and be tattooed. We focus on our history in tattoo as being the oldest shop we have a museum in our Location at 22 s. Chestnut place, Long Beach Ca.
We try to cover as many styles as we can in our shop and after 44 years in tattooing I believe we still have one of the cleanest shops I know of.
I primarily work in Black and Gray realism but also love doing color. I try to take your ideas and create the best piece I can for you dream.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As a creative person we in general have a hug outlet, yet a huge responsibility in the field I am in. In tattooing I am trying to read your mind and create your dream for a life time. A dream that you can share with others and always carry yourself. Blending my thoughts with yours in a way no others can.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

In my early career we didn’t have the internet, and sores at the touch of our hands to learn. We had to apprentice or learn on our own. It was a struggle for so many. Today artists can watch videos and have so many resources that we did not have in our early years. This allows for so much more freedom in my field.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.outerlimitstattoo.com
• Instagram: Deanne KARI Barba, Karibarbatattoo
• Facebook: Kari Barba
• Yelp: Outer Limits Tattoo