They came from across the state and from around the country. A few even crossed oceans to get here. They came for lions, eagles, elaborate floral patterns or portraits of loved ones. Sometimes they came to turn the pain of past trauma into something more beautiful or forgiving.

For roughly 40 years they came to Glen Weber’s tattoo studio, a small block building on a quiet corner of Suttons Bay on land that’s been in the family for five generations. They came mostly because of Weber’s widespread reputation as one of the most precise and talented artists in the nation.

“I remember growing up, a lot of these people from all over the place would come in, and some would stay at our house, even. It was amazing to see the mixture of people that would seek him out,” says his son Pete. “Doctors, construction workers, laborers…there were times people drove all the way across the country on their motorcycles from California to come see my dad and get their tattoos.”

Weber died earlier this month after a battle with cancer. He was 67. His legacy is the work he left on thousands of people near and far.

“He cared about the quality of work he did, and he cared about the people,” says his widow, Ulain Weber, a longtime Suttons Bay schools employee. “The skin color didn’t make a difference, who they were or what they did didn’t make a difference. They were all welcome.”

Weber developed an interest in tattoos at a young age and traveled to San Diego to work under legendary tattoo artist Doc Webb. He eventually became proficient in a technique known as single-needle fine-line tattooing, the most intricate and detailed – and arguably the most difficult – form of tattooing.

“The single-needle fine-line was one of his differentiating points because of how difficult that is. It’s a pretty unique thing that not a lot of artists are doing,” says Pete Weber, who now works as an attorney in Colorado. “It’s very unforgiving line work, and you have to be really talented to do it. Any little bump is going to show and impact the design.”

Another large portion of Weber’s business was so-called cosmetic tattooing, the younger Weber adds.
“He brought people in who had scars or disfigurement, and he could use skin tones to mask the scar or make it blend in, so these people would no longer have the trauma associated with it,” he says. “He was actually referred by a lot of doctors for that type of work.”

And while Weber spent time in San Diego, West Virginia and other areas of the country -- and even spent time traveling on a national tattoo competition circuit -- it had to be Leelanau County when it came time to settle down and raise a family.

“He was always extremely proud of Leelanau County. We have the generational history up there, and it was just God’s land or the promised land to him,” Pete says. “The biggest draw for that area was the love of his hometown. He travelled all over the world, but he always came back to Suttons Bay.”

It wasn’t always rosy. People either “loved or hated” his father based on his strong and outspoken personality, Pete says, and he gained quite the reputation in the mid-1990s for a long running legal battle with the Village of Suttons Bay.

Prominent local attorney Jim Olson represented Weber during proceedings all those years ago. He said the village sued Weber claiming the then-new location for his tattoo studio was a zoning violation.

“The village, although they never admitted it, simply didn’t want a tattoo artist there,” Olson tells The Ticker. “So rather than go after the art per se, they argued that the tattoo studio was a change in use that constituted a nuisance.”

Weber prevailed after more than two years of court proceedings.

“As an artist he was a very passionate person, but he was also a very compassionate person, and he had a true revulsion to injustice,” Olson says. “He had an instinct for things that were not right, and in this case he had the kind of fortitude that came from a sense of justice.”

Weber’s passion will live on through artists he trained. One such artist is Ali Alsharari, 29, a former Suttons Bay student who apprenticed under Weber about a decade ago and now works at Second Sun Tattoo in Traverse City.

“He paved the way for a lot of us up here,” Alsharari says. “He was one of the first tattoo artists to open up in Northern Michigan, and anyone between 40 to 70 years old who has a tattoo that they got up here, especially in Leelanau County, chances are they got it from Glen.”

Alsharari, who visited with his old friend and boss shortly before he died, says he will be missed.
“He gave me a chance; he welcomed me in. He really took care of me when I needed someone there for me. I would not be where I’m at today without Glen. One hundred percent.”

The family plans a memorial service next summer.