Laguna Tattoo Studio is the oldest tattoo shop in Orange County, California that's still in the same location.
On Pacific Coast Highway in downtown Laguna Beach, Laguna Tattoo
first saw light as a tattoo shop in October of 1981, when Dawn Holding and George Schworak (aka George Blue) opened as Spectrum Tattoo. On May 12, 1982, after Dawn and George had left the area, Pati Pavlik, with help from Rick and Little Dave Spellman, reopened the shop as Laguna Tattoo.
Some of the artists who worked with Pati in the 1980s were Harley D., Denise G., Ardee Allen, Mark Savakis and Kevin Brady. Jonathan Shaw and Bernie Luther also sat in as guest artists. During the 1990s and through 2007, some of the artists who worked at the shop included Leo Zuluetta, Gary Kosmala, John Lloyd, Quinn Millard, Craig Christy, Lindsey Carmichael, Chas Byassee and Brother Greg. During those years the guest artists included Juan Puente and Jeff Rassier.
On August 10, 1994, Pati sold Laguna Tattoo to Stephen Crome, who had been working at the shop since July of 1989. Pati decided to get away from the hustle and bustle of Orange County and moved to Kern County to live on a beautiful ranch with her "critters." She opened a tattoo shop in Tehachapi, California. Besides being a kick-ass tattoo artist, Pati is a leader in the field of permanent cosmetics.
One of Pati's legacies is the idea that clients should not only be comfortable with their design, but also with the shop atmosphere and the artist doing the tattoo. If clients are uncomfortable with any of those things, they probably won't come back. The artists at Laguna Tattoo do their best to live up to Pati's ideal of working with clients to make sure they get quality tattooing in a relaxed and fun environment.
