Simons opened Red, White & Blue Tattoo in April on Washburn Avenue in Backus. During the day he works next door at B&L Automotive.

A blue neon sign announces to drivers by that he's open for business.

Simons is typically open from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday and Fridays for consultations and does most of his tattooing on the weekends.

This is his third tattoo shop (he had one in Park Rapids and Wadena) and Backus' only tattoo shop. In fact, it may be the only tattoo shop between Bemidji and Brainerd.

Simons has been tattooing since December of 2001 - nearly eight years. "I'm still excited," Simons said of the process. And, with tattooing, it's personal. "You put so much of yourself into it," he said.

Simons is a graduate of Michigan's "World's Only Tattoo School."

He enrolled in tattoo school at his mom's suggestion. She knew he liked to draw, had the necessary patience and was a "tattoo collector" himself.

"Tattooing is one of the hardest things I've ever done...you're trying to draw with a half-pound pencil that vibrates," Simons said.

Simons likes to have his tattoos reflect him as an artist. He'll memorize a line before he tattoos it, so the line is fluid.

About half his customers have a design picked out when they come in; the rest come looking for ideas. Simons draws his own designs and can draw custom tattoos for customers. Recently he was working on a full-color eagle and tattered flag design for a customer.

Common tattoo requests are roses, daggers and skulls. Many customers come in with ideas they've gotten off of the Internet.

Simons will typically turn a design into a stencil to apply to the skin, although some tattoos he can do freehand. The skin is stretched when tattooing and a stencil helps the customer visualize, and be comfortable with, the final placement, Simons said.

"I want them to be confident," he said.

Cleanliness is another reason to be confident at Red, White & Blue Tattoo.

Any stainless steel instruments are soaked in a Ben/zal instrument bath; washed in Alconox, a protein emulsifier; bagged in a sterile bag and put in an Autoclave sterilizer. Needles are only used once and then disposed of. And, an independent lab has tested his equipment. And, his sterile room can be closed off for customers' privacy.

Covering up tattoos is one of Simons' specialties. Customers come in with a name of a former boyfriend or girlfriend and want it covered up. Or, some have homemade tattoos that they want to appear more artistic.

Simons has albums full of shots of his cover-up tattoos - and other tattoos. Some are especially meaningful to the customer: a tattoo with children's and loved ones' names; a widower with a tattoo of his wife; or family crests.

Sometimes only the customer knows a tattoos' meaning.