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New tattoo: Windsor gets a parlor |
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Written by Chris Casey
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Wednesday, 24 May 2006 |
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You could say the tattoo gods have been with Bill Hickox from the start.
Rewind 22 years and Hickox — as a 17-year-old living in Fort Collins — was jonesing for a dragon emblazoned on his chest.
“I was at my house. I made my own gun, a homemade machine and then just put it on there,” he said. “I’ve never had any painful times with tattoos.”
That first tattoo gun was not sterile. Hickox would not recommend anyone else do that, but, hey, the gods were under his skin. He’s been in love with tattoos ever since, putting them on his arms, his chest and ankle.
Now Hickox could use a dash of providence again as he brings the first subversive element — gasp, a tattoo parlor — to wholesome Windsor.
He recently opened BN Tattoo at 113 5th St., a stone’s throw from downtown’s Boardwalk Park. There’s even a subversive element to the “BN,” and Hickox will share if you visit his shop, which is adorned with vinyl albums — Kiss, Steppenwolf, Heart, etc. — nailed into lime-green walls.
This reporter tried to get him to spill what the BN stands for in print, but Hickox, a savvy businessman, was steadfast: “C’mon, this is Windsor.”
He’s a three-year-resident and believes the town is ready for a tattoo shop. He will soon branch out to piercings, henna (temporary skin art), T-shirts and after-care products, such as the skin lotions used to protect tattoos from bacteria and sun rays.
Asked if anyone has raised their eyebrows about his enterprise, Hickox said, “I’ve had a few, ‘Oh, you opened a tattoo shop?’ — less than enthusiastic. But I haven’t had any of that ‘You’re going to bring in a bad element.’ The element that I’m going to bring to town is going to be less than most (biker) poker runs, if even that.”
He said Windsor, a young and growing city, is ripe for a tattoo parlor.
“You would be amazed if you walked down the street,” Hickox, 39, said. “People you would think would not have one actually do have a tattoo. It’s a lot more than the long-haired biker type or the scurvy hippy type.”
Rea Ann Trotter is a tattoo-sporting Windsor mother whose two children also have
body art. She was surprised to hear the shop opened.
“I’m not against it,” she said. “People tend to stereotype tattoo parlors as seedy places, and they don’t need to be that way at all. People just need to give it a chance.”
After that first tattoo, Hickox got more during a six-year hitch in the U.S. Army. He
went on to work in graphic design and welding, and a couple of years ago he got formal training in tattooing. He is now licensed through the Weld County health department.
One of Hickox’s most prominent tattoos is a tiger leaping off his forearm — also self-applied.
“If a tattoo artist can’t put at least one piece on himself, he’s not worth his salt, I don’t think,” he said.
INK IT UP
BN Tattoo is open 2-11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to midnight Friday and Saturday. Small tattoos cost $50 to $80, while larger ones run up to $300 or more. Clients under 18 need parental consent. Call 674-1101. | Only registered users can write comments.
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