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When deciding on a name for his new tattoo shop, Chris Evans went with Tattoos By The Good The Bad And The Ugly, however, "serendipitous" might have been more accurate.

After Evans, who's been tattooing for six years, couldn't find an apprenticeship to his liking in Anchorage, he decided to open his own shop in Kenai. Without Evans knowing, one of his friends placed an ad on Craig's List, looking for a licensed tattoo artist.

Enter Joe Hayes.

Hayes, former owner of Seward tattoo shop In The Skin, was looking to close his shop when he came across the ad.

After meeting with Evans, the two were in business, literally.

"It kind of just dropped on us real quick," Evans said.

The shop opened in late March and is located at 509 Overland Ave in Kenai. The shop is now open seven days a week from noon until 10 p.m. Walk-ins are welcomed and appointments can be made by calling 395-3953.

Though Evans' name is on the business license, he will be working under Hayes, who's been tattooing for 25 years, until he accumulates 380 hours of experience. Then Evans can take a test and become a licensed tattoo artist in the state of Alaska.

"Joe teaches me a lot," Evans said. "He's a good teacher."

Both Evans and Hayes began practicing their trade using their own bodies as a canvas.

After eight hours under the needle, all an 18-year-old Hayes had to show for it was a poor depiction of an eagle on his upper right arm. It was then Hayes decided he didn't want anyone else tattooing him, so he began doing it himself.

"I've been into drawing all my life," Evans said. "The thought never occurred to me to tattoo.

"I didn't like tattooing at first," he said. "I thought it was too hard."

After more practice on himself and friends and family, Evans said his skills improved as did his enjoyment of tattooing.

Today, neither Evans or Hayes can picture themselves in another occupation.

"I get to do what I love to do for a living," Evans said.

"I just like to whole artistic feel," Hayes said. "I can't think of doing anything else."

Hayes and Evans each have different styles of art they enjoy tattooing.

"I'm into self-realistic tattoos," Hayes said. "I love to do portraits."

Evans said he's more into skulls, demons and angels. "It's a total separation of styles from his to mine," he said.

When it comes to his own skin, Hayes said he has no theme for his tattoos.

"I don't have a problem being random," he said.

Evans, who likes to design his own ink, is currently working on covering his leg with tattoos representative of the movie "Underworld."

Both Hayes and Evans agreed that tattooing takes an artist's full concentration each and every day.

"You constantly have to be on top of your game," Evans said.

Hayes echoed Evans words saying, "You can't have an off day."

Mike Nesper can be reached at mike.nesper@peninsulaclarion.com.