How a 30-year-old South End watercolor tattoo artist is about to find TV stardom

Charlotte, if you haven’t already, meet Stacy Smith: watercolor/boho tattoo extraordinaire, business owner and soon-to-be TV star.

Smith may not be a household name yet, but her reality show stardom is likely to change that. The Charlotte-born, Lincolnton-raised artist who opened Tattoo Me with her best friend a couple of years ago has landed a spot on Paramount Network’s “Ink Master” competition series.

After spending just a few minutes with Smith, it’s easy to see why viewers will love watching her. The 30-year-old is kind and spunky, feminine and strong. She talks with clarity about her art and what it’s like being a woman in a male-dominated industry. She’s engaging, a natural entertainer with the looks to boot.

Yet, she originally didn’t want to be on “Ink Master”. In fact, when they reached out to her in 2013, she turned them down. “I was really nervous about putting myself out there for the world to judge. I knew people wouldn’t know me and would make assumptions,” Smith said. “I also don’t have a mean bone in my body for the drama parts of the show.”

But when they reached out again for this year’s season, which was filmed over the spring and summer, Smith took it as a sign. “I thought to myself: ‘How many times does a door open for someone in a lifetime?’” she said. “I felt compelled by the universe to override my fear and just go for it.”

For Smith, living in a house in Newark, New Jersey, with up to 20 people, not to mention the seven security guards, was a unique experience for the girl who started her career immediately after high school.

“It was terrible. I have never been to college or any dorm living situation,” Smith said. “I’m a lot happier with alone time. For me to find alone time was really fun — I’d go sit in the laundry room. I’m not kidding — or I’d lock myself in the bathroom. I was showering, but really I was just kinda taking up space.”

Hard work pays off

Smith opened Tattoo Me in 2016 in Charlotte with her best friend and co-owner, Heather Helms. “Getting a tattoo shop in this city is so hard,” Smith said, citing Uptown Mixed Use District (UMUD) zoning.

The friends-turned-business-partners ended up with a shop in South End, located amid thriving development near the intersection of Camden Road, Tryon Street and Summit Avenue. They hired several artists with varying artistic styles. Their space at 1440 S. Tryon St. #106 is inviting and cozy, with a coffee corner and a pet snake.

“I thought this was the hardest thing I ever did until I went on ‘Ink Master’. Nothing really phases me anymore. I’ve been calloused; I’ve learned patience,” Smith said.

In the series, 22 contestants are put through rigorous tattoo-inspired challenges, being tested on technical abilities as well as creativity under fire. This may be the only type of reality show in which made-for-TV decisions actually have lifelong permanence — the contestants are tattooing on what the show calls “human canvases”.

The show is judged by musician Dave Navarro, who is also a filmmaker and artist, and tattoo artists Chris Nunez of Handcrafted Miami and Oliver Peck of Elm Street Tattoo. The winner gets $100,000, an article in Inked and the title of “Ink Master.”

“A lot of the stuff you’re seeing is real — the arguments were coming from a real place,” Smith said. “When you’re put into a mental situation, you’re not going to do great tattoos.”

The judges choose the subject matter, placement or both, Smith said. “You don’t know what it’s going to be until probably an hour and a half before designing.”

At home, Smith is accustomed to getting emails up to six months in advance from clients, giving her plenty of time to brainstorm the perfect design.

Team challenges were particularly difficult, Smith said. “As artists, we all want to do our own thing. We all had opinions of what it would take to win. You don’t know what the judges are looking for. You really don’t.”

In a field historically associated with male artists, and on a TV show that includes plenty of contestants who practice traditional style tattoos, a woman watercolor artist stands out and not always in a positive way. “I like my tattoos that look like art. Do a lot of tattooers agree with that? Absolutely not,” she said. “For a traditional artist to look at a watercolor tattoo, it’s probably not going to go well. There’s going to be a lot of things, in their minds, that are flaws.”

However, without artists breaking the mold, Smith said there would be no versatility.

Ultimately, Smith said she listens to her intuition. “There is no mold as long as you can create your own. That’s what makes what I do a little bit different. You kinda have to be your own cheerleader a lot of times in life. You have to listen to your inner voice and trust every move you make and it’ll all work out,” Smith said.

Back on the homefront, they weren’t allowed to tell anyone she was on the show during filming. Best friend Helms held down the fort — which included fielding the speculation surrounding Smith’s surprise disappearance from the shop. “There were rumors flying,” Helms said. “‘Where is she? Is she in rehab, is she pregnant? Does she have tendonitis? Did she quit?’”

“‘Guys, she owns it,’” Helms would say. “Why would she quit?”

People would show up in-person at the shop to see if Helms had been lying on the phone, she said. “I got so many calls. I had to reschedule months’ worth of people.”

“I do have tendonitis,” Smith said.

Smith was without her phone for 12 hours a day, but when she would get it back at the day’s end, Helms would be a regular phone call. “I would say, ‘Just make it three episodes. You’re going to do so well,’’” Helms said. “This is about to really set us for the future. I’m so proud of her. As soon as it was announced, we had people coming in the door just to look at the shop.”

Smith said her unique style of tattooing is what makes her popular with her clients, even before she becomes TV famous. She said most of her clients book with her after seeing her work on Instagram. “My clientele is really filling up and the show hasn’t even aired yet,” Smith said. “I opened my books August 1 and we took 63 appointments in three hours.”

“Ink Master” premieres Aug. 28 at 10 p.m. on Paramount Network.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 2:00 AM.