Around the Rivers: ‘Ink Master’ to Feature Pittsburgh Tattoo Artist

Pittsburgh is about to leave a permanent mark on the tattoo industry.

When the new season of ‘Ink Master’ premiers on Spike TV in October, it will feature artist Sarah Miller of Wyld Chyld Tattoo in Brookline.

The shop manager is one of 16 ‘Ink Master’ contestants trying for a $100,000 grand prize. She said the show is an unmatched experience for artists.

“It’s something like boot camp for tattooing,” Miller said. “Fun, but it’s definitely sink or swim.”

The 27-year-old can handle the pressure. Miller is a jack-of-all-trades around the Brookline Boulevard shop, which opened in March. She is its owner, an illustrator/designer and tattoo artist.

She also is responsible for the interior design of the shop, and the logo she designed for the Brookline store is becoming standard at all Wyld Chyld locations.

With the show set to air, and the level of talent she will be competing against, the experience could seem intimidating for someone who is fairly fresh to the tattoo industry, but Miller is not going to back down.

“When you’re running a shop you have to multitask in your sleep,” she said. “It will definitely give me an edge in the competition.”

The show gave Miller a chance to focus on tattooing, something she didn’t imagine she’d be doing when she moved to Pittsburgh a few years ago to study graphic design at the Art Institute.

Her college roommate was a tattoo artist, and suggested Miller get into the field after seeing her drawings.

“I thought, no, no, no way,” Miller said. “But she set up a machine and let me try on a grapefruit. I’ve been tattooing for almost seven years now.”

Miller’s hometown is New York City, but she lives on the North Side now and is planning to move to Brookline soon. She said she talked about Brookline when interviewed for ‘Ink Master’.

“I talk about how quaint the neighborhood is, how we have and the , and the hominess of the whole community,” she said. “I really just wanted to touch base on that.”

If she wins, Miller wants to make improvements around the store, pay off student loans and invest a bit. But if she doesn’t win, she said the experience still was worth it.

“Being involved in this show really showed me the true strength of what I can do,” Miller said. “What can you do in the most extreme of circumstances? What can you push yourself to do when you have a singular goal in mind? It’s go time.”

‘Ink Master’ premiers at 10 p.m. Oct. 9.

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