Local Artist, Sarah Miller, Survives Week 3 on 'Ink Master'

Another episode and another week of successfully showing the world our Pittsburgh girl, Sarah Miller, can tattoo!

Episode three kicked off with another flash challenge and this time we’re trading tattoos for hair clippers. The contestants were given 60 minutes to show their skill for lines in a barber shop by creating a unique design on a willing human canvas.

Looking for solid, sharp and straight lines—the judges were relentless in their critiques of the artists—many of whom, like Miller, have never even picked up a pair of clippers. While some contestants were thrilled with this challenge, many weren’t overjoyed.  

“I didn’t like this flash challenge at all,” said Miller. “I don’t think that cutting hair makes you a better tattoo artist, but I didn’t think that I struggled that badly. The time limit really was the worst thing to deal with.”

While Sarah did her best, she found herself in the middle again with the top looks being Mark Matthews and Kay Kutta—who won his second flash challenge and would control the canvases for a second time. For Miller, this could mean another week with a tough canvas because Kay Kutta has publicly acknowledged Miller as a major competitor with a target on her back.

“I didn’t care that people were gunning for me at this point, I was starting to feel comfortable with what I was producing and I was welcoming the harder piece to try and impress the judges,” said Miller.

For this week’s elimination tattoo, the judges focused on lines with traditional Americana tattoos with bold, solid lines and a limited color pallet. This week also featured a special guest judge, legendary traditional Americana tattoo artist, Richard Stell.

“Richard Stell was really cool and knew what he was talking about,” said Miller.

Of course, a challenge wouldn’t be complete without a true twist and this week that featured military veteran canvases and a requirement that each tattoo must include an eagle and a flag. Simple, right?

“Traditional Americana tattoos are almost too simple for me to imagine,” said Miller. “It was my worst fear to do a traditional tattoo and I had even been practicing for this challenge because I was pretty sure it was going to come up.”

As the winner of the flash challenge, Kay Kutta assigned all human canvases. While gloating in his glory though, he wasn’t prepared when he asked the 80-year-old vet what he wanted and who responded with a challenge of his own— assigning himself to Kay Kutta. Although, one thing he didn’t mention—he was an 80-year-old tattoo virgin.

“It through me for a loop,” said Miller. “I thought how Kay handled the situation was respectful and we tattoo virgins everyday so I didn’t think it was out of the ordinary.”

Miller was generally happy with her human canvas, citing the only real struggle was figuring out what to do because the client was hoping for a little more realism but to meet the requirements of the challenge it needed to be a little more traditional.

“What client wanted was not a traditional tattoo and we were both a little stressed when we had to make compromises to what he wanted to get,” said Miller. “He was really cool and willing to work with me. The end result was something I was proud of and he liked what I put together. There were no problems with my client; he was a cool customer and a pleasure to work with.”

Of course, while everyone is proud of their work—the judges are relentless in their critiques of each person. From lines and placement to backwards eagles and poorly designed flags, no one was safe from the criticism. For such a simple tattoo, all the artists were really struggling.

“I find it funny to be on a show called ‘Ink Master’ and the excuse from everyone is ‘inexperience,'” said Richard Stell during an interview on the show.

While Miller was safe this week, her work did not escape the criticism and while she welcomes ways to improve her work, she doesn’t always agree with the judges.

“Since I don’t tattoo traditional tattoos, I listened to what the judges had to say,” said Miller. “I can’t really disagree with anything and for the most part I agreed with their critique. I do think my flag was fine the way it was though.”

The bottom four were “Tattoo Baby,” Ron Givens, “Big Daddy” Trey Benham and Clint Cummings. In the end, it was Ron Givens who could not live up to the title “Ink Master” and was sent home. Unimpressed with the remaining work, the judges selected no one as their pick for this week. Though, Miller took their constructive criticism and learned from the masters.  

“Ron did the worst tattoo that day, he was running on little to no sleep and you could see it in his work,” said Miller. “He tried really hard and I was sorry to see him go. He was a really good artist. I think that Kay had one of the weakest tattoos that day and I disagree with the judges. He had blow outs, shaky lines and the flags colors were wrong. He should have been in the bottom, not safe.”

Of course, the show doesn’t just end with the elimination. When the contestants returned back to the house as a group, Kay Kutta began attacking Miller almost immediately. The heated argument went from bad to worse in the last moments of the show and we start to see, which is preparation for an epic battle on the next episode between Miller and Kay Kutta. Looking back, Miller reflected on that moment with me.

“I really don’t remember—I kinda saw red,” said Miller. “He really sounded stupid when he said that. He is one of the least experienced artists in the competition and for him to think he can control me? He has another thing coming. I was quiet up til that point so he really didn’t know anything but what I looked like and that I could tattoo. I’m not one to be easily controlled. I was raised Christian where women had little to no rights and I rebelled from that at an early age. If they couldn’t control me, what makes him think he has a chance?”

While episode three ended, the feud between Miller and Kay Kutta promises to continue next week as the show ended with Miller in tears.

“Kay was pretty relentless after I got upset with him and he continued to pick on me until I couldn’t take it anymore,” said Miller. “You will have to tune in next week—I hope I don’t look horrible, but I did lose my cool.”

Next week, “Ink Master” goes to an all new level as the artists are pushed to their limits after one canvas demands a tattoo on her private parts and another contestant has a meltdown which causes a fight in the loft. Los Angeles Laker Matt Barnes also joins the judging panel as a guest for the flash challenge and the elimination challenge.

In next week’s preview, Miller finally gets a chance to prove her skills in the flash challenge as she graduates to the final two in a flash design tattoo challenge focused on color. Be sure to tune in next Tuesday at 10 p.m. and stop by Spike TV in the meantime to vote for Miller here: http://www.spike.com/shows/ink-master/skin-in-the-game/t66gff/the-80-year-old-virgin#. Every vote gets her one step closer to claiming the title of “Ink Master.”