A NEWPORT-based tattoo artist has been named one of the finalists on E4’s Tattoo Artist of the Year.

Marie Lowe, the owner of Miss Rie’s Tattoo Studio, is now one of six contestants left in the competition after the show’s third episode was aired on Tuesday. The reality show is designed to test the inking ability of 10 professional tattooists from across the UK.

The 32-year-old originally from Portsmouth, hopes to claim victory and said she enjoyed being on the programme.

“It has been the best experience ever, I am so happy with the programme,” she said.

However, she admitted having doubts initially about appearing on the reality show.

She said: “There was obviously a lot of controversy with the show Tattoo Fixers so I was a bit dubious about it at first.

“Tattoo artists generally stay away from TV shows because a lot of the time the producers don’t know about tattooing, but this producer does,” she added, talking about producer Aaron Morgan.

The tattooist explained her biggest challenge had been drawing a half sleeve on a man’s arm in only four hours, “This gave me a massively hard time because he was this 6 foot 4 guy with an arm the size of my leg.

“On the next episode I have a very challenging situation again, but you will have to wait and see what it is,” she added.

Miss Lowe said she and the other contestants have become close friends.

“It was so intense, all staying in the same hotel and being with each other from 5 am to nearly 12 pm. But we were like a big family, we all helped each other,” she said.

After being on the show she is keen to continue getting her name out there and already has plans to do a guest spot in Brighton in May and tattoo conventions in Wales over the summer.

The tattooist said informing people in Newport about tattooing remains a priority for her.

She said: “With Newport, there are so many illegal tattoo artists around, it makes me so sad. Research your tattoo artist and make sure they have their licences.”