Local tattoo artist competes for $100K

Rhode Island native and tattoo artist, Steve Tefft, is competing for $100,000 and the title of Ink Master on Spike TV. ‘Ink Masters’ is back for its second season and has 16 artists compete in extreme challenges that push the contestants to their limit.

The show is hosted by rock legend Dave Navarro and judged by tattoo icons Chris Nunez and Oliver Peck.

Steve attended Chariho high school and was voted “most artistic” in his class. He began his career "scratching" out of his house before getting an apprenticeship and has worked hard ever since to perfect his craft.

He owns a tattoo shop called 12 Tattoos in Groton, CT. He said being on the show was a lot of hard work, harder than most people thought.

Steve specializes in black and grey tattoos and is best known for his realistic portraits and horror imagery and prides himself on being able to complete his work extremely fast.

Steve can be seen on Ink Masters on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. on Spike TV. The live finale will air on December 18 from New York City.

Steve's Bio: http://www.spike.com/shows/ink-master/bios