A BARNSLEY artist’s dream came true after picking up second place at a tattoo convention last weekend.

Florin Apreutesei, of Ink 77 Tattoo Studios on Shambles Street, took silver in the small black and grey category at the Big Ink Bash tattoo convention in Rotherham.

The tattooist saw the convention as an opportunity for people to see how much he has put into his work.

Florin said: “There is a lot of hard work behind the scenes people don’t know how much you sacrifice and how much stress goes into it.

“If you see people admiring your work, or when you’re booked months in advance, it means a lot.

“When they said I won second place in my category it was amazing but I was so nervous that I didn’t know where to look.

“It was just more proof that I am doing good and that the hard work is paying off.”

Florin’s partner at the studio, Jake Shepherd, also competed after being convinced and getting advice from the second-placed winner.

Jake added: “He’s helped me immensely.

“I’m now the busiest I’ve ever been and I owe a lot to him for giving me the chance to work with him.”

Although he did not pick up any awards, Mr Shepherd still took a lot away from the event, and saw the tattoo community come together.

He said: “The main thing I noticed immediately is that even though there was an insane amount of talent at the convention, nobody seemed to be driven by ego or acted like they were better than anyone else.

“In my experience that’s rare for tattoo artists.”