Local contenders advance to quarter finals of Inked Originals competition

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Two Fort St. John locals have made it to the quarter finals of the Inked Originals ‘Tell Your Story in Ink’ competition. 

The winner will receive $25,000, a tattoo session with Inked Originals artist Bang Bang and will be featured in Inked magazine.

One of the locals is Mitch Shyanne, who said that if he were to win, he would donate the funds to the Charlie Lake Firefighters Association and invest in his fitness brand business, Malo.

According to Shyanne, the association would use the funds to help those who suffer a loss and need financial support. 

“We’re able to give money or provide that financial support to people that we feel could really use it,” said Shyanne.

Many of Shyanne’s tattoos were done by himself, as he was a tattoo artist in his youth. The tattoos include a compass on his hand, a clock on his chest, a scripture on his ribs and more. 

“There are multiple meanings to every piece of my tattoos,” said Shyanne.

Shyanne has worked as an on-call firefighter for the Charlie Lake Fire Department and played an important role in protecting Fort Nelson from last year’s wildfire. 

“We managed to do asset protection and structural protection for the city, which was obviously a successful endeavour because the city is still there,” said Shyanne.

Shyanne decided to work in the fire department to serve a greater cause after his sister died of a drug overdose. 

“Her passing was a very strange but necessary catalyst for change in my own life, and it projected me into the emergency response career path,” said Shyanne. 

Shyanne said he hopes to use the tattoo session to touch up some of his old tattoos that have been fading over the years. 

Another local contender is Kyle Monteith, who is currently ranked 11th in the quarter finals.

 “I’m incredibly grateful for the support I’ve had up until now, my friends and family saw me to the quarter finals,” said Montieth.

Monteith got his tattoos to honour his late father after he passed away due to substance abuse in 2016.

“I hope that the time I already have had in the spotlight has partly brought my goal to fruition and created greater awareness [for] addiction and how it affects the families of the addicts,” said Montieth.

He has honorary tattoos of Roman emperor Augustus, Zeus from Greek mythology, roses and wolves.

Fort St. John’s Amber Lindley did not advance to the quarter finals and came seventh in her group. 

Lindley was disappointed that she would not advance to the next round, but she was not surprised by how the competition worked. 

“It’s a marketing thing, which is great, but I’m not surprised at all, and I don’t have the time and energy this year to put into trying to get votes,” said Lindley. 

“As much as it would have been nice to win, it was realistically not going to happen. Good luck to anybody that’s still in it.”

The quarter finals will end on Thursday, June 26th, at 7 p.m. 

More information and voting in the competition can be found here.