Bellmore's master of tattoo art competes on 'Ink Master'

In room 420 of Bellmore’s Alchemy Tattoo Arts, customers can often be found sleeping while Jay Blondel works on a custom creation. His tattooing technique is so light-handed that he has earned the nickname “Gentle Jay.”

“When I have the table laid out, I always make sure I have a pillow on it,” he said. “They get comfortable.”

On Tuesday, Spike TV viewers were introduced to Blondel and 16 other contestants in the first episode of the fourth season of the popular “Ink Master” reality TV series. 

“Ink Master,” which averaged 2.1 million viewers per week last season, pits the nation’s top tattoo artists against one another in a contest for $100,000 in cash, an editorial feature in the pre-eminent tattoo magazine, Inked, and the title of Ink Master. The show airs on Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

Blondel, a 37-year-old Brooklyn native who now lives in Massapequa, said he responded to an open casting call for the show last season. He didn’t make the cut, but “Ink Master” producers reached out to him last fall, asking whether he wanted to take part in the next contest.

Although he has been a tattoo artist for 14 years, Blondel said he never thought about pursuing this career when he was a student at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. After dropping out, he tried to figure out how to earn a living as an artist. Then he met a few tattoo artists — including Alchemy’s Scott Trerrotola, who gave Blondel his first tattoo a week after he turned 18.

Once Blondel touched the tattoo machine, he said, he knew he would become a tattoo artist. “I love the way [it] feels in my hands,” he said. “Also, it’s nice because you’re changing people’s permanent appearance. That means that you really should be trustworthy, and also, it’s just really cool. I had a few uncles that had tattoos, and ever since I could remember, I thought tattoos were the coolest thing.”