By 
IN any chosen profession there’s a pinnacle for people to reach; for footballers it’s the World Cup, for acting its winning an Oscar and for journalists it’s a Pulitzer.
In the tattoo world, local inker Danny McCay is on the verge of his pinnacle following an invite by a world-renowned tattoo artist.
The name Ami James might not mean much to a lot of people but to tattoo lovers, he’s practically God.
A former star of MTV reality show Miami Ink and a current judge on Inkmasters, Ami is known all over the world by lovers of body art and is so impressed by Danny’s work, he’s invited the Strabane artist out to the Sunshine State for a stint in Ami’s own studio.
Danny is ‘buzzing’ over the news. Explaining how it all came about, he said, “I’ve been a massive fan of Ami’s since I was 13 years old.
“I grew up watching Miami Ink with him and Kat Von D and been a fan before I could even touch a tattoo machine; they’re both huge deals in the tattoo world.
“I met Ami in an airport around five years ago and he ended up following me on Instagram. We exchanged messages a bit but nothing concrete.
“In December I put up a story of a sleeve I did and Ami liked it. We began chatting and he offered me a guest spot in his studio; of course I said yes.
“We began talking making plans in January and settled on January next year. I’ll be going out for a week and spending it in Ami’s studio tattooing away.
“I can’t wait.”
Still on a high, Danny is extremely grateful for the opportunity and is hoping to come back with more than experience.
“Because he’s been on television, people think that Ami is some sort of huge celebrity; he’s not. He’s a kind, humble, hard-working, down-to-earth guy.
“He has a massive breadth of knowledge in the industry and that’s what I’m interested in. I don’t anticipate any big celebrities dropping in for a tattoo.
“I’m always grateful for any experiences and opportunities that come my way.
“Ami is such a huge deal in our world; it’s a huge honour to be asked.
“I’d love it if Ami would tattoo me, something small but anything from an artist like Ami would be amazing.”
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