A MUM of three has been officially declared ‘brilliant’ at the Wales Business Awards 2020 – held earlier this month.

Tattooist, Lisa Turner, 35, took the ‘brilliance’ award after judges checked out her work history on her social media sites.

Mrs Turner, who owns and runs the Inkabella tattoo emporium, in Broad Street, Barry, was one of the people who had been shortlisted in the ‘Best Tattoo Artist of 2020’ category.

And she paid tribute to award-winning and renowned Barry tattoo artist, Lee Clements, who had mentored and trained her when she first began.

She said: “I went to see Lee for the first tattoo I had on my back.

“When I got there, he made me feel really comfortable and I thought it was something I’d like to do.

“I kept going back to the shop and he offered me a job.

“The rest is history.”

Mrs Turner has been in business for nearly eight years.

She established herself in Penarth before arriving back in Barry a year-and-a-half ago to establish Inkabella.

“My daughter – she’s called Tinkabella because she likes Disney – and I thought I would just take off the ‘t’.

“I didn’t know about the Wales Business Awards at first and then I had a Facebook notification off them saying I’d been nominated by a client.

“I don’t know who.”

A public vote saw her secure a finalist place and the ceremony took place in Maes Manor Country Hotel, in Blackwood, on March 8.

“They announced the winner of the voting system and we were like “aah”, she said. “Then the very last one they read out was the Brilliance Award for exceptional talent – and then they said me.

“I was like “aa-aah”.

“I was so happy.

“It was the last award of the evening.”

Mrs Turner said the judges had looked at her work and made the decision.

She said she particularly likes working on horror or colour designs, but she has ventured into other territory.

“I have someone who has got chicken nuggets,” she said. “They wanted chicken nuggets on their ankle.

“I did a tattoo of Judge Judy on someone saying, ‘only Judge Judy can judge me’.

“That was very funny.

“I don’t think anything surprises me anymore.”

Inkabella, in Broad Street, Barry, is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.

Find them on Facebook – Lisa Walker Tattoos, Instagram and Twitter.