Making her mark: Islander Danielle Martin is competing in tattoo beauty contest

Submitted By Danielle Martin

Danielle Martin is making an impressive showing in the 2021 Inked Magazine Cover Girl Search, a worldwide tattoo beauty competition. After three elimination rounds in the online contest, Martin is holding strong at first place in her group.

The lifelong, third-generation Islander said she entered the contest only because of the encouragement of her husband of nearly 20 years, Jim “Biff” Martin, and her sons, Andrew Sander, 25; Jimmy Martin Jr. 22; Kevin Sander 21; & Joey Martin, 15.

“I’m normally a rather humble, private person, and this is really out of my wheelhouse,” she said.

Martin got into tattoos as a means of self-expression.

“Tattoos are an artistic representation of your life’s journey – of all that life encompasses,” she said. “Ink tells my story – the good, the bad and the ugly. There’s a story behind every tattoo. My skin is my canvas,” she said.

Marti has endured difficulties in life, including debilitating illness and a serious auto accident, but continues to maintain an upbeat attitude.

Her tattoos include her sons’ names on a cherry blossom tree, the name of her late mother’s favorite Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun,” her husband’s nickname in a hidden picture and her lucky numbers. “It’s one-of-a-kind, just as I am and it’s beautifully scarred, perfectly imperfect,” she said. “It shows who I am and all I’ve been through.”

The artist for most of her tattoos is Joe Marzolf of Roadhouse Tattoos and Piercing in Holland, New York.

The 43-year-old Grand Island High School graduate said she has dedicated her life “to being a stay-at-home mom and housewife.”

“I became a mom straight out of high school and put my life on hold to raise my boys. Over the years I’ve been approached about modeling, but never did anything about it, as I had no time to do so in my hectic life,” she said. But now, with only the “baby” of the family still living at home, it was time to pursue a new path.

“I took up a local photographer on her offer to do a free photo shoot back in December, before Christmas. From those photos, in turn, I’ve gotten many modeling job offers and other photographers reaching out to me, as well. The world of alternative/pin-up style modeling is vast and new to me, but I’m really liking it thus far!

“So the next step, entering the photos from my shoot into this Inked Magazine Cover Girl Search, felt only natural. The competition opened on Jan 19 and I immediately started out ranking in third place in my group!” There are many groupings of women randomly chosen. At the start of the competition, there were more than 400 groups and over 20,000 contestants.

“I then quickly jumped to second, then up to first place. You will teeter up and down a placement occasionally, but I haven’t done so in nearly two weeks.”

Martin explains that each contestant is given an “inkedmag link” to share online on their social media sites so that people can hop on and vote for their favorite contestant daily.

Those contestants in first place in each group advance to the quarterfinals and semifinals. Only first- place contestants advance to the finals, which start on March 4. On March 11, the winner of the Inked Cover Girl Competition will be chosen. The winner gets $25,000 cash and a $25,000 dream photo shoot, where they’ll be featured on the cover of Inked Magazine.

“There’s still a long way to go, and I’m hoping I’ll make it through this next doozy of an elimination,” Martin said. “Nevertheless, I’m truly grateful and surprised to have made it this far as it is, should I be eliminated. I cannot thank my supporters enough,” she said.

“The Town of Grand Island may be small but sure is mighty! They’re definitely supportive when it’s one of their own! It’s been a real whirlwind of an experience … being recognized for this by complete strangers when out grocery shopping, or when frequenting our favorite local pizza joint and bar. I’m just a small town girl/stay at home mom and housewife. But it can never hurt to dream big!”
Martin knows just what she would do if she were to win.

“I’d love to take my boys on a trip of a lifetime. They’re mostly grown now and my three oldest are out of the house already. I’d love to be able to bring us all back together somewhere fun and reconnect as a family! It’s been ages since we could do so.”

“You can find me on Facebook at Dani Martin (Hassan), where I’ve developed quite the following over the years, or on Instagram @danimartin.333,” she said.

The link to vote in the competition is: https://cover.inkedmag.com/2021/danielle-martin.

Erie County Editor Karen Carr Keefe contributed to this report.