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TROY, N.Y. -- A local tattoo artist who starred in a national television show is setting up show back here in the Capital Region. Jessica Gahring gained national fame on TLC's "NY Ink", and on Saturday opened Ms. Dixie's Tattoo and Pin Up Parlour in Troy.

The shop is hosting a variety of sales to celebrate opening week, and they let 50 helium balloons loose in the sky, each holding discount stickers, which if you're lucky enough to find one, you can bring into the parlour. Gahring said she has always been an artist, and she fell in love with tattooing from the beginning.

"I think the body is a canvas, and I love my body even more than I ever did with it tattooed. I think it's beautiful. I've got pictures that represent exactly who I am. And I think that people like that," said Gahring. "I think it's a way, other than clothing or your hair, that people can adorn their skin with things that are important to them."

Gahring is originally from Vestal, New York, near Binghamton. She attended college at Russell Sage in 2000. She said she is excited to return to the area and be with her 8-year-old daughter.