Thinking about You....

Monday i was leaving the bank and got a call from my mother "Uncle Bert is dead" the pain shot from my heart to my stomach....I was in the car with my friend, Damon....I have a hard time showing pain in front of other men so I held it all in.... It felt like my head was going to blow up....I wasn't ready for this...I wasn't ready for this type of pain.... We lose Billy last year and just lose my aunt on Christmas....now my Uncle Bert.. The man who brags how he raised me...we didn't see eye to eye all the time but I do KNOW he loved me and the rest the family with all his heart.... They said his cellphone was full of pics of our children and us....the pain I feel... And the FEAR I feel knowing i will have to see him in that casket.... I can't write anymore... But know that Jesse Bailey was one of the few men that help make me into the man I am today.... I love you more than words can explain.... Thank you for always believing me in and always having my back....your my heart... I miss you... It won't be the same without you.... We have to be strong for mama...you were her little brother I know she hurts...but your with Nanny & Grandmama now.... Please looking over us... RIP Uncle Bert





- Posted from my iPhone

Tattooing in Asheville

I was in Asheville tattooing Monday & Tuesday on my days
off work... Some people ask me why I still go home to tattoo when I don't make any money there? To be honest it very hard and I can bearly afford to tattoo in my hometown....but I really want to see my people back home understand the "Art of Tattooing" I had one person get mad because I couldn't give them the same price I gave them 4 years ago before City of Ink opened...I'm 35 years old I can't do the same type of art or give you the same price I gave you 4 years ago...the hotel rooms are about $120-$150 a night so how can I do a tattoo for $50 and afford to pay for my stay in Asheville? So I want to thank everyone who set their appointment 3 Months in advance so I could use the deposits to pay for the rental car and hotel rooms....here is one of the pieces I did back home... I'm trying to open their minds up to more color style tattoos and to break the stereotypes of praying hands, crosses, and name tattoos... It's time to bring "Skin Paintings" to these small cities like Asheville





Posted from my iPhone

The Mountains of Asheville

When I need to escape from Atlanta....I go home...I sit in the mountains and reflect on my life... My struggles and kill all negative energy... Looking at those mountains I know God is out there and how humans are only just part of the world and NOT the owners of Earth.... It's crazy to see the nature of man and how mankind would destroy trees, and land for self gain.... God is real and wittnessing the evil actions of man makes me want to seprated myself from people.... But I have faith in mankind.... Maybe women are the secret to saving this planet...their emotions and their nurturing nature would heal the souls of any troubled man....love is the answer to all.... Clearly














Posted from my iPhone

Asheville Pics 4 "My Dad"

Torry and my Dad bond over a game of computer chess....


Me and my dad talking on the porch.....


Son, Grandfather, and Father


My arm and my dad's arm... He has one of my first tattoos on his arm... The famous middle finger


Photos by Artemus Jenkins

Posted from my iPhone

Asheville Pic 3

Fellow tattoo artists, checking out my ink.. They couldn't believe how bright colors show up on my skin tone....


Asheville is full street performers... Music is everywhere


Kevin chillin in the streets of Asheville....


Hippies & Ashevillians dance in the streets....











Photos by Artemus Jenkins


Posted from my iPhone

Asheville Pics 2

Photos from Bele Chere....


This dude's skin was painted all white...he wouldn't move until money was put down then he would wake up like a robot and start playing music & singing again....


Me over in Hillcrest Public Housing (the projects) returning tattoo text messages.... My phone never stops


My homeboy, Chuck's Lil girl... She's a real star


Photos by Artemus Jenkins

Posted from my iPhone

Asheville Pics 1

I'm checking out the art under the bridge on Lexington Ave... The paintings were done by tattoo artists in Asheville...





Torry & Kevin chillin out on the sidewalk....


Me and my mother... I love that woman, she made me....


Me and my Lil sister, Nicole.... She know I have your back for life... Love you Nikki


Torry in the Asheville "Bele Chere" spirit....


Photos by Artemus Jenkins



Posted from my iPhone

Here to there...

It's two different worlds here...I'm
Filming scenes for my movie in Asheville.. Telling my story....from the projects to downtown where all the visual artists and musicans are....both sides of the Ville help create me.


I went over to the old hood "PVA" and did my interview there...can you imagine projects surrounded by the mountains.... It's beautiful and crazy all at the sametime...








Posted from my iPhone

Dancing in the Sun

I'm up in Asheville for the Bele Chere festival....everyone's dancing in the streets.... It's about 96 degrees....the drummers playing and the hippies dance in a trance...Asheville is a very different place....the Village will inspire you in some way....these people are happy... Just wish the people in the projects would see the beauty and PEACE they are surrounded by.








Posted from my iPhone

Back to Reality

It was time to leave Asheville and get back to Atlanta... I started getting a little sad because I know what Atlanta has in store for me.... More work, less time to relax and a lot of fake people all wanting to be seen and be stars




Sometimes I miss the simple life of Asheville the only problem there is I hate seeing my people struggling and settling for less...I watch Asheville grow from the outside looking in and it's growing so fast that black people and the poor are getting left behind... But I needed this trip to see my daughters and get inspired again to remind me why I moved to atlanta in the first place...





3 hours later I'm back in Atlanta....a lil sad because I don't want to be in Atlanta but Samba booked me some tattoo appointments so I had to come back here for work...by the time I got back in town it was late and my family was sleep so I went over to my art studio fired up my candles and got myself into a peaceful zone....I put on "Blue Train" by John Coltran...put some weed in my bong.. And worked on that old "Fly High" drawing.. I got bored with that so I started on my "City of Ink Films" logo for my new business I'm starting up











Back to reality....and back in Atlanta home of the bullshit "Black Hollywood" scene....on the positive side, my son is out of school for the summer and I get to see him more....and I go to Chicago for the first time this month.


Posted from my iPhone

The Art of Asheville NC

I have been all over the South and I have yet to see another southern city that support artists and their art like Asheville do.... Art is everywhere you go... Almost every business there has art hanging up... It's on the streets, buildings, stores, everywhere....and I'm not even including the art galleries there... It's an amazing art community... An artist dream... So relaxing and inspiring









































Posted from my iPhone