Joe (80 Grit) has been an “artist” for as far back as he can remember. He can’t recall how many times he was scolded by his Parents for drawing on the walls and furniture as an elementary aged child and how many trips he made to the principles office for doodling instead of paying attention in class.

It was Joe’s early love for art that helped save him in later on in his darkest hour. Sitting in a dungeon (prison cell) facing a twenty year sentence, he needed to find a constructive release that would take him away from the misery that was quickly closing in around him.

His “escape” began with countless hours of drawing with charcoal pencils and ball point pens, and then three years into his sentence he was fortunate enough to receive guidance and inspiration from two amazing portrait artists (fellow prisoners) who introduced him to wonders of oil painting.

As a result Joe was able to make a living painting portraits for other convicts for a humble fee. Any money beat the measly $1.20 per day he received “slinging a mop” on the dayroom floor.

During his incarceration, Joe was commissioned by the Catholic priest to paint a portrait of “Christ in chains” for a Newark Cathedral and there it hung for many years. It is one of his most favorite paintings to date and it was said to have reduced many parishoners to tears of joy and inspiration. It now resides over Joe’s fireplace in his home, given back to him by the priest after his retirement from clerical service.

Around that same time Joe painted a portrait of Mother (Saint) Theresa which he presented to Sister Lourdes from the Sisters of Charity. She personally gave the painting to Mother and Mother took the time out of her relentless service to Christ to send him a personal thank you note which Joe cherishes to this day.

It was also while in prison that Joe was introduced to the ancient art of Tattoo and he honed his skills over the period of a decade “carving up various slabs of convict beef” as he calls it. He even tattooed many of the “turn keys” (prison guards) as well.

Joe credits his art---a gift from God---for helping him to get through the precarious and tumultuous years he spent in prison. If not for his artistic discipline his story could have had a much different ending. He also wrote many essays, poems, an expose on juvenile delinquency/prison life called: A Heaven out of Hell: The Metamorphosis of a Prisoner, and a supernatural/thriller movie script as well.

Released from Prison in 1998, Joe continued his artistic endeavors in one medium or another. Tattooing professionally for over a decade, Joe has also explored many other mediums including airbrush, pin striping, assemblage, murals, and sculpture.

Joe’s work has been featured in various newspapers and periodicals as well as local museums and galleries and he has won numerous awards of merit and prestige including a recent “Best of show” for an assemblage titled: “Swine Flu Soiree” at the Backus gallery and museum’s annual state wide juried competition (Fort Pierce, FL) .

Joe has been happily married to his wonderful wife Crystal for ten years and they have been blessed by God with four wonderful children. Joe’s studio is “in house” and his children also share his passion for art.

Joe is currently seeking gallery representation for his monotone assemblages. He describes his current assemblage style as “dark” indicative of the current world wide socioeconomic predicament. He likes to use classical and religious icons in much of his work because he feels such images are “forceful yet easily misunderstood, kind of like me“, he explains. He also likes to use actual animal skulls and bones along with human reproductions as he enjoys the “response” they invoke. He claims that most people who find

offense in his work are those “who have spent a good portion of their lives building up walls of block and mortar around them. The ‘block’ is the ignorance handed down to them by generations past (various degrees of dysfunctional parents, teachers, “his”torians, potentates, etc.) and the ‘mortar’ is their fear. Fear of the unknown--fear of physical death, fear of seeing things as they truly are, not as they appear to be”. He hopes his art can help the viewer break through their sad delusional state and perhaps help them take the first step into the light of truth---no matter how painful that prospect may be.

He continues to divide his time between family, service to the Lord (Jesus), work (tattooing) and creating his unique assemblages. Joe hopes to broaden his client/appreciation base in the near future. If interested in owning one of his pieces, helping him to find representation, or if you just want to say hello, please feel free to drop him an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .