I was born Robert Karl Grapes on September 30th, 1976. According to my parents, I used to get into all kinds of trouble for drawing on walls, tables, and even using clam shells to draw all over our neighbor's car!

I won art contests frequently through church and school and always wanted to make a career from my talent. After graduating from High School in 1995, I went to Murray St. University and soon after decided that I hated school and dropped out.

About six months later, starving and thirsty, I tried my salesmanship skills at a shop in Stevensville, MD called SkinFlicks. It was the first time I'd been in a tattoo shop and didn't know what to expect. The owner was impressed and thankfully, offered me an apprenticeship. The rest is a long story!

My influences in art include Giger, Valejo, Escher, Brom, Carrelero, Cleavenger, Frazetta and other graffiti artists. My influences in tattooing include Aitchison, Booth, Cain, Litwalk . . . the list goes on. I've worked in only one convention but have been lucky enough to catch a few and look over the shoulders of a couple of awesome craftsmen and soaked in as much info as I could. When it comes to tattooing and art in general, I'll never stop learning!

You can check out my work at www.wrathograpes.com.

Thanks to all the artists and staff of Flash2xs.com for their time and trouble. I hope to build a lot of friendships and gain new knowledge from this experience.

Later!

Grapes