RawRickie

Welcome to the realm of Rickie York's raw and original artwork. This store contains the story of a man and his very long and hard voyage through life. This is a story of a fall into the depths of despair, only to find a road sign marked "Hope" that pointed a way out of the abyss. This site is dubbed "RawRickie," so let us be true to the title, and get raw. Rickie is behind bars, serving a sentence length that would crush any man's spirit. He is an extremely talented artist who's tatoo work is hard to rival. Some of us start out with the odds stacked against us in this world...but that does not have to be the ending to anyone's story. For we each get to choose how we react to the heartaches and hardships life throws at us. After a life filled with pain, darkness, setbacks, and bad choices, Rickie finally hit bottom, and when he least expected it, that road sign that read "Hope" stood before his hardened face... The winds of change began to stir, a dawning of realization and of reckoning came, and with it doorways began to creak open, letting in glimmers of light from hopes and dreams of years ago that had almost faded into oblivion under the crushing weight of the darkness all around him. You can call it what you will...fate, luck...or the hand of God reaching out in mercy to a man who thought he was beyond hope. I know many may look at Rickie's work and either laugh at the irony, or scowl in disapproval...but too many people put God in a disconnected box, thinking He does not understand our weaknesses, or without realizing that some of us spend our entire lives trying to get to where others of us started off in life. Some of us have lived a much more tragic and sad life than others...be careful of how you judge. Mercy on others begets mercy upon yourself...it is wise to choose mercy and gentle love. Rickie's work is still dark in many ways, it's been his art style for decades, but this is only the beginning of the dawn. When you have been in certain environments your entire life, you become desensitized to what others may deem inappropriate or morbid. He is getting there ;) This site is Rickie's hope and dream...of what, you may ask. To be able to survive, to have commissary, and above all his most burning desire is to be able to help give some support to his three earthly angels: the love of his life and their two precious daughters. He weeps at the thought of being able to help them, for he knows they have been through hell on earth to survive while he's been away...it's been a long road for all involved, but all at once, there has been this spirit of harmony stirring in the hearts of all involved, and an attempt to get off the winding path, and set foot on one that is sure, and true, and stable. This site is Rickie's attempt to put down the tatt gun (you get in a LOT of trouble for that when you're locked up, but when nobody can send you money, you find yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place, especially when your skills are so sought after and highly valued). The products sold here, are Rickie's hope to be able to find an outlet for his talent that will keep him out of trouble, get him permanently out of the tattoo scene for the rest of his life (it's not a good environment), and be able to productively use his amazing skills to make a living for himself and his family. With every purchase you make here, the royalties will go directly to Rickie's meager amount of monthly commissary he needs, and anything above that $35 a month goal, will go directly to his family, to help ease their burdon of trying to make it on their own without their husband and father. My name is Christina. I'm Rickie's sister-in-law, and more importantly, his sister in Christ for all eternity ;) Yeah, I'm one of those tongue talking, crazy praising, laying on of hands, believing in miracles, Jesus' freaks...with tattoos, a horrible PAST, and have been radically saved for over 5 years now, involved in a daily walk of love and ministry, lol! Nobody is ever too far gone folks, NEVER too far gone. This is hope in a zazzle store, lol. This is love in an unconditional form of support, perhaps an usual way, but love and caring nonetheless. Thank you for being a part of that, and you each have all of our heartfelt gratitude for showing Rickie's art some love, and by doign so, showing his family much love!