Jason Sorrell is a native of Ft. Wayne, IN who currently works and resides in Austin, TX. Shortly before graduating from Heritage High School in 1991, Jason joined the US Army as an artillery crewman in order to earn college tuition and see Europe. While waiting in the Army's Delayed Entry Program, the US went to war with Iraq for the liberation of Kuwait. Jason was fully prepared to go to war when...
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Jason Sorrell is a native of Ft. Wayne, IN who currently works and resides in Austin, TX. Shortly before graduating from Heritage High School in 1991, Jason joined the US Army as an artillery crewman in order to earn college tuition and see Europe. While waiting in the Army's Delayed Entry Program, the US went to war with Iraq for the liberation of Kuwait. Jason was fully prepared to go to war when he began Basic Training, but the war did not outlast his 14 weeks of training.
Jason joined his unit in Kirch Goens Germany, and the 2/3 FA was his home for four years. During his time in Europe, Jason toured much of Germany and many of the major cities throughout the continent. His travels tended to focus on the under-belly of the places he visited. Jason could often be found in brothels, seedy night-clubs, and unusual shops. Jason was also an avid skateboarder during this time, with nearly every weekend being spent finding and skating different half-pipes where ever he could find them.
While in high school, Jason pursued the development of his talents as an artist and had actually won a small scholarship to a local college. While in the Army, Jason had considered making the military his career, but after a discussion with his crew-chief; SSgt Danny Dwayne Taylor, opted instead to complete his four year contract and return to art. SSgt. Taylor had advised that a career in the Army was not a bad life, but it was also not the life that Jason had wanted when he signed up.
Jason's return to his home town was anti-climatic. He discovered that he had outgrown many of his old friends and that his interests and pursuits were far broader than what the small town had to offer. Jason went to college for art at IPFW, continued his interest in the underground counter-culture (limited as it was in Indiana), and enjoyed the fruits of his youth. His home gained recogntion for being a place where new music was heard, strange films were watched, alcohol flowed freely and frequently, and young woman were in constant danger of sullying their reputations.
Jason has been married and divorced twice. His first wife he met in Germany. Their brief union resulted in one child, Vanessa. Both his first wife and Vanessa live in Ft. Wayne. His next marriage involved a woman with whom he had more in common but was no more stable. Another daughter was the result, Gabrielle. Both Gabrielle and Vanessa live with their father in Austin each summer, and both are pursuing art. His daughters are two of the very short list of things that Jason cares about more deeply than his development as an artist.
During much of his pursuit of art, Jason has been often advised to explore tattoo art because of his style and interests. While in college, Jason decided to give this field his full attention. He developed a 10 sheet flash set in the late 1990's and began marketting his flash not only to tattoo shops, but also to the public on various items through Cafe Press. His Cafe Press shop; www.cafepress.com/coshadowside, continues to be his venue for merchandising his artwork and remains popular with the "low-brow" set in the United States and abroad. Finding the tattoo market in Ft. Wayne over-saturated, Jason pursued an offer to apprentice under an artist in Austin.
Upon arriving, Jason began to explore this offer and the reputation of the artist amongst the local shop owners, and quickly discovered that the proposal was a scam. Luckilly, no maney had changed hands, and Jason was once again in a city that was better equipped to cater to his tastes and pursuits. It did not take long for Jason to find an apprenticeship, this time under the tutelage of Kyle Giffen. He quickly learned and excelled as a tattoo artist, and now earns a significant income providing tattoos for collectors in and around Austin.
Jason has also long prusued an interest in the occult; this information has augmented his art and been a source of inspiration. Jason identifies himself as a Satanist, and has made a name for himself amongst Satanists on the internet as a prime example of a person living by Satanic principles and driven by Satanic pursuits. His writing has entertained and provoked the Satanic Movement for the last decade, and has reulted in several, independently published books. Under the pen-name "Ego Diabolus", Jason has participated in numerous Satanic and pagan organizations, both on and off-line; providing humor, social-insight, education, and guidance.
Amongst his accomplishments as a student of the occult has been the development of his "Black Tarot". Jason's interest in the Tarot began almost exclusively as an artist pursuit. His studies lead him to uncover the consistent structures present in the earliest Tarot sets, and through the study of these structures discover an underlying meaning of the symbols and purpose of the Tarot not expressed to the public by other Tarot "experts". Jason designed a set of 22 images which reflected both his discoveries and his particular philisophical leanings and wrote a popular book about his theories and discoveries. All his books are currently available at www.lulu.com/creativeoddities.
Today, Jason continue to tattoo, study the occult, and create erotic imagery for the BDSM community. He maintains a web-site; www.creativeodditiesstudios.com, which recently featured his latest artistic effort: SHE-BEAST, and erotic-horror comic book. Jason is still an engaged an active member of the Satanic Movement, encouraging and patronizing the creative efforts of others as well as increasing awareness of his own pursuits.