We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andrew L. Barker III a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew L. , thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was betting on myself and my talents and my outer-worldly creativity , learning to hone in on that talent and alchemize it into mastered skills. I knew I wanted to be an artist since the day I was able to fill up my coloring books my Nanna would buy for me as a child. As far as tattooing goes, I wasn’t ever inside of a tattoo shop as a kid but I knew the days my family would have tattoo parties it was a special day. It felt ceremonial almost. People laughing, drinks of choice, good music, and most importantly stories of the memories associated with the tattoos everyone would get. At age 7 I took it upon myself to ask my mom could I get a tattoo. They were having a tattoo party and I seen the excitement around everyone getting new ink and I wanted in on the festivities. My mom daringly said yes in an almost sarcastic way thinking I was just talking l, but when she saw I was serious she told the artist it was okay and I was able to get the letter D on my wrist. It stood for Drew. And from that day I fell in love with tattooing and the culture of it itself. Flash forward to today I’m tattooing and painting, learning to do murals and spending my time doing what I love.

Andrew L. , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well growing up on 145th off of Kinsman, the neighborhood was pretty busy. Although I enjoyed my upbringing, that couldn’t be my end goal and I realized that at 13 years young. As far as discipline goes I was either in my room drawing or tracing my favorite characters, helping my dad with a car when he made me haha, or farming with my grandfather. I had time to run around with my friends but the men in my family saw to it that there was a balance between my leisure and work time. The bit of time I spent in the army helped establish a solid ground of discipline as well.

I’ve always been business minded since a child, from selling tomatoes and corn that my grandfather grew, to selling bbq dinners in the summer with my sister and pops, to eventually selling snacks and juice in high school. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset. Now I’m tattooing and selling artwork.

I’m most proud of being in service to others and being able to contribute to their elevation in life. People leave with a different level of confidence when they walk out of a tattoo shop. I’ve seen my paintings bring astonishment and tears to the eyes of viewers. Hearing how it helped them to open another part of their brain in the field of creativity. I’m grateful to be a vessel of the Divine and channeling that communication and energy, into art.

I want everyone to know that we are here to love each other and enjoy ourselves while building each other up in the most magnificent and sustainable way possible. The sky being a limit is a lie when you realize how expansive the Universe is. And we all carry that power with us.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A time when I had to pivot was when I first got my apprenticeship at Greenlight Tattoo and Art gallery back in 2022. And I give thanks to Marcus Miller (one of the owners) for being one of the first to tell me he believes in me and my potential in becoming a tattoo artist.

I started tattooing in my house and I was used to doing things my way and on my own time. Going into a shop, I had to get used to arriving at a certain time dedicating a huge amount of the day to being there and learning as much as I could by watching, asking questions, and practicing. There was still some tough times going on with family and I would often put family before myself and this was starting to affect my career. So I had to make a change and start putting me first. Since then things have flown a lot smoother and I realized ultimately the only true way to create change is to be that in which you wish to see.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I believe creating space for yourself and being in alignment with your big 3 is most helpful in succeeding. The big 3 being mind, body, and soul. Through meditation, prayer, any other self care ritual you choose.. it’s important. More important than we know. Meditation gets you more in tune with your intuition, your inner GPS, and following that will help you navigate through life a bit smoother.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: DruDreaux
• Youtube: AndrewThriceGreat