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Fair Lawn Tattoo Artist Gets Inked By Inspiration

FAIR LAWN, N.J. — The very man that Fair Lawn's Jay Hernandez said inspired him to pursue a career as a tattoo artist inked him up at last weekend's Asbury Park festival.

Fair Lawn's Jay Hernandez, right, with his inspiration, Kerry O'Neill, at the 2017 Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival in Asbury Park.

Fair Lawn's Jay Hernandez, right, with his inspiration, Kerry O'Neill, at the 2017 Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival in Asbury Park.

Photo Credit: Contributed

Kerry O'Neill, a Butler tattoo artist, is the man who Hernandez, 29, said changed the trajectory of his life.

"Getting tattooed by Kerry was an incredible experience," said Herndandez of the fresh skull on his arm.

"When I was a kid my mentor was covered in artwork by Kerry, and I knew right and there then that I wanted to have tattoos."

Hernandez works at Our Lady of Ink in Secaucus, and dropped out of college because he said he felt uninspired. Tattooing, however, kept him going.

Thanks to people like O'Neill.

"He's been tattooing for over 20 years and still has an amazing level of enthusiasm for tattooing," Hernandez said.

"I had mentioned that I would love to collect a piece from him at some point during the weekend and told him about how he had tattooed my mentor and that his artwork was the spark that ignited the flame.

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