I’m Zak Korvin, aka Crow, aka The Wild Hobo, aka The Pepper Papi, aka The Master of Mandala. I’m an artist, tattooer and homeless vagabond from the Black Country, England.
I grew up in a little village in the middle of England. After a brief stint at art college and a job in an art gallery where I earned my letters, I set off on a journey of discovery around the world. Partly out of curiosity but also to escape the anxiety I felt being cooped up in a particularly uneventful village.
I stumbled my way through the US and spent four months tirelessly building paths for the National Park service. Then I hitchhiked all around Europe, Russia and China, sleeping in a hammock in the woods to save money.
When the money was all gone I trained to be a licensed croupier and worked in a casino with the hopes I could get a job on a cruise ship and get paid to travel the world. But realising the reality of being a cruise ship croupier was rather unfulfilling I folded that hand and never looked back.
Off to the Peruvian Amazon for a bit of a brain reset and I was back in business with a refreshed purpose in life; to create art and inspire others to do the same.
I bought a van and drove around Europe painting walls and drawing in the back of my makeshift van life studio before heading back to Peru for some more inspiration.
I apprenticed as a tattoo artist at Stefano’s in Lima for a couple of years before setting up my own private studio in a tiny village in the Sacred Valley.
At the moment I’m in the Peruvian desert spending most of my time creating art and inspiring others to do the same.