Roxroy McLean, Gleaner Intern

He bravely smiles at every obstacle life throws at him. Behind each happy face, though, lie the hidden pains of a tried and tested man.

Wayne Campbell, a 33-year-old ex-convict, has turned around a life plagued with constant disappointment and self-destruction.

He recalled that "writing, music and drawing" have been his only passions since childhood, art forms he relied on to find tranquility while behind bars.

He faced his first major hurdle at 10 years old in 1987 when his mother died of breast cancer shortly after they both emigrated to the United States of America. Devastated, a young Campbell found it difficult to cope with the loss.

"I never knew how to deal with it, so I decided to use anger," said Campbell, who had endured tough circumstances while growing up in the suburban community of Hughenden, St Andrew.

Love for music and drawing

Anger eventually led to introversion. And while he still had a love for music and drawing, he grew isolated from the world and often wandered.

"I was in a different world and nobody knew," he said. A struggling relationship with his father, Lawrence, also did little to help his circumstances.

But there is more to the story.

At 16, when his life was beginning to stabilise, Campbell's girlfriend, Aquila Johnson, told him she was pregnant. Things couldn't have got any worse.

He was still grappling with the pain from his mother's death, trying to find himself and facing the pressure of impending fatherhood.

Then, overcome with frustration with what he considered never-ending chaos, Campbell made a life-derailing decision. He got heavily involved in selling marijuana while he was attending East High school in Rochester, New York. His financial status improved, but he never stopped to question his decision, as he was earning more than enough money for his family and himself.

Campbell's desperate acts of survival came to an abrupt end when he was hauled before the court and sentenced to eight and a half years in Pennsylvania's Allen Wood Penitentiary. The court confiscated everything he gained from selling drugs and he was stripped of everything as he served time behind bars.

Family in tears

"When the judge said eight years and I looked behind me, I could only see my family in tears," he said of his siblings Steve, Maxi, Paulette and Angela.

Fortunately, he still had an unconditional love for music and drawing, and again, had to fall back on them for some semblance of peace. It was within the confines of a prison cell that Campbell realised his life was a mess. The once "hot-headed, angry-at-the-world" Jamaican found himself in deep regret, eager for a personal renaissance.

During his sentence, Campbell said he wrote more than 1,500 songs and drew close to a thousand pieces of art. He said several months after being incarcerated, he had an awakening.

"I was dying inside. All I did every day was songs music and draw objects. It came to my mind, maybe I should take this up more seriously," he recalled.

This is where his transformation began. Richly blessed with leisure time, Campbell decided to focus more on his music and drawing and set about changing his life.

"Can you imagine sitting in an environment for eight years with people dictating your moves?" he asked, his voice softening slightly.

"Your power is taken away from you. Everything upsets and aggravates you. I didn't know about anyone else, but I wanted the best for me and my family," he continued.

Campbell was always encouraged by other cellmates to continue writing songs, as they loved his lyrical flair. He was also gaining more confidence in his artwork.

"I strive to be different. In life, you have to be happy with yourself," he said, as he reminisced volubly about his road to recovery.

Important pillars

Sitting on the verandah of his girlfriend's home in Goldsmith Villa, August Town, on a serene morning, Campbell spoke of the three most important pillars in his life: his siblings, who stood by him during his misery; his son, Wayne Campbell Jr, with whom he has already made amends; and his girlfriend, Niki, who he said never stopped believing in him.

After spending eight years in lock-up, Campbell became eligible for parole and was successful in his application. He was released in 2006, a new man with renewed faith.

"It couldn't have felt better," he said smiling.

Although he is yet to contact any established music producer, he is confident his musical abilities will open doors.

"I knew the drugs thing wasn't a career, but it was to get me somewhere. I haven't met any producer or artiste since I'm here. If the opportunity beckons, I'll jump right at it," he said.

Campbell believes he has found his calling and is happier than he has ever been. His two-year-old tattoo and body-piercing company, Wild Life Entertainment, is doing great, he said, and boasts more than 10 customers daily. He said most of his tattoos and piercings are a reflection of his experiences.

"It's (life) way better now. I basically went through hell, but now I'm a free man," he said.