Born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam in a family of nine brothers and sisters, James came to the U.S. in 1992 and has resided in Atlanta, Georgia since then.  He graduated from Dekalb Technical Institute in 1998 with a Visual Communications Degree.  In 1999 he graduated from the Beauty College of Georgia and began his career at Carter Barnes Hair Artisans in 2000 as a hairstylist.  Painting, drawing and photography have always been a passion and he is often commissioned for his very realistic pencil drawings and portraits.