Brush With Crime Turns Into Visions of Beauty

Waist-length dreads tied up behind his head, Bullock talks slowly, stuttering every now and then as he gets lost in thought. He is friendly, saying hello to nearly every officer he passes in the hallway.

"All the officers know his name. When everybody knows someone's name, nine out of 10 times, it's a bad thing," Taylor said.

Not so with Bullock.

Jail higher-ups had no problem trusting Bullock to paint the detention center walls. They would simply lock him in a classroom, take a detailed inventory of his materials and let him go, Williams said. For the massive Southern Maryland mural in the hallway, they restricted his painting hours to between 11:30 p.m. and 4 a.m., when most inmates are asleep.

For his work, Bullock gets special project credits, which might help move his release date up from April, Williams said. Bullock said he hopes to get out by February.

When he leaves, his legacy will remain on the jail walls.

"That's what an artist wants," Bullock said, gathering some sketches in a manila folder. "All the artist wants is for his work to be seen."