“I am very, very blessed,” says Jazz Ison Sinkfield, a mother and grandmother with a story to tell.

“One day, I want to meet Oprah,” she says. “And a lot of more celebrities. And I just want them to hear my story.”The southwest Atlanta woman expects her story to make her famous, allowing her to share what she calls her divine gift.

The gift: Jazz Ison Sinkfield’s fingernails. They represent an ongoing project of 22 years. The longest of them is 24 inches. “They’re a gift, and I can say, a talent too,” she says, “Because it’s something that everyone cannot do.”

Occasionally, she says, people see her nails and make ugly remarks. “The women will turn their nose up to me,” she says. “Some people are jealous,” she adds with utter seriousness.

“I feel as if you can be entitled to your opinions but don’t be mean about it.”
She believes most women desire extra-long nails like hers, “Because it’s a fashion statement now.”

Jazz Ison Sinkfield backs her fashion statement with regular visits to the Exotic Nail and Spa on Cascade Road.

Her nail tech is Rose Nguyen. Her maintenance is a monthly project that takes five hours and costs $250. “It’s easy to get messed up,” said Nguyen, looking at her client’s twisting fingernails.

“They tangle up,” said Jazz Ison Sinkfield. And maintenance is also about avoidance of the hazards that can threaten her ongoing fashion statement.

“There isn’t anything that I can’t do. The only thing I can’t do is, I cannot tie shoes,” said Sinkfield. She adds she cannot type on a computer, nor go bowling. “Of course, I don’t take off the jewelry,” she said, gesturing to her rings and bracelets, which would have to traverse her 20-inch nails to come off.