"The Bowled and the Beautiful": Artwork for Ramen Kazama

Matthew Kazama is a force of nature. You may know him as the gregarious sushi chef at Fujiya, or as the tornado-haired drummer for Birthday Suits or WILD!!wing. For years he has been researching what it takes to make traditional Japanese ramen, eventually hosting a popular weekly ramen night at Fujiya. All of that adoration has thankfully gone to his head and emboldened him to start his own ramen shop on 34th and Nicollet in MPLS. I'm honored that he asked me to produce some paintings that show off his three signature ramen bowls. After working on it for the last half of summer I'm excited to announce that the artworks are done and last night I finally got to hang them on the wall. They look stunning. I'm so proud. Please do take a look.



TWINKIE JIGGLES BROKEN ORCHESTRA - "too big to fail" - February 2014


Sean McPherson is a towering figure in the T.C.'s. His album "too big to fail" is chocked full of evocative themes and images. I chose to illustrate some of them in each window of an apartment that Sean used to live in. It's fitting that this album displays him as a keeper of the keys that unlock the content of his songs. He wanted the cover to be reminiscent of the young adult pulp novels he read as a young bookworm in the 80's, hence the watercolor treatment. Massive fun.

RODD KEITH - "BLACK PHOENIX BLUES" - OCTOBER 30th 2013


Once again, I was asked by Roaratorio records to do the album artwork for a Rodd Keith album. Like the one before it, this album is a compilation some of his hard to find singles from the '60s and '70s. One of the singles, "Black Phoenix Blues", proved to be the most visually provocative and proved to be the best fodder for an album cover image.

WILD!!Wing "UNLEASHERIZER" MUSIC VIDEO


Driving between Willmar and Morris last year I had an idea for an all-dog audience music video for my band WILD!!wing. It turned out better than I ever imagined, thanks to a ton of hard and fun work by a bunch of excellent buds. To love this is to love me, and vice versa. 

WILD!!Wing, proudly hails from zesty Minneapolis, featuring myself/Josh Journey-Heinz on guitar, Matthew Kazama on drums, Aby Wolf on Moog, and Chris Smalley on guitar. Thanks to Co. Exhibitions for dealing with some dog pee. 

Recorded by Tom Davoux
Mixed by Eric Olsen

https://www.facebook.com/wildwingmpls
*No dogs were harmed (ears and all) in the making of this video. Note the cardboard cymbals.

ABY WOLF - "WOLF LORDS" CD - FEBRUARY 2013

Once again I am the go to guy for girlfriend Aby Wolf's album artwork, this time with less organic material. Since first hearing her collaboration with producer, Grant Cutler, I've had this sort of image in my head of pastel plumed explosions in a desolate icy landscape. The music is so patient, spare and colorful, this is my attempt to represent it graphically.


Minnesota Silverbacks - Logo - February 2013

I was asked to design a logo for Minnesota's amateur football team, the Minnesota Silverbacks. They wanted an angry Gorilla. Here's what I came up with. Iconic.


GRANT CUTLER - Shirt Graphic - December 2012

Top-flight musician, Grant Cutler, wanted me to make an illustration/graphic that would appear on a t-shirt. He suggested some kind of creepy crawlies doing their thing on his face. Here's what I came up with.
Grant survives another Moth/Hair Attack!!! 
The graphic in its final "merch" form.

ROGUE VALLEY - Seasons LP Artwork - November 2012

In 2011, local indie darlings, Rogue Valley, embarked on an ambitious project. They released a series of four c.d.'s. Each of the four c.d.'s was comprised of new material that correlated with a new change in season. At the end of it all, they pared down and compiled what they believed to be the best tracks of that year-long project. I was happy to do the art for this release.

For this project I did a complete water-color painting of a man in the woods. In each scene he is doing an activity according to what season it is. Winter/Hunting,  Spring/Making Syrup, Summer/Painting, Fall/Chopping Wood. 

The wheel was printed up and when placed behind a screen print image of the static inside of a cabin, allows the vinyl owner to rotate the wheel to produce a new seasonal view through a cutout window.

BISENTO - Tape and T-Shirt Illustration - November 2012

Sci-fi metal band Bisento asked me to do art for their latest release. This drawing is based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story about an interstellar quest for energy crystals. 
View the complete story here>>> http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/In_the_Walls_of_Eryx


Our space hero makes a dying final grasp of the crystals.

CAFE RACER - Food Truck Logo - July 2012

My enterprising friend, Luis, opened up a motorcycle-themed, Columbian food truck in the summer of 2012. He commissioned me to design his logo. The food is superb and affordable. Check out more about them in the link below.  

Luis wanted a logo of a motorcycle comprised of common kitchen items...

...to eventually be cut out of black metal and attached to his food truck.

Ladies and Gentleman, I present my first bolted-on artwork.

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