communication arts 2013

Friendlies,

five of the images I created for the new Camper Van Beethoven release “La Costa Perdida” have been accepted by the 2013 jury to appear in Illustration Annual 54, the May/June 2013 issue of Communication Arts.

Exciting!

xm

La Costa Perdida

Friendlies,

the new Camper Van Beethoven record is out today, and it is, indeed, a goody goody. The package design and illustrations were done by yours truly. You can stream the whole thing here, and you can buy yourself a copy here. I recommend getting a “hard copy” of the CD, since that will give you the full sensory experience of owning the record (as opposed to having these little pop gems lost in the “shuffle” of your playlists).

Go ahead, treat yourself. Buy the CD from your local music purveyor, wait for it to arrive, pour yourself a frosty beverage, put the CD on, find a comfortable place to sit and listen, and relax. Listen to each track carefully, noting your physical reaction to each song. You might get distracted. That’s ok. Sit back down, and listen to the next track. And so on. See? Feels good, right?

Do you know Camper’s older musics? You might start with Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty. This is a good collection. If you like that one, you’re ready for Cigarettes and Carrot Juice, a box set of their early records. Key Lime Pie is another favorite. Listen, it’s all great. Trust me.

You’ll find me at The Rickshaw Stop on February 16.

xm

Campout 2011 posters are up in the shop!

Hey Kittens,

we’ve got 15 of these (I think they sold 100 of them out at the Campout), and we’re not printing any more! That’s all! 15! So if you want one, grab one. Two colors, 16 x 21. Image size 13 x 19.

We had an amazing time at the Campout, and in Joshua Tree. Man, I love it there. It’s so incredibly special, and the Crumbs are lovely people and dedicated fans! I posted a bunch of snaps from the trip here.

xm

lake merritt monsters, cryptic posters, and the 2011 dog dreams calendar…

are waiting for you at the wertzateria shop. I just updated the site, and that shop page is jam packed with stuff to buy your friends who have birthdays in January. NOTE: with every order in January, you will get a free 2011 Dog Dreams Calendar! (This offer doesn’t apply to outside vendors, like Oaklandish.)

Those Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker folks (who were nice enough to hire me to do another poster for their end-of-year shows) never disappoint! The show at the Independent in San Fransassy was sold-out, and they said they had some “surprises” in store. Well, turned out their rhythm section was stuck in the blizzard, so they had to improvise. It was still (yet again) an amazing show! The Wertzateria even got a nice shout-out from David and Victor.

I just finished a new tee-shirt design for There There, a spin-off company of Oaklandish. It’s my favorite San Francisco landmark, Sutro Tower.

I am charging a few doll-hairs for the 2011 calendars, but if you’re lucky enough to live close to Cafe 504 in Oakland, I’ll be dropping a few off there that you can go and grab for free. If you do go there, make sure and buy a delicious warm beverage and a home-made sweet. This café has made this sleepy little neighborhood into a community, and we’re lucky to have them!

Many thanks go to my copiously talented sister Julie Wertz for designing the Dog Dreams calendar (and making it happen every year!). Thanks also to Lee Wood Press for printing the calendars, and to Hanson Digital for the scans of the Dog Dreams prints.

Speaking of Dog Dreams, I have 2 or 3 of those little books left. If you want one, get one now. They’ll be gone soon.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a most wonderful Holiday season.

xm

xm

2009 cracker van beethoven poster : color sketch

for the cramper folks. the 2009 end-of-year poster. they have been really sweet – this is my third year making a year-end poster for them! here’s the first, here’s the second. this will be printed in two colors. i wanted something holiday-like, but not *too* holiday. dig?

xm