Cover Art by Matt Wajek

Click the play button on that and listen while you read the rest of this post. I want to share some art with you good people. See, there’s this fellow named Matt Wajek who happens to be from my home town. Matt’s a badass artist and music maker. (Check out more Nightmare Administration music here.)

I had some ideas for what I wanted the cover of Cruce Roosters to look like, but I didn’t have the skill to pull it off. I kept coming back to Matt Wajek’s stuff, and I knew I had to reach out. The man has some serious skills.

I see some similarities between Matt Wajek’s work and that of Francis Bacon. The reason is, Francis Bacon used to talk about how his work was all about the viewer’s reaction. You look at it, it makes you feel however it makes you feel, and that is the relationship between the artist and the viewer. Here’s some Bacon:

So, like I said, I get a similar vibe from Mr. Wajek’s art. I look at it, chemicals and electrical impulses swirl around in my brain, and my mind reacts to it. It’s jarring. It’s upsetting. It provokes thought and discussion. I like that.

I was at a Packer game when he started sending me art samples, asking if this was going in the right direction for the cover – did I like it this way or that way – is this background texture the way to go, or should it be more like this. That was a great day. I got to see some kickass art evolve, and I got to watch my Green Bay Packers. Here is Matt’s final piece for the cover of Cruce Roosters, with no title or author name getting in the way. I love it.

This cover was everything I hoped it’d be and more. If you’ve got a book and you need some way-out, badass cover art for it, I suggest you get in touch with Mr. Wajek. I know I will.