A beer for the living: How "Spring Break Jake" turned vulnerability into art

There you are on top of a mountain, legs burning and lungs on fire, yet feeling your absolute best. Or maybe you rode your bike just a little bit farther or pedaled through a rock garden without a dab. Perhaps you’re sitting in the sun near some rapids thinking about your friends or kids. No matter how you charge, recharge, or find your moment to be grateful, Jake Kenobi has a message for you: It’s all going to end and that’s a beautiful thing.

“Practicing vulnerability, being honest about hard things, creates a really wonderful connection and compassion for one another,” he says. “Thinking about death reminds me how important it is to be present.”

Kenobi is a Bend artist and illustrator known professionally as Spring Break Jake, a moniker from some long-gone wilder days. Now in his mid-30s, he’s been drawing for so long he can’t really remember when it began and his work is instantly recognizable. Skeletons riding bikes and paddling kayaks. You’ll see clackety bones near palm trees and waterfalls, a great metaphor for how life flows and changes whether we’re paying attention or not. His illustrations carry bass notes of death yet they feel overwhelmingly joyful, too, with playful melodies that invite you in. 

“Skeletons are the great equalizer since everyone has one,” Kenobi says. “The work becomes less about who you are and more about you being here.” 

It was that universal celebration of being alive and embracing our days with full gusto that attracted the eye of Ashely Picerno, the marketing and brand manager at Crux Fermentation Project. 

Picerno had seen Kenobi’s illustration for the Riverlands, one of the seven territories of the Bend Ale Trail, and immediately picked up on the inclusive, playful nature of his work. That sentiment dovetailed perfectly with Crux’s mission to make its popular line of non-alcoholic beers, NØMØ, specifically the River Refresher IPA, feel unique with loads of character and personality. She hired him to design the label. Kenobi zeroed in on skeletons kayaking near a waterfall inspired by Tumalo Falls, one of his favorite places. 

“He did such a great job of bringing a scene to life in a way that we hadn’t really seen in a lot of other non-alcoholic beer packaging,” Picerno says. “Not every outdoor activity or occasion is somewhere where you can take a craft beer. With non-alcoholic beers, you absolutely can.”

Kenobi speaks freely about his struggles with his own mental health and how giving up alcohol, diving into art, and talking with others about their own difficulties has helped him manage that battle. Coincidentally, he’d been drinking NØMØ long before Picerno hired him. For that twist of fate, like with most things, he’s deeply grateful.

“Having my artwork on something that people actually hold, share, and experience in their everyday lives is really meaningful to me,” he says. “This beer is for everybody. It’s a beer for the living.” 

NØMØ is only available on tap at Crux Fermentation Project and in cans at most major grocery stores around the Pacific Northwest. You can support Kenobi and learn more about him at springbreakjake.com