Zen Bento is proud to have our own resident artist in Ben Gin (Upchurch)!  Ben's artwork is featured in our downtown Boise location and certainly adds to the Zen at Zen Bento.

Ben Gin (Upchurch)

I started at Zen Bento when I was only 16.  I knew right away that this was a company that had two priorities.  The first was running a tight ship and keeping quality tip top. Secondly, everyone at Zen Bento had a sense of humor and style that was very unique.  Having a personality is encouraged.  So everyone was just themselves, not a corporate character playing a roll.  As a result, I became great friends with everyone because everyone was so different!  Inside jokes are common and that brews a culture of fans within the workers, and that leads to bigger fans within the customers.  That’s how I’ve always approached my artwork with Zen Bento… from the perspective of a fan.

The fan believes their hero to be larger than life.  The fan invents story lines and tall-tales surrounding their hero.  The fan sees a quality within their hero that the fan wants.  Most importantly, the fan always sees their hero as a winner, even when the chips are down.

Over the years we’ve collaborated on several projects from the very simple to the somewhat complex. Each involves a sort of dialog that I’ve come up with to reflect the ideas I think Zen Bento represents.  Sometimes it’s a bit abstract, like a painting of a giant storm cloud pouring spring rain.  Sometimes it’s very literal, like a ninja chicken flying in with a high-kick.  With each project, the dialog and depth of what Zen Bento is about grows within the fans like me! I hope to be fan of Zen Bento for a long time, and I hope you will too.

Ben Gin (Ben Upchurch)

208-724-9795
bengin.tv