Joel Norman Barkley is a visual artist living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joel is a freelance designer working in a multiple fields including illustration, decorative painting, ePublishing and animation. He is the sole-proprietor of the Kranky Kitty Alarm Clock Company with 8 interactive eBooks and several music videos live on iTunes. Joel was awarded the 2015 Minnesota State Arts Board $10,000 Artist Initiative Grant successfully completed in 2016 with the public component presentation on Level 9 of the Guthrie Theater. Joel's first time independent film project Universe Beyond Time has received 17 official film festival laurels and awards through Film Freeway. Joel is an accomplished illustrator, costumer and milliner. He has several projects in production currently including Taking Care of Norton (an animated short) and Bitterman Party of One a live action/animated film.