revelry

Every December 31 these guys paint their noses to match their chins and get royally toasted. Must be something to celebrate. But careful—apparently it can turn your teeth grey, or cause you to lose them altogether!

Have a HAPPEE!

will draw for food

"Jim Flora's vacation is over & he could use some new money. Why not buy a drawing now! And make him feel better fast! Telephone Jim Flora at PLaza 5-9832."

Text and images: undated business card, probably shortly after Flora's 1951 return to the US from Mexico. Technically he wasn't on "vacation"—Flora and wife (and two young kids) lived in Taxco for 15 months as artmaking ex-pats. Upon returning, Flora had to hustle for freelance commercial illustration gigs to support his family. Numerous quirky business cards that stylistically reflect the early 1950s are in the family archives.

Railroad Town duet

Detail, Railroad Town, 1951 woodcut. The work in its entirety will be featured with commentary and photos of the original block in our forthcoming book, The Sweetly Diabolic Art of Jim Flora, scheduled for September 2009 publication. Limited edition oil prints struck from the artist's block are available.

The above twosome (with maracas accompaniment—so it's a trio?) will adorn the cover of my 2009 WFMU fundraiser CD, NJX@NY$!#2 (New Jersey Excitement at New York Prices, Vol. 2), currently in production.

Merry Flora Christmas 2008

hand-printed card, early 1940s

Benny Goodman's clarinet

A celebrity in its own right, brags to the media about Benny's awesome embouchure. Reporter doggedly chronicles sensationalistic account, anticipates major scoop.

Detail, Columbia Records ad, Look magazine, 1943.

The First Five Years

Detail, The First Five Years, acrylic on wood, ca. early 1970s. The second of six horizontal tiers depicting incidents during the artist's childhood. Exactly what these figures represent—good question.

legacy

Part of Flora's is also
part of Columbia's.

little grey village

Spot illustration, Coda, June 1943

WFMU art benefit

WFMU, our favorite free-form, listener-sponsored radio station, is holding a benefit art sale. Participating artists include Cindy Sherman, James Siena, Jad Fair, and others. The only deceased contributing artist is Jim Flora, whose 1955 Mambo For Cats LP cover Barbara and I adapted for this limited edition fine art print. The edition of 15 was donated; all proceeds from sales benefit non-profit WFMU.

new Flora screen prints

Two new Jim Flora silk screen prints are available at JimFlora.com. Both are based on untitled, undated temperas from the mid-1960s, which were discovered pages apart in a sketchpad. We informally call this one Entangled Couple:

And this one has been nicknamed Canoe Critters:

Each was produced in a numbered edition of 100 by Aesthetic Apparatus, in Minneapolis, and though the prints are color-matched, they can be purchased separately. (If you want both and use our checkout system, you'll be double-charged for shipping, but we'll reimburse you 50%. To avoid the wasted steps, email us and we'll arrange a direct PayPal transaction.)

AA also produced our Mambo for Cats, Pete Jolly Duo, and Primer for Prophets silk screen prints.

animal trainer

Untitled pen sketch, ca. early-1940s. This image was later adapted (along with more than a dozen seemingly unrelated sketch works) in a 1943 copper-engraved montage entitled Air of Panic. The white vertical skunk stripe is an artifact likely caused by long-term exposure to light; the white area was shielded from exposure while the rest of the paper became yellowed with age.

Hampton Roads (pt 2)

Undetermined media (framed, under glass): print with touch-up, or black tempera, ca. 1968, detail. Previous detail posted on August 20.