Jim Flora 2012 Calendars

Those perennial favorite Jim Flora calendars are in stock for 2012. You've got your bug-eyed saxophonist, an Aren't-We-Having-Fun? moon, and a manic drummer to guide you through the coming Leap Year. These are hand-printed mini-calendars measuring 10" x 4-1/2".  If you prefer something of greater magnitude in a maritime motif, our Sheffield Island poster-sized calendar should suit your tastes:

night-sky moonswinger

With the anticipated October reprint (by Enchanted Lion) of Flora's 1957 kiddie book The Day the Cow Sneezed, we're focusing on the re-emergence of the Flora children's market. We're planning an open edition (low-cost) fine art print of Cow's playful cover, and we're proofing the above image for a planned bedroom-suitable print. The overalls-clad night-sky moonswinger appears on the back cover of Flora's 1972 Atheneum-published book, Pishtosh Bullwash & Wimple. When the proof proves proven, we'll announce the print's release. The book is not currently scheduled to be reprinted, but Enchanted Lion hopes for a long-term reprint schedule covering the entire Flora catalog.

Last year we issued a limited edition fine art print called Ferris Wheel Fireworks, depicting a spectacular two-page spread from The Day the Cow Sneezed.

Ferris Wheel Fireworks (new print)

Today we launch a new Jim Flora fine art print: Ferris Wheel Fireworks, adapted from Flora's second kiddie book, The Day the Cow Sneezed (1957). The long-sought book will be reprinted this fall by Enchanted Lion. At that time we'll issue a print of the book cover, which includes the artist's fabulous hand-typography. However, during the image restoration process, Flora archivist/printmaker Barbara Economon saw the print possibilities of the book's chaotic two-page (34-35) tableau. The book's sequence of catastrophic events that caused the above turmoil were triggered by a cow's sneeze.

The work is now available as a limited edition (30), archival-quality fine art print.

Green Mansions

Detail, Green Mansions resort brochure, 1947
Full work reproduced in The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora

Pishtosh, Bullwash & Wimple

Pishtosh, Bullwash & Wimple, published in 1972 (back cover above), was Flora's 12th children's book, and first for Atheneum. His first eleven were published by Harcourt Brace, under legendary kid-lit editor Margaret McElderry. In 1971, after a quarter-century with the company, McElderry was remaindered by Harcourt. According to Publisher's Weekly:

After editing many Newbery and Caldecott Medal and Honor winners (including the Newbery and Caldecott Medals together, in 1952), McElderry was asked to take early retirement, a request that stunned her. "When I asked why, I was told that the wave of the future had passed me by," she says. "That was the exact wording, and it was a real slap in the face."

Obviously, many others thought otherwise, as McElderry soon received job offers from 12 publishers. The winner was Atheneum, where she launched her own line of books. In her words, "My imprint was given to me as an honor, and it was, since it was the first children's book imprint to have a person's name attached to it."

One of the authors she lured from Harcourt was Flora, who wrote and illustrated six books for McElderry's new imprint.

Sundazed blasts off with Flora

Sundazed Records, one of the world's foremost boutique rock reissue labels, offers a new limited edition T-shirt emblazoned with a Jim Flora space-age pan-galactic starship.

The original 1958 illustration (from the back of a Billy Mure LP) was black & white. Sundazed offers two colorized editions, the mustardy-cheesey:

And the aqua & salmon tinted:

The Rape of the Stationmaster's Daughter

New Jim Flora fine art print launched on eBay.

Two prints offered @ Buy-It-Now price of $250/ea. Not mentioned in item description: we have already sold prints 17/20 and 18/20; after the two launch prints sell, the next two released prints (15/20 and 16/20) will be offered at $300 via JimFlora.com.

Elements of this early 1940s tempera were adapted for the cover of The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora.

Jim Flora 2008 calendars

Jim Flora Art LLC is offering three hand-printed 2008 calendars: swingin' sax, boogie-beat drummer, and starlite moon. We have a limited number (30 each) to sell. That's it. It's not a numbered edition — 500 backing cards each were printed by Yee-Haw Industries (Knoxville), but due to scheduling demands, the production team could only finish a few hundred calendars for retail boutiques. JFA LLC received 30 sets for our customers.

Sales are first-come, first-served. Each calendar costs $12.50 + s/h (see below). We accept checks and PayPal (info@JimFlora.com).

The backing cards are letterpress printed on recycled stock, measuring 10" x 4-1/2". The attached calendar, with 12 pull-off pages, measures 3-1/4" x 4-1/2". The Jim Flora illustrations date from the mid-1950s. Those little flyspecks you see around the images are a natural byproduct of the hand-printing process.

These cards have been distributed by Yee-Haw to select boutiques, but we don't have a list. One difference: unlike the cards sold in shops, our small stock has been authenticated on the back with the Jim Flora Art LLC seal. Instant collectible. And useful: it contains ALL 12 of your FAVORITE MONTHS, in correct sequence (four years ahead of schedule)! Guaranteed to include YOUR BIRTHDAY as well as those of your family and friends, or your money back! Pin-up hole included at no extra charge!

With the balance of the print run, Yee-Haw will produce the same line in 2009. But if you can't wait, we've got a handful. There's no limit per customer, while supplies last.

UPDATE (10/24): We are no longer accepting orders via the blog. The remaining stock is available thru a 10-day Buy-It-Now auction on eBay, after which the item will be listed in the Jim Flora Art eBay store.

Insomnia

New York Times Magazine, October 1, 1967