Filed Under: "Floraphiles"

Rave review for Sweetly Diabolic from Joe Bendel of J.B. Spins. “Chusid and Economon once again prove to be wise stewards of the Flora archives. Sweetly Diabolic reveals many largely unknown aspects of his work, but also fruitfully revisits his classic Columbia-era work. Thanks to the quality of the reproductions and design of the book itself, the vitality of Flora’s art comes through on each page. An effective introduction to Flora’s art and a satisfying…

In an art class called “Soft Sculpture” at the University of Washington (Seattle), students were instructed to transform a favorite painting into food sculpture. SunShine McWane adapted Flora’s untitled 1950-51 tempera we casually refer to as “Gunfight on the Roof” (original work below). The resulting mixed-media delicacy, entitled “Cheese City,” was completed in January 2009. The materials—ingredients, actually—used by McWane include cheese (cheddar, Swiss, Colby, jalapeño jack), acrylic paint, plastic (GI Joe figures), one wire…

A work-in-progress (since finished) by the Angry Knitter. The background exhibit caught our eye.

Absolute good taste edifies absolutely. Cartoonist/animator Gene Deitch, in a 2003 interview with AllAboutJazz.com, about his then-new book, The Cat on a Hot Thin Groove: AAJ: What is your favorite piece of album cover artwork? Deitch: Any by James Flora. Left: detail, Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (1955, RCA Victor)

Longtime friend, music collector, and fellow Floraphile David Burd reports a first sighting: The new Flora book is in stores today! I just picked up my copy. We expected the book to hit streets in mid-August. That’s what happens when you work with a niche publisher—they surprise on the upside. (Note: Amazon.com lists a release date of July 29, 2009.) Illustration of celebratory Benny Goodman (above): not in this book. It appeared in our second…

We don’t generally post the work of other artists on the Flora blog, but we’re delighted to make an exception with Clara Gee Stamaty. Clara met Flora when they attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati in the early 1940s. Her late husband, syndicated cartoonist Stanley Stamaty (d. 1979), was one of Flora’s best buddies at school, and the couple remained lifelong friends with Flora. (Clara remarried in 1984.) To celebrate becoming a nonagenarian, Clara has…

Google yourself. Discover forgotten incidents from your past—like this 2005 interview by Coury Turczyn for PopCult magazine. The occasion was the publication of The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora, and tho the interview is dotted with Flora iconography, it also touches on outsider music, record collecting, the Langley Schools Music Project, R. Stevie Moore, and Shooby Taylor, the Human Horn. Three years later Cory wrote an incisive cover story about Flora for Knoxville’s Metro Pulse.

Just released by Euclid Records, a new 45 rpm single by Terry Adams & the Whole Wheat Horns whose sleeve features a Jim Flora musician montage. The chaotic combo, which incorporates cartoonish players from numerous Flora 1940s and 1950s sources, was created by Barbara Economon and yrs trly for our second book, The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora. The calamitous crew evolved from a trio to include as many as eleven figures, until our…

Jim Flora’s 1954 cosmopolitan woodcut, Manhattan, has been adapted for the cover of a new music folio. Broadway Celebrates The Big Apple: Over 100 Years of Show Tunes About New York City, was launched January 5 by Alfred Publishing Co. Cary Ginell, Associate Editor for Popular Music at Alfred, is a Flora fan who discussed image licensing with us last year. After reviewing samples, Ginell deemed the Manhattan cityscape ideally suited for this developing project….

Jason Bradshaw: “My girlfriend Lisa and I decided to take up bookbinding. We’re starting off doing passport sized blank notebooks. We’ve been using printer paper for the insides and card stock for the cover. I took some Jim Flora album cover prints and made a small pile of mini sketchbooks which I intend to give out to a couple of friends.”

photo by Don Brockway, May 15, 2006, Norwalk CT

Journalist/author/design historian Steve Heller brings a nicey to the Flora stora on his PRINT Magazine blog. Heller, who penned the 1998 New York Times obit for Flora, also wrote the Foreward in our first book, The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora. P.S. If the guy on the right at left looks familiar, here’s why.