The Reel of St. Robert

My psychotic pal Kevin can't resist a good deal on a 24-track recorder-- He recently drove down to Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA and bought the very recorder they used to tape hours of Rev. Schuller's watered-down psychobabble-- Then Kevin got it in his head that he needed a custom-painted Robert Schuller tape reel to properly anoint his new machine-- Of course I was up for the job-- Behold, the Holy and Most Sacred Reel of Saint Robert!

The DT's God Damn World 45

Just polished off a design job for the totally rockin' new DT's 45 "God Damn World"-- The b-side is a Grand Funk cover "High On A Horse"-- This disc will be put out by Austrian label Pure Vinyl in the near future--

Personality Parade Opens September 11

I'll have a dozen brand new Pop Cult paintings and who knows what else on the hallowed walls of Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle from September 11 till October 3-- All of the new paintings were done using a technique that simulates the grid effect of the "sticker paintings" I did for Roq La Rue years ago-- Check out the entire show online here--

Lemmy Says Thumbs Up

My Maple Valley homie Metal Marty got the one and only Lemmy Kilmister to sign a gicleé print when he crossed paths with him at the Head Cat show-- I owe you one, Marty!

The DT's Freedom 45

A new 45 on Get Hip Records by my wife Diana's hard soul combo, The Dt's-- The A-side is a track from their last record, FILTHY HABITS, and the flip is a cover of Don't Mess With Cupid, written by Steve Cropper and made famous by Otis Redding-- And dig the killer cover design by Art Chantry!

Creepy Country & Real Sick Sounds

Patrick Hambrecht from the band Flaming Fire has written a terrific piece for VICE magazine about my kooky music compilations-- There are a few sample tracks for download, and a wealth of informative links at your disposal by clicking the artist's name--  

Mutant Amour At Jinx Art Space May 1-31

I'll be back up to Bellingham, WA with an exclusive blend of paintings on canvas and framed goodies at Jinx Art Space from May 1 through May 31-- The show is called Mutant Amour, and the opening night shindig on Friday, May 1 should be a corker: A belly dancing troupe and 3 electronic music bands will be in the downstairs area, and my show will be upstairs with bro Richie Boyer spinning the punk and free jazz wax! Let's get it on, god dammit! Please see the Jinx Art Space website and the Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival website for more info--

Lou Reed

Commissioned pen & ink portrait of Lou Reed, circa 1973--

Afro Venus Painting

Acrylic on stretched canvas, 16 X 30 inches, with faux fur frame-- This painting is sold--

Margulies Vs. Schenkkan

Here's pen and ink portraits of Pulitzer winning playwrights Donald Margulies and Robert Schenkkan I did for the Winter 2009 issue of LEXUS magazine, which goes out to owners of Lexus automobiles--

Op Art Painting No.3

Acrylic on 40 X 40 inch stretched canvas-- Created for my Spaceman Cometh show in Portland-- The inspiration was Herbie Mann's Today! LP-- This painting has been sold--

Blatch 14 Redux

A commissioned re-creation of the cover of Blatch 14-- It's been almost exactly 20 years since I did the first one, and it was very odd and enjoyable revisiting this art! For a look at the 1989 version, check out this scan on Len Callo's comicartfans gallery--

Eyeball Fatigue Opening Night Photos

Wall Of Sound has posted a nice Flickr set of photos by Mark Sullo from my Eyeball Fatigue artshow opening night shindig on January 9-- I was humbled by the fine selection of Seattle luminaries who showed up-- That's a grinning Charles Krafft (and some unknown long-haired freeloader) in the shot above-- Big thanks to Jeff, Michael, and whoever donated the 2 Grolsch mini kegs!

Elvis Presley

Pen & ink portrait of '68 era Elvis Presley for the annual music issue of Oxford American magazine-- Order up a copy of Oxford American (new music ish comes with 2 CDs!) at their website--

Alice Coltrane

Commissioned pen and ink portrait of harpist Alice Coltrane--

XNO's NEWAVE! Cover (color by Jim B.)

Brownfield Press/Starhead Comix guru Michael Dowers asked me to add color to XNO's splendid black & white art for his mini comix collection NEWAVE!,  and it was a pleasure-- This book will probably be published by Fantagraphics in 2009--

Ike Turner

A commissioned pen & ink portrait of the great Ike Turner-- I had the privilege of seeing Ike live at the Experience Music Museum in Seattle shortly before he died, and the man could definitely still shred on a guitar at age 70--

Bear In Water

An unpublished pen & ink piece I did 10 years ago as a Christmas gift for my folks--

Charles Bukowski

A painting of writer Charles Bukowski which hung at Greg Lundgren's cozy "art bar" The Hideout in Seattle for a year or so-- Acrylic on hardboard, 40 X 40 inches--

Pharoah Sanders

A commissioned pen & ink portrait of saxophone master Pharoah Sanders-- This art was done for Richy Boyer, who plays drums in the band Police Teeth, and who used to run a great punk rock record store in Bellingham, WA called Viva La Vinyl--

Anna Nicole Smith

A pen & ink portrait of addled sex pig Anna Nicole Smith which appeared on the cover of Seattle alternative weekly THE STRANGER-- 

It Was Fifteen Years Ago Today...

Of all the pranks I've been involved with, the one I'm most proud of is attaching the 700 pound ball and chain to the Hammering Man in front of the Seattle Art Museum on Labor Day, 1993 (That's me with my arms raised above my head in the photo)-- I was good friends with Jason Sprinkle and Rob Shealy, who built the giant ball and chain, and when Jason asked if I would help "install" his inspired creation, I gladly agreed-- We did a "practice" installation without the ball in Seattle's Ravenna neighborhood the day before, and when it came time to do the real thing, it went very smoothly-- Jason Sprinkle went on to create many other giant metal sculptures and illegally install them in downtown Seattle, and I helped with a few of those, too-- Sadly, Jason was killed by a freight train in Mississippi in 2005-- There should be a book, movie, or website documenting all his work, but unfortunately it hasn't happened, yet-- For more info, here's an article from The Seattle Times and one from The Seattle P.I.--

Jungle Mess

Acrylic on 10 X 20 inch hardboard-- Outline is metallic aquamarine--

Pato Womb X

Acrylic on 9 X 12 inch hardboard--

Jim B. Mixes It Up With OpWound

I recently did an interview with Jason Thibault from OPTIMUM WOUND COMICS for his MASTERS OF INK series-- The interview is short and painless, and includes photos of some of my prized original art pieces by Daniel Clowes, Rick Altergott, J.R. Williams, R.K. Sloane, and Stevo Winters-- Here is a direct link to the interview--

Flaming Skull

This painting appeared briefly at my CLASS OF '06 show in Bellingham, and was snapped up by rock maniac and art connoisseur Dave Crider-- Acrylic on 20 X 20 inch hardboard--

The Dt's Hard Fixed Poster Art

This art appeared on a fold-out poster for the HARD FIXED CD by my wife's band, THE DT'S-- So you ain't seen it unless you bought the disc! And yes, it's a total cop of R. Crumb's CHEAP THRILLS LP cover-- Check out some sample tunes and videos at The Dt's MySpace page--

Bruce Lee

A commissioned painting of Bruce Lee-- Acrylic on 40 X 40 inch stretched canvas-- 

Go Green With A Honcho Handbag!

Dan at San Jose's Hijinx Comics is reproducing the HONCHO THE HIJINX HOG art I did for him a few years ago on a handy tote-bag for hauling groceries! Will miracles never cease? It's machine-washable and can be purchased from this Hijinx Comics Cafe Press page--

Freddie King

Commissioned pencil portrait of blues guitar monolith Freddie King--

Duke Kahanamoku

Commissioned pencil portrait of celebrated Hawaiian surfer, Olympic swimmer, sheriff, and Hollywood character actor Duke Kahanamoku--

Slim Pickens

A Rick-Klu-commissioned pen & ink portrait of Slim Pickens-- Strangely enough, Slim turned up on an episode of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. I was watching ("The Iowa-Scuba Affair") the day I finished this art -- TECH NOTE: This is the first time I've used a pen nib instead of a rapidograph for stippling-- 

Thirsty Pig Vs. Rocket Dog

It's nice to get a postcard from S. Clay Wilson-- They are always funny, weird, and impeccably lettered-- The latest one he sent is the above photo of a pig flying through the air (He added the beer mug sticker)-- The reason he sent it is because the pig reminded him of my Smooth Fox Terrier, Lucius, whom he dubbed "Rocket Dog" after seeing him soar off my backyard deck (see photo below pig)-- These 2 photos are remarkably similar, and I feel compelled to share them-- And to show off the fact that S. Clay Wilson sends me postcards!

Zappa Comix No. 1

A fake comic cover featuring Frank Zappa with the fabled Fender Stratocaster once owned (and smashed!) by Jimi Hendrix-- This art was created at the behest of Len "Shavin' Rosie O'Donnell's Back" Callo, whose choice and diverse collection of comic art can be seen at his gallery on the ComicArtFans website--

Bikini Irony 101

The good folks at John Wiley & Sons, an esteemed Australian publisher, have seen fit to include an illustration from my GLAM WARP book in RETROSPECTIVE, their latest 11th grade History textbook! The art is used to illustrate a chapter on nuclear testing in the Pacific islands-- It even includes a sidebar question in which students can expound on the "message" of the artist-- What a wacky world!

New Paintings At Tigertail March 4 - May 4

I'm delighted to be showing over a dozen new paintings on stretched canvas at Seattle's TIGERTAIL bar and Pan-Asian eatery-- The show will be called EMBLEMA PSYCHOPATHIA and will have a 2 month run from March 4 through May 4-- TIGERTAIL was founded in late 2007 by my pals Carl Carlson, who ran Seattle lowbrow gallery VOX POPULI, and Tim Hayes, ex-proprietor of FALLOUT RECORDS-- Their new bar is very swank yet comfy and located at 704 NW 65th Street, in Seattle's comfy Ballard neighborhood-- See Tigertail's website for more info and a look at their menu-- 

Totimoshi Viva Zapata 45

The latest 45 by Oakland metal trio Totimoshi features a pencil portrait I did of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata-- The rockin' A-side to this slab, VIVA ZAPATA, is a free listen at Totimoshi's MySpace page-- You can buy this 45 from the Volcom Entertainment website--

Django Reinhardt

A commissioned pencil portrait of mythic Belgian jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt--

John Chandler From The Young Savages

A pencil portrait of character actor John Davis Chandler from the John Frankenheimer film THE YOUNG SAVAGES-- This art was done for porcelain artist Charlie Krafft, who's a big fan of Mr. Chandler-- Coincidentally, THE YOUNG SAVAGES is finally available on DVD this month--

Sticker Truck Turner

My second contribution to Jacques Boyreau's Re-Imagined Cult Film Posters project-- See Sticker Magnum Force below for more info--

Camilo Cienfuegos

A commissioned portrait of Cuban revolutionary Camilo Cienfuegos, who swung tough with both Che and Fidel, and died in a mysterious plane crash-- Acrylic on hardboard, 8 X 18 inches-- For more on Cienfuegos, see his Wikipedia page--

Young Jamie Johns In Squiggles

I get asked to do portraits of people's children a lot-- As a general rule, I turn them down-- But I couldn't resist this request from my main man in Sunderland, U.K., Jamie Johns, who sent the childhood photo from the 70's that this art is based on--

Fred Bradna

A pencil portrait of Fred Bradna, the Equestrian Director and Ringmaster of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus for over 40 years-- This art was made for the blessed Jeff  Voris, who created the Comic Art Collective website--

Sticker Magnum Force

My first offering for Jacques Boyreau's Re-Imagined Cult Film Posters project, to be published as a book in 2008 by Fantagraphics, and debuted as posters at Portland's Super Trash festival in February-- The Super Trash MySpace page has all the sick details--

Les Barany's Carnivora

I'm stoked as hell to be part of Les Barany's ambitious Carnivora book and traveling art show-- The subject of this project is "the dark art of automobiles", and it's great to see an original and imaginative take on the tired car theme-- (All you clueless, tattooed hotrod posers take note!) The Carnivora book will be published by Scapegoat Publishing and the art show will debut January 12, 2007 during the International Auto Show at the ©Pop Gallery in Detroit-- The roster of 92 artists includes H.R. Giger, Anthony Ausgang, Robert Crumb, Frank Kozik, Coop, Glenn Barr, Mark Motherbaugh, Stanley Mouse, Zdzislaw Beksinski, and Trevor Brown-- I'll have 3 pieces in the book, and 2 pieces in the art show-- The Carnivora MySpace page has lots more info, as does Les Barany's website--

My Work Lair In Panoramic VR

Bradford Bohonus takes richly detailed panoramic photographs of all sorts of things, including Northwest artists in their studios-- The photos can be viewed with Quicktime or Flash on Bradford's website, and you can navigate around the the photo in any direction using your mouse and an on-screen cursor-- It's a total trip to play with and I must say a little terrifying to have such a precise 360 degree photo of my work space up on the web for all to see! Back off, man! This technology is very cool and so is Mr. Bohonus--

Bob Dylan 1965

A pen & ink portrait of Bob Dylan I did for the 2007 Music Issue of Oxford American magazine-

Xmass Skull

The Wife let me do the Xmas decorating this year-- This photo doesn't really convey how sinister it looks in person-- Sorta like it was wrapped in neon barbed wire-- And speaking of the wife, dig this shot of her rocking it up with The DT's in Sao Paulo, Brazil over Thanksgiving (photo by Anderson Brito)--

Billy Joe Shaver

Here's a recent commissioned pencil portrait of Billy Joe Shaver-- Did you know he shot some guy in the face a few months back?

The Night Gallery October 19 & 20

Everyone got good and bombed at my Idiot Id Idioms show at the Night Gallery in Portland-- I had a dozen new paintings on hand and curator Jacques Boyreau had the good sense to project psychotic 16mm girlie/porno films on one of them! The Night Gallery website has over 20 exclusive pen & ink pieces of mine for sale, so please check that shit out--

Jim B. On The Air

I did a one-hour live interview on Vancouver, BC radio station CITR 101.9 FM-- The show is called Inkstuds, hosted by Robin McConnell, with guest hosts Don King and Luke Meat-- They let me pick out the music for it, too-- Man, I need to work on that public speaking voice! You can listen to it or download it in its entirety--

Filthy Beasts Au Go Go

The "Filthy Beasts" show at the Fantagraphics Bookstore was a corker-- A packed house heard a rockin' set by The DT's and checked out the art, books, and records for sale-- A staggering-drunk indian named Chief Swimming Eagle bewildered everyone (see above photo)-- We got tons of press and hype for this show, thanks in large part to promo-wizard Larry Reid-- Here's a sample: First, Kelly-O's blog write-up for The Stranger-- Next is Kelly O's YouTube video interview-- After that, a Flickr.com photo set by Fantagraphics staffer Mike Baehr-- And how about a great Flickr.com photo set of The DT's by "yfeline"-- Rock Mightily, ya a-holes!

Trucker Fags Circus Punks?!?

Heat-damaged Floridian Marty Moore commissioned a custom "Circus Punk", and I took the opportunity to render Butch and Petey from the Trucker Fags In Denial comic book-- A queer marriage if ever there was one! Jim Goad has this photo as a "desktop" image on his Mac laptop---

Satan Killed Me Today

Here's a close-up look at a CD cover I did for my pal John Trubee a while back-- The disc is called Satan Killed Me Today-- And here's a photo of John from the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco-- And an original pen & ink piece of his I'm proud to own--

J.R. Williams' Cigar Flip!

I took this spectacular footage of art genius J.R. Williams at the 2006 Alternative Press Expo, where I've been known to share a table with the boy-- He tells me he's now able to complete this stunt with a lit cigar! Be damn sure and check out J.R.'s sublime and compelling Flickr blog--