The Crazy World of Jim Flora

Though Jim Flora died back in 1998, his work lives on. Not only can his drawings and illustrations be found on album covers from the 40s and 50s, but also, the versatile artist illustrated 17 children's books during this same time period. Within this brief look at the Ohio, born and raised artist, we will take a look at Jim's hand-drawn self portrait (left), along three with examples of images he made for children's books and album covers. On the bottom row, going from left to right, there is a whimsical portrait of a flamenco guitarist from the 1939 NY World's Fair, an imaginative album cover for the Pete Jolly Duo (1955) and a creative picture from the book, A Red Skel(e)ton In Your Closet (1965). By the way, that book can still be purchased through Amazon.

A Short Portfolio of Jim Flora's Work

If Jim Flora were alive today, he would fit right in with many of today's contemporary artists. A nice accomplishment for a man, who was born in 1914 before WWI even began and for someone, whose greatest productivity occurred between 1940 and 1970. The Pop Surreal and Lowbrow art movements seemed like they were tailor-made for someone with Flora's talents.

Thanks to digital printing, the art work of this talented artist can still be enjoyed with a poster or art print that can be hung on your wall. One good place to go is www.jimfloraart.com , where original artwork and fine art prints can be purchased at reasonable prices. This site is especially important because it is run by friends and family members of Jim Flora.