BRUCE BICKFORD, MASTER ANIMATOR

Bruce Bickford works with the visionary madness of a desert mystic, and gazing into his work is like encountering the Aleph in Borges' story, a spot in which one can see everything in the universe from every angle simultaneously, without distortion, overlapping or confusion. Worlds collide, vistas spring to life, hamburgers morph into faces, battlefields explode into flowers. It's absolutely stunning. Working mostly in clay animation, Bickford is probably best known for his work with Frank Zappa, with whom he collaborated from 1974 to 1980. Zappa added music to Bickford's clay animations in Baby Snakes, Dub Room Special, and The Amazing Mr. Bickford.

And he is amazing. When Bruce brings his latest jaw-dropping artwork to our weekly gatherings of The Friends of the Nib, he blows the minds of even the most jaded artists. In this photo, taken at our recent live art jam at the Seattle Art Museum, Bruce Bickford (left) is pictured with fellow artists "Calamity" Jon Morris (in the fez) and Jim Woodring. The evening was a huge success and we hope the Seattle Art Museum invites us back soon. We all had a great time.

A trailer from "Monster Road," an award-winning documentary about Bruce and his work, directed by Brett Ingram in 2004. Rent it or buy it! Currently Bruce is working on a variety of epic tales and mutations that are touched by magic. Be sure to check out Bruce Bickfords 's official website here.

Currently, The Friends of the Nib are busy working on a couple upcoming shows, including our annual Halloween art party, details coming soon. (Shown above is the poster I did for last year's show--click to enlarge). We meet regularly and informally at our "clubhouse," the Cafe Racer, a bar with personality and a particular eclat. Drop by any Wednesday night and bring a sketchbook and your best game. We'd love to meet you.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! And all you mothers out there. Thanks for bringing us into this world, and putting up with years of worry and trouble and dirty socks and tantrums and weird ceramic things that are supposed to be ashtrays. Today is a special day, and we salute you!

To help celebrate, we've got "The Mothers of Invention," a seminal group that blew the minds of kids and censors back in the 1960s. Their fearless leader, musician and composer Frank Zappa, fought against mindless censorship and the PMRC ratings code until his dying day in 1993.


Here's Zappa on "Crossfire," arguing with screwheads about censorship. The exchange between Zappa and smug Conservative gasbag Robert Novak is priceless.


The follow-up show in 1987, with Zappa on CNN's "Crossfire" guest-hosted by Michael Kinsley. Here, Zappa disagrees with suits from the PMRC about censorship and the ratings system of music. The Mothers of Invention

ZAPPA SWAPS SOULS WITH A MONKEE

There is only one Frank Zappa. Maybe two. This creative weirdo stood alone in the music world, a creature at the edge of the wilderness, with no commercial potential. On the other side of the void, but still in Los Angeles, a four-headed beast built solely for commercial potential, ersatz-Beatles created by Hollywood hucksters to capitalize on pop music, struggled to life in both television and records, though never actually playing their instruments...The Monkees!

You would think these two had nothing in common. In fact, you'd think they couldn't occupy the same universe, much like matter and anti-matter, or pasta and anti-pasta. And yet these two forces came together one glorious day, the fuzz-tone Lion and the wool-hatted lamb, somehow merging a moment in the time-space continuum, and this is proof. Do you believe me? Watch as Frank Zappa and Mike Nesmith, the coolest Monkee, swap souls one fine afternoon in LA.

FROM OUR GLORIOUS PAST

Frank Zappa and a stellar band, including Terry Bozzio and Eddie Jobson, performing Peaches en Regalia on SNL, December 11th, 1976. They say Bozzio's audition for Zappa was so brilliant all the other drummers behind him in line walked out, and he got the job.