Freak Sighting

A rabbit hole of psychedelic rapport

We went on a trip to Arcata and I brought a teeny weeny 2.5x5” watercolor book. I did some itty bitty watercolor drawings in it.

It was a gift from my wife some years ago. Whenever it was, it was before I started writing dates on things. Dumbass. Anyways I made this on the front page when she gave it to me, whenever the hell that was.

Deep cut for the ‘90s Kirby fans, if you know you know.

The following are contemporary tiny winy sketches.

A funky taxi based on one of Bobby’s cooler toys

This is pretty self-explanatory

So is this

It’s nice to just draw for no damn reason other than for the act. Do it sometime when you get the chance, in class or during a boring meeting.

In a sandwich shop called Hole in the Wall in Arcata this past weekend, I spotted some trippy artwork out of the corner of my eye, it confused me. I looked at it for a half second and turned back to the menu, not really figuring out what I wanted to eat. We were sharing a sandwich so that meant no salami or pepperoni, which shifted me into a mode of apathy. I was also confused by what I saw. It looked familiar, something in between deja vu and something I forgot about because I have a shit memory.

Was that my artwork?

No, it was not. It still isn’t. It is the fabulous work of the, apparently, renowned psychedelic music poster artist Bonnie Maclean. I hadn’t heard of her before, but I was stunned looking at this draw-painting! Not only did it have similarities to my watercolor drawing technique that I’ve favored for years (Pencil guide-> ink with a waterproof fineliner-> Base watercolor coat-> Glaze watercolor layers for depth-> Fill black fields with ink) but it also appears to, can’t confirm it, but appears to be done on drawing paper, or at least hot press WC paper. I get that impression because of how the edges of the paint layers look, they are too sharp to have been done on traditional cold press.

The piece of art of mine that leapt into mind that I could grab onto was this freaky square panel from FREAK SNOW: REVENGE IS A DRUG:

This is the background on my credit card.

Which is, awesomely, inspired by King Crimson’s famous 20th Century Schizoid Man artwork by the fantastic Barry Godber, another criminally undercelebrated artist:

Barry passed at the age of 2024. I have no doubt that if he had been able to continue his name would be in the stars with Storm Thurgussen. Hell, to me it is.

So that was a trippy experience. Unfortunately Bonnie left this mortal coil behind in 2020. Her catalogue of work (apparently vast) can be easily found with a little goog action.

Unsurprising: Bonnie’s work is bad ass. I gather that she is a founding mother of the now universally-associated-with-hippies swoopy, groovy graphic design and lettering. And remember she did all this with traditional materials, which is dope. The lines and shapes are so clean, they look digital to me. True craftsmanship at work here!

And I guess she was an in-house poster designer at the Fillmore. Talk a bout a kick fuckin ass job

I wish I could talk shop with her about style, execution, process, defining the look of a generation of music promotion, all that stuff. Unfortunately I can find hardly any information about her. Well, here’s my craigslist missed connections post, if you know anyone who knew Bonnie Maclean or has some relation to her, I’d love to talk with them and get the full story.

Serious rabbit hole, that.