Please be standing for the King of all Things, Jasper Augusta Gibson. Not much is known about the self proclaimed King of all Things other than what can be found on his TikTok account. He claims ownership of all things both big and small. This apparently includes you, me, animals, metal, the air – literally everything! He claims to have ridden over the mediterranean in a small basket carried by many thousand ladybird. He reckons he’s the strongest man ever to have been born. There are many other bold claims he has made. The problem with the internet is that people are starting to believe him.
Jasper was created as a little thank you for one of our customers. I wish him well in his new home but hopefully that’s the last we hear of him…
We like treating our customers to a little thank you when they buy something from us and just the other day we slipped Marty the Citrus King into one such parcel. Marty is a dolt of epic proportions but it just so happens that he is also very photogenic. Just look at that grid. Piercingly beady eyes, stunted cauliflower ears and a nose reminiscent of an inverted ski jump are just some of the distinguished facial features that Marty sports. Good luck to him!
We here at id-iom love a good collaboration, we’re doing it pretty much every time we make a piece. We especially like it though when it is with someone else and today we have Background Bob (aka Noah).
We were asked along with a load of other artists to paint on some bits of cardboard that Noah had already done his magic on. All we needed to do was come up with something suitable.
Now all the pieces are up for grabs on Ebay and if that isn’t enough all of the proceeds will support East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust Charitable Funds. After having a peek at ours why don’t you type in ‘Background Bob in to Ebay and see everyone else’s pieces and if you are feeling particularly fruity you can even throw in a bid or two.
“Noah (aka Background Bob) is 12 years old and has hydrocephalous, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Despite all this he is a very happy, smiley, cheeky young lad who loves to paint.
The project started with background bob painting some abstract backgrounds on cardboard, and then we reached out to artists via social media to come and collaborate with him.
The response was huge! Over the next 4 months we sent out and received back a massive 240+ artworks back from artists from all genres and from all over the world.
We followed up on the success by producing a beautifully put together book containing all the collaborations. So far to date our book has made a whopping £18,000 profit, which has already been donated to Colchester and Ipswich hospitals charity, and in particular towards the children’s ward at Colchester hospital, as a huge thank you for all the support and care Noah has received from them. Our book is also available via ebay, so why not buy the book to accompany your artwork?
The project grew and grew, got huge media coverage including The One Show, BBC Website news, Sunday morning Live, as well as numerous online and local press articles in this country and abroad.
The whole collection was then exhibited at Firstsite gallery in Colchester
You are bidding on a unique original piece of the @background_bob project.
All artworks are original one off pieces. The mediums used vary vastly from spray paint, screen prints, acrylic, oils, collage and even embroidery. There is something for everyone.
All artworks are painted on hand cut recycled cardboard. Due to this, some have wonky edges, creases and tears, which all add to the artwork. The sizes are approx. 20cm x 28cm, which is slightly smaller than A4. All pieces are signed by the collaborating artists either on the front or back. Some backgrounds also have personal messages to background bob on the back
Artwork will be sent securely packed, and signed for.
100% of all proceeds will be going to Colchester and Ipswich hospital charity, so bid high and help us make a real difference. Happy Bidding!!
We will do our best to get your artwork to you as quickly as possible, but please be patient and expect possible delays during these strange times are all experiencing. Stay safe!
Please give us a follow over on Instagram @background_bob as see what we get up to next…”
Sometimes there’s nothing I like more than a good trawl through Wikipedia in search of something inspiring (and in our world inspiration can come from just about anywhere). There I was reading through an entry on the possibly fictional ‘hobo graffiti’ from late 1800’s USA when I came across Leon Ray Livingston.
Leon Ray Livingston who was a hobo who travelled under the name ‘A-No.1’ and was often referred to as ‘The Rambler’. He has been lauded by historians as the King of the Hoboes. He even wrote 12 books on the subject. Once I’d checked out his A-No.1 moniker/tag on the front of his books I knew a picture was in the offing.
What we’re left with is this playing card style ‘King of the Tracks’ design featuring his own tag which looks just like something from 1980’s New York and a ‘Rambler’ ambigram over the middle. It’s just a shame the only photo of him I could find to work with was small and grainy or I would have attempted a bit more detail. Right, back to some proper work…
This kid has had 13 ASBO’s slapped on him this month – and it’s only the 18th of November! He just doesn’t care and it seems he’s collecting ASBO’s like they are going out of fashion. So far he’s had them for the following (amongst others as yet unspecified):
littering and dumping rubbish outside his local dry cleaners (apparently related to his misuse of the fabric softener)
A constant misuse of fireworks (including using them late at night)
Shouting and noisy behaviour in places where this might be annoying or upsetting (e.g. outside someone’s house). This I have a personal experience of.
Using rude, abusive or insulting language to pretty much anyone especially the old or infirm.
Threatening behaviour or bullying – including on the internet, mobile phones or other electronic media (whatever you do don’t let him borrow your phone or laptop).
Uncontrolled and dangerous animals – he has 3 feral rabid rabbits that he takes with him everywhere
Joyriding or using vehicles in an anti social manner (for example blocking access, noisy radios, wheel spinning); abandoning a vehicle – he especially likes pulling donuts at traffic lights.
Excessively drinking alcohol, alcohol related trouble or buying and selling drugs in the street – yes to all above.
Begging – he has such a sweet face (not).
As you can see he’s already got a tattoo of this achievement definitely making him the ASBO king and probably not an ideal next door neighbour.
Cheers
id-iom
Title: The ASBO King
Media: Acrylic, pastel and paint pen
Size: A4
The years had passed slowly since the dark times at the Feast of McDonald’s. The war with the gulls was now over – with untold casualties on both sides – but the realm as a whole had survived and had now seen peace for a good while under his rule. Seismic changes were already in motion though as the King of the Corvidae had cawed for the very last time. The gears of war were turning once more. The corvidae needed to appoint a new king who could shoulder the mighty burden set before him.
For most the only real potential successor was Belasko. He had proved his mettle many times before both in battle and in diplomacy but he was getting on a little in age. The majority of his potential subjects didn’t really consider this a problem but he was deeply worried about his suitability for the role. He was a soldier, not a leader, as he kept telling himself and the many worried councillors that were scurrying around him but the more he brought this point up the more everyone got excited.
He knew in his heart that the Corvidae required another type of leader, one that was not drenched in blood and tied to the past like himself. At the same time he realised the tide of history may just carry him along regardless. This would require some machavellian dexterity he wasn’t sure he still possessed. He would certainly have to ruffle some feathers and didn’t have much time to lose but he had been in this game long enough to know that if he played his cards just right he might just be able to select the right bird for the job…
If you like this then you’ll be glad to know we’ve got previous in the world of crow related art. It is, in fact, a sequel to an earlier piece called King of the Corvidae.
Cheers
id-iom
Title: As the crow dies
Media: Ink, acrylic and paint pen
Size: A4
Due to incestuous breeding practices between many of the European royal houses over the last few centuries, poor Otto here has an unprecedented cross to bear which could have only come about due to these bizarre and ultimately unhealthy practises.
The problem arises due to the fact that poor Otto is now the king of four different European countries. Don’t ask me how this happened but I believe it has something to do with some arcane royal protocols that no one thought to have a look at and change.
If that wasn’t enough poor Otto was born with eyes that some in private circles have called bug-like and a head that is as flat as a tabletop. Now, this wouldn’t be too much of an issue apart from when it comes to making sure his crowns stay firmly in place…
It is painted on 60×60 cm canvas and made using the magic of inspiration, acrylic, pastel and spray paint.
We here at id-iom seem to like Ramesses II or Ozymandias as the Greeks called him as this is our second picture based on one of the greatest pharaohs of the Egyptian Empire. This time I feel I should use the now famous words of Percy Shelley to describe the king of kings:
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
As a side note he lived till around the age of 90/91, most men don’t live that long nowadays and this was 1213 BC. Maybe there is hope for me then…
The years had passed slowly since the dark times at the Feast of McDonald’s. The war with the gulls was now over – with untold casualties on both sides – but the realm as a whole had survived and had now seen peace for a good while under his rule. Seismic changes were already in motion though as the King of the Corvidae had cawed for the very last time. The gears of war were turning once more. The corvidae needed to appoint a new king who could shoulder the mighty burden set before him.
For most the only real potential successor was Belasko. He had proved his mettle many times before both in battle and in diplomacy but he was getting on a little in age. The majority of his potential subjects didn’t really consider this a problem but he was deeply worried about his suitability for the role. He was a soldier, not a leader, as he kept telling himself and the many worried councillors that were scurrying around him but the more he brought this point up the more eveyone got excited.
He knew in his heart that the Corvidae required another type of leader, one that was not drenched in blood and tied to the past like himself. At the same time he realised the tide of history may just carry him along regardless. This would require some machavellian dexterity he wasn’t sure he still possessed. He would certainly have to ruffle some feathers and didn’t have much time to lose but he had been in this game long enough to know that if he played his cards just right he might just be able to select the right bird for the job…
If you like this then you’ll be glad to know we’ve got previous in the world of crow related art. It is, in fact, a sequel to an earlier piece called King of the Corvidae.
A few hundred years ago a chump was a thick lump of wood. Nowadays we know a chump to be someone who is foolish or easily deceived. Without too much imagination you can see how one meaning has morphed over time into the other. The man in our picture is a chump. In fact he is the King Chump, Mr Mitchell T Lavin from Cincinnati, Ohio who originally sent the ‘chump’ ambigram used in this picture along to The Strand magazine in 1908 with the proviso:
‘I think it is the only word in the English language which has this peculiarity (being an ambigram that is), and therefore hope you will consider it worthy of insertion in your ‘Curiosities’ column’.
What a chump. You can make an ambigram out of practically any word. I should know. I love those suckers. On another note now I’ve got my hands on some marbling inks nothing can stop me! Instant backgrounds!
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