Jim Ford was born in Sacramento, California and moved to Aspen, Colorado in 1962. For a few years, he was a real ski bum, working many types of jobs and skiing most days of the season. Then in 1964, Jim became the first City Draftsman for the City of Aspen.
In 1967, Mr. Ford returned to Sacramento and founded Simultaneous Avalanche, a psychedelic light show. That project led to designing and drawing nine rock art posters starting with:
– The Grateful Dead at Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe.
– The Jefferson Airplane
– Them
– Buffalo Springfield
– The Doors
– Big Brother and the Holding Company starring Janis Joplin
– The Temptations, Gladice Knight and the Pips and Brenda Halloway
– The Jimi Hendrix Experience
– Cream and The Grateful Dead
Four of these posters are in the publication The Art of Rock, New York, Abbeville Press, 1987.
Lured by the snow, Jim returned to Aspen and eventually joined Norm Clasen Advertising as a freelance graphic artist and illustrator. His Aspen Town art became the national advertising campaign for the Aspen Skiing Corporation from 1972 to 1974 and for over ten years it was the logo for Aspen. In the same style, he created town art for other ski resorts: Vail, Sun Valley and Park City. Mr. Ford also designed numerous logos for individuals and companies.
Jim returned to Sacramento in 1981 and completed 13 detailed ink drawings of his favorite places around Sacramento and Northern California.
Currently, he continues to draw and is working on art created from metal.
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