mad king

mad king Biography: Mad king (A.K.A. Jake Johanson) currently resides in Boulder, Colorado. where he lives, works, and gets creative.

doing a lil thing at VisionQuest Brewery on Sunday, you should come.  was planning on doing my raffle Launch on that dat...
05/15/2026

doing a lil thing at VisionQuest Brewery on Sunday, you should come. was planning on doing my raffle Launch on that date... but still awaiting final approval from the state. Should be a good time we will have some DJs and there will be cake and a limited edition glass ware drop.

music provided by Papyrus, Brandon Brown, ((DIVERSE)), and Cristal Aurelia

here is a little something i finished last week in my ongoing buffaloe series.  piece is titled: when confronted with ad...
05/13/2026

here is a little something i finished last week in my ongoing buffaloe series. piece is titled: when confronted with adversity some will tell you to flip the script, but the buffaloes wisely council us to just change the record. piece measures 19.25"x12.25" and does some wild stuff under blackout with these 3d glasses i've been playing with

well beyond the whole world is burning geopolitical sh*tstorm been wrestling with anxiety and under pressures this year ...
05/04/2026

well beyond the whole world is burning geopolitical sh*tstorm been wrestling with anxiety and under pressures this year that have been unique to my entire adult life... being able to create in these moments presents simultaneously relief and an extreme challenge to even do so.

here is one of the pieces i finished last week that one of my collectors scooped up. title for this one is, "Ms. Momo, head of the secretary pool for Admiral Mooshu, having misplaced her headphones searches above the hills where the buffaloe once roamed" piece measures 13.25"x19" did something different with this frame where i brazed a walnut frame that i built... fun playing with fire.

well haven't been posting recently as i put the finishing polishes on the raffle project i've been chipping away at four...
04/27/2026

well haven't been posting recently as i put the finishing polishes on the raffle project i've been chipping away at four the last four years and pushing through moments of thrashing and uncertainty with as much grace as i can muster. But we will do some big announcements this week and start sharing a mess of content i've been saving up up for this moment. i thought i'd take a moment to share with you one of the recent paintings i've finished that was just in time for mad king day. i've got a complete time lapse of the making of this piece that i'll be sharing sometime very soon that my buddy Sinistarr is gonna make a 60 second track for sampling the melodious tones of the platypus. this piece will also eventually be on a VisionQuest Brewery beer label coming out this summer.
measuring 23.25"x13.5" title for this one is: Bartholomew chief of the boondaburras brings all the girls to the yard with his low bass beat box skills.

happy Mad king day.  gonna be celebrating throughout the day and taking over vision quest at 5 if you wanna join us for ...
04/04/2026

happy Mad king day. gonna be celebrating throughout the day and taking over vision quest at 5 if you wanna join us for some techno and cake.
here is a set my dear buddy feathericci had to share with me to start your day.

Team Everything's annual party, In Season, at Reunity Resources farm is always a highlight of the year with multiple generations of dancers celebrating good music and the summer harvest. Here is my op

04/03/2026

one of the highlights for what has been a pretty packed and challenging work week is i got journal cover from my dear friend Jarred Michael Trantham with Lost Sailor Leather that is absolutely exquisite. really looking forward to filling up these pages... so effing lovely and stylish!

so here are the 4 posters i made for our Mad King Day gathering at VisionQuest Brewery for this saturday.  can't help my...
04/01/2026

so here are the 4 posters i made for our Mad King Day gathering at VisionQuest Brewery for this saturday. can't help myself to not make at least 4 variations of a design. here is a link to the Event page and FUN WILL BE HAD!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1633653257666153

before i get distracted by looking at the "the doom" thought i'd share some good news, junior space cadet ikura is soon ...
03/18/2026

before i get distracted by looking at the "the doom" thought i'd share some good news, junior space cadet ikura is soon to be leaving the studio to go to his forever home. I used to celebrate all of my art sales by buying myself an orchid, but no longer trusting myself to be a good plant dad (i once had a collection of 14 of them that didn't weather my seasonal affective disorder one year) the little treats i get are now gonna have to be pocket sized stuffed animals for my lady and 1 new comic book... the rest will go to bills.
if you are interested in getting a Mad King original on kind of the cheap i donated a piece to Art For Reform that is currently up for auction for a good cause.

been keeping my head down and just powering through work the last few days in the studio, since i have found engaging wi...
03/17/2026

been keeping my head down and just powering through work the last few days in the studio, since i have found engaging with social media and looking at "The Doom" has felt a little counterproductive to my delicate psyche. But i am recognizing that my small role to play to help fight the doom has always been through my art.
should have posted something about this yesterday when the auction went live (and more about it to get the hype leading up to it), but... i've donated a painting to the fine folks Art For Reform to raise money for the ACLU and Minnesota Immigrants rights Action Comitee. The auction will be running til the 20th and this would be an ideal chance for you to pick up a mad king piece at a reasonable price and support some very worthy causes.

in these turbulent times getting my head and heart aligned to get through the work i have in front of me can be a bit of...
03/09/2026

in these turbulent times getting my head and heart aligned to get through the work i have in front of me can be a bit of a challenge. especially knowing that i can bang my head on some aspect of a project and it will all be square peg round hole... but if i'm just patient and keep showing up every day the spirit will eventually align and i will return back to flow, that some task i was struggling with for days can shift and take merely hours. i was recently reminded by a friend that in the act of doing that numinously the universe will start to align and open up and meet us half way.

so wherever you are at or whatever you are trying to overcome, keep the faith keep doing we will get through this.

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2510 47th Street
Boulder, CO
80301

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