About Bill Jarcho

My artwork often has a sense of playful oddness as well as social/ political bite to it and my children’s books use quirky humor and rhyme to elicit laughter and illuminate the heart. Presently, along with concocting art in my studio, I just published “Draw!”, a book of cartoons and humorous illustrations that is available in the local Vashon Bookshop. I also have written and illustrated 2 children’s books under my nom de plume, William J. Zambini. You can purchase my book, “Rhymes and Ditties for Adventurous Kiddies” at Amazon by clicking on this link here. And my newer book, “Come on Down and Pet the Fish” can be purchased here .

My career in the arts:

I have been an animation director / creative director; creating shorts, station ID’s, commercials, and videos for Nickelodeon, MTV, ABC Saturday Morning TV, and Committee for Children to name a few. I have directed episodes of Eddie Murphy’s animated series “The PJ’s” on Fox TV and created and performed giant puppets and puppet shows for Zambini Brothers. I have been the director of The Conscious Cartoons International Animation Festival and have won numerous awards for my commercial work and independent animated shorts, which have played at Animation festivals throughout the world. Presently, I am the cartoonist for my local hometown newspaper, The Beachcomber and a long-time member of VALISE Gallery here on Vashon, Island. For the past 23 years I have been part of the Backbone Campaign where I have designed and lead community artists in the creation of giant puppets, inflatables, and costumed characters for use in social/political activism. Some of this work has appeared on Jon Stewart’s, “The Daily Show” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”. I have also been seen dressed as a cowboy riding a giant chicken on occasion .

I live on Vashon Island, WA with my wife and 2 elderly dog children.