Zodiac
Vintage Zodiac Astrology Star Sign Posters
Each of these Zodiac Astrology Star Sign posters was illustrated by a different artist, but they were all commissioned and copyrighted by John W. Leahy Jr (known as Jack), Paul Olsen and Samuel B. Ridge (http://www.olsenart.com).
Poster Artists
Jack Leahy was also known as “Funky Jack” and he was the man behind the creation of Funky Features, along with Paul and Sam.
For Jack, the business morphed into something entirely different, as he embarked on a career as a recording engineer, working with the likes of Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, he quickly became an institution in San Francisco.
Funky Paul worked as both an artist and a musician, creating cover art for the likes of Hall & Oates, as well as playing the guitar, being an accomplished drummer, providing vocals and composing for various bands he joined over the years. He has been involved in some of the most recognisable art work of the 20th century, including movie titles such as the Abyss, Back to the Future 2 and 3, television station logos, and amazingly it was he who airbrushed the Starship Enterprise for the very first Star Trek movie.
These men were part of the Haight-Ashbury revolution of the 60’s (or Hashbury as Hunter S. Thompson labelled it), the district in San Francisco that was like a siren song for hippies everywhere. 1967 was the “Summer of Love” and it was during this year that these incredible psychedelic prints were produced, capturing the excitement and revolution of the time. It didn’t take long for the “Summer of Love” to fizzle out, though, as the neighbourhood quickly became overcrowded and was taken over by homelessness, addiction and crime. What it left behind were these amazing pieces of art and music that is still widely popular today.
Bobby Smith (illustrator of Astrology Sign Cancer)
Dick Moore’s (illustrator of Zodiac Sign Gemini) career path isn’t one that you would necessarily expect an artist to follow, as he joined the US Navy, in 1950, after attending the Chicago Academy of Arts (http://geezersgallery.com/free-lancig-many-locations/). Once he was discharged from the military he was free to pursue his passion working in various studios across the United States for a number of years before finally settling in California. The psychedelic Gemini we see pictured here is a wonderful example of the time.
Timothy Dixon (illustrator of Star Sign Libra) grew up in Northern California aspired to be an artist, by age three he was drawing and by age six he was painting. He continued to follow that path which resulted in an award winning career.
L.S. Goddard (illustrator of Zodiac Sign Pisces), pseudonym for Lee & Shirley Goddard.
Sagittarius: Robert McClay
Scorpio: Fred Adams
Hailing from Washington, Jim Blashfield (illustrator of Zodiac Sign Virgo) is everything you could possibly imagine him to be. The man that created music videos for the legends Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon, Blashfield is a filmmaker and a media artist. He has won a wide range of awards for his work, notably a Grammy and The Golden Lion, the highest prize from the Venice Film Festival (blashfieldstudio.com).
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