Santa Barbara author and poster artist Rick Sharp will be at Chaucer’s Books for a book talk and signing for his memoir “1970’s Nature Posters: The Lost Art of Rich Sharp,” 6 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at 3321 State St., Santa Barbara.

The book is Sharp’s dramatic and often humorous personal story. With just India ink and pen, as a young artist he created a treasure trove of idealistic posters lost in time until now.

Covering the years 1970-80, “Nature Posters” follows Sharp from a child prodigy in Texas; to a near death experience in Mexico; to a sought-after pop artist in Southern California.

The book offers an intimate look at the artist’s Santa Barbara lifestyle; his unorthodox search for the perfect model and mate; his practice of composing songs and prose to accompany his art; his relations with famous rock stars; and his struggles to be accepted as a hopeless romantic.

Sharp is a self-taught artist who specialized in poster art executed in a flowing, linear style. In the 1970s, he was commissioned to create concert posters, calendars, movie posters, magazine ads, book covers, logos, postcards, t-shirt designs, and album covers.

His posters were popular in Southern California, where they appeared throughout the 1970s. Later in his career, Sharp became Hawaii’s premiere vintage poster artist. His images of “classic” Hawaii are still prominent throughout the Islands.

 
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
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