Ideally, 
when I do a poster for a show with several artists on the bill, I like to get a group photo of them together. That’s not always possible, of course, but that’s part of what makes it cool. It wasn’t at all possible for this show, but I decided not to let that stop me. Since it was a show to benefit a school, I thought it would be appropriate to represent the artists as toy-sized depictions of their inner natures. And also fun.
The figures are all objects from around my house. The sky is an authentic Charlottesville summer sky from a photo shoot Lance Brenner did with me and Stevie Jay for another show, down by the Chandler’s ice cream stand near Pantops.
The Objects
The porcelain peahen (Devon Sproule) was a gift to baby Shannie (my daughter) from her Granny Susan who collects antique tchotchkes.
Also from Granny Susan, the Balinese folk-art cat (Jan Smith), in honor of Shannie’s hopelessly unrequited love of cats when she was a year old.
The Old Testament action-figure (Danny Schmidt), a gift to Shannie from her Auntie Eliza, who owned them as a child herself. No one knows which Biblical figure he’s meant to be. Either Moses or Race Bannon, I’m guessing.
Sgt. Floyd Pepper, bass guitarist for Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, (Paul Curreri), we bought at a yard sale as part of a set of Muppet collectibles, minus (sadly) Animal.
The rubber duck cowboy (me) came in a birthday party goodie bag. He’s a lawduck, as evidenced the star on his vest (not pictured).
Laughing Buddha (Jeff Romano), a gift to Wendy from me, from way back before we were married, bought in a giftshop in Asheville, NC, just because I always liked this story of the Laughing Buddha.
Budai, the Laughing Buddha is said to travel with a large sack on his back like Santa Claus giving candy to poor children. One day a monk walks up to him and asks, “Buddha, what is the meaning of Zen?” The Buddha stops walking. His face goes blank, and he drops his sack and says nothing. “But Buddha, how does one realize Zen?” the monks asks. And Budai smiles, picks up his sack, and without saying a word continues on his way. –adapted from Wikipedia