Neon Daydreams - ruminations on painting the Lou and Ev's Chicken sign

  Even posting this photo of one of my most recent neon paintings for the Jacobs Gallery show floods me with childhood memories.  My dad worked hard at several manual labor jobs to keep a roof over our heads and food in the fridge.  When he wanted to treat us to dinner out, one of his favorite restaurants was Lou and Ev's.  They served the best fried chicken dinner in town.  Looking at this sign I can almost see the checkered tablecloths and smell the aroma of fresh baked chicken!  This was a sign that turned heads too.  The colorful neon, the giant chicken holding its platter high in the sky-  always made me turn to stare at it as we went down the road.  When starting this neon series I longed to find a picture of it and to my delight, found it fully restored and hanging inside a local restaurant as decor!  What a thrill to paint this.  I'm hoping it will be as much fun for people to see in my show as it was to paint.  It's a full sheet watercolor (22x30) painted on Arches 140lb. Paper.

  

   Still working on this one- almost time to switch gears from painting to framing.  Phew, this series is more work than I thought it would be.  This sign is on Oahu and is a subtle tangle of tubing, reflections and highlights.  I'm hoping to make the glass light bulbs a point of interest when it's all said and done.  There may be a late nite painting session in my near future. 

    I've been reading art biz blogs lately in my quest to become a full time artist and they all say the same thing-  making a living selling art is hard work.  My dad used to tell me anything worthwhile is worth working for.  He certainly lived those words and even though he's gone, I still hear his words in my head when I think I'm too tired to try anymore.  All the successful artists I know worked for years to develop their skills and their influence over many years.  Our best days are ahead of us.  We can write our own story by painting what we love and not forgetting that it's not called "artwork" for nothing.  Do you smell fried chicken?