Neon Artist: Neal Conner
an Intro to the artist: neon neal
Neal Conner is Neon Man. In addition to his commercial projects, Conner creates art pieces, “luminous sculpture in three-dimensions.”
“Although I’m happily employed as an electrical sign manufacturer, I think of it mostly as a job which affords me the freedom to explore my artistic ideas.”
About his artwork he says: “I feel that it is my duty to provide a counterpoint to the maddening crush . . . by producing intricate glass works which will lend a bit of grace and centeredness to any environment.”
Wood or metal is often introduced into his constructions, inspired by tribal traditions, mythology, and human and animal forms.
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An Artistic Neon Life
How Does one get into the world of neon art?
The honest answer: I don’t fully know.
I suppose neon was and still is the perfect mix for a flighty dreamer such as myself. Whereas many art forms rely heavily on the “idea,” my particular form requires a fair amount of installation as well—even to the point of acquiring a license from my state that allows me to perform legal assembly and install.
Perhaps I was attracted to the precarious nature of it, the danger perhaps…climbing walls, precarious perches, the delicacy of the neon tubing, the treachery of broken glass. Neon is a high voltage medium. Don’t forget that. Responsible for lots of fires, lots of shocks. Now safer than ever. Its good to know what you’re doing.
Neon Musings: Early life and Art
As I said, perhaps I was attracted to the volatile nature of neon.
There may have been some fallout as a result of my Father’s service in the Vietnam conflict. Almost certainly. The effects are deep and far reaching, but the details will remain private. In any kind of family recovery there will be amazing insights and especially I am grateful for being put in touch with my Father’s artistic side, a part of his life that was largely given up when he became a full-time military man (before I was born).
The Air Force brat, typically moved frequently, being tested as the new kid, required to make new friends, often forming a mixed cultural identity. A musical family, and blessed with the constant summer camp, community class, community center, recreation, etc.
Some time back, around 1967, a cub scout was given an assignment by his den mother. Make a scrapbook. Wooden covers—and let’s finish it with a decoupage.
Also the whittled stick. Courtesy Neal Conner’s collection of Neal Conner stuff.
I sometimes like to think I’m a shaman, and it could very well be a personality type—have you heard of middle-child syndrome? The middle, or medium, wants to draw the two extremes together, unite, find common ground. The healer. Negotiator.
Having had a fairly happy childhood, I can’t claim to be making “healing images” out of some inner deep-seated neediness. The ability to make drawings in light is thrilling, a mesmerizing endeavor, seldom gets old. Which is to say the movement toward images of healing and wholeness might be the natural expression of any healthy artist. While it’s true that I am drawn to the unusual, unstable, outsiders, miscreants and misfits, that’s not where I stand when I create. I produce out of joy and happiness.
Tube Bending the Neon Light Fantastic
I trained in the 80’s to be a neon tube bender and sign installer. A good portion of my early experience is in fabricating and installing electric signs—some of which are quite large.
I apprenticed to become a neon tube bender with an old man named Don. I paid him $10 an hour to allow me to practice bending glass tubes under his tutelage. (Yes, it wasn’t full time and yes, I had to work nights.) Don was a WWII veteran and a crotchety old man who bent glass in his garage for all the local sign companies–what’s known as a wholesaler. That’s not an easy job, because every mistake the designers and installers make gets blamed on the guy who bent the glass. I saw a lot of arguments. Don always won–did I mention he was crotchety? After watching those interactions for a few months I resolved to sell signs, manufacture signs, for myself. Any mistakes I made would be mine alone, but more likely: any special arrangements or tricky installations could be handled by the same guy who was making the stuff, which meant fewer miscommunications.
Neon Life Lessons: Art vs. the Business Signage Industry
…That turned out to be a great way of doing business, but as soon as it became a successful business I was stuck working long hours with an obviously limited production. Before long I was an employer, making all those mistakes and flubs that I had resolved to avoid. Also, like so many others, I believed that I should be able to manage all the related tasks: office work, bidding, bookkeeping–which was an educational approach, but not terribly effective. Hence my mantra for all the apprentices who come to me: No artist is fit to be self-employed. Concentrate on your art, in other words, and don’t hesitate to let other people do the books or secretarial tasks. Otherwise, you won’t find yourself stretched thin for all those tasks, many of those tasks simply won’t get done. Or the art will suffer.
With more than 30 years now as a tube bender you’d think I’d know all about it, and for sure there are a couple areas of sign-making and lighting that we have excelled at. Those projects are what make up the main categories on this site, the commercial endeavors at signage and lighted imagery, with a number of lighting projects running close behind. But is that enough?
Neon Art at Heart
In those early years I experimented widely with glass colors and shapes, combinations of media and small-format projects (loosely referred to as neon art), but my output of the last couple of decades features metal as much as glass and light, and the metal work has become a necessary component to the look. It’s sculpture incorporating light, and I am particularly fond of the back lit effect, also known as a halo. I have learned a number of soldering and welding techniques for assembly, and a vast number of metal finishing processes to provide a finish or patina—all geared to providing a structure and to enhancing whatever lighting elements I envision.
Neon Art Commissions
Neon art commissions have now become one of the greatest joys in life, as far as I’m concerned–to be able to work with someone to take a mere idea from out of our heads and to make it exist, to make it occur as a real object, occupying space, in reality. What magic is this, to manipulate inert materials and to make of them an expression of our inmost selves?
I received my first “neon art” commission in 1992, (Oregon State Office Building in Portland). Subsequent artistic commissions have been sporadic, with a majority in the private sector. Neon are isn’t necessarily at the top of one’s mental awareness, unless you’re a madman like me. That said, I am now thrilled to have a number of neon art commissions under my belt.
I draw from my life story when I’m drawing, but draw from your life story when sculpting. Give it a try…submit a bit of your bio.
Here, for instance, is a full sequence.
Client: “Hi. I love frogs. When I was a girl my parents split up. Mom and I moved to a town by Yellowstone. I am working on a Master’s in Applied Biology.”
We wrote three versions about her experiences, including Rise of the Fire Frog, a Promethean parable. Unfortunately, the frog gets eaten. By a bear. But it’s worse for the bear because he can’t stomach a frog made of fire. Crow has sat patiently. As bear wanders off to get better, crow inspects the remnants of fire frog and is able to enjoy the cooked parts—which are principally the hind legs. Frogs’ legs. Famous delicacy. And it doesn’t hurt that Crow’s erratic flight is now aided by an enhanced hopping ability. Crow rises high, releasing the spirit of fire frog as pure trickster energy. So at bottom we have the immortal energy—which can be picked up and handed off from person to person, which can build things, which can be too much, which cannot be enjoyed in great concentrations, which can be fatal. Pure unbridled energy is only and always able to thwart, reverse direction, maintain a wicked sense of humor. If you aren’t laughing, your creation is incomplete.
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