Angela Carlsen, an artist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, used a trip on Arizona’s Route 66 to help end her artist’s block.
The result of that journey is her latest art show, “Arizona Neon,” at Argyle Fine Art in Halifax, starting tonight. The exhibit runs through Oct. 30.
According to The Chronicle-Herald of Halifax:
“I love the desert,” says the Halifax photographer, “and the romanticism of the old road trip where you’re eating at family-run diners and staying at family-run motels.” […]
When she looked at all her Arizona photographs back home what jumped out at her were the large, period, neon signs advertising motels, restaurants and trading posts.
She stayed at some of the roadside hotels, including the Western Hills, with a sign featuring a covered horse-drawn wagon. “Oh my God, well let me tell you. I pulled in at dark, because I’d drive until it got dark, and the lobby probably hasn’t been changed since 1960-something and it was messy and a 15-year-old kid signed me in. It was $35 a night. And it was great.
“Route 66 runs along train tracks. So everywhere I stayed I’d hear the trains at night, so it was such a romantic experience.”
She thinks the signs are “one-of-a-kind pieces of art.” Because there was so much traffic on Route 66 “and there were so many businesses on the old route, they needed to have signs that stood out.”
For the “Arizona Neon” artwork, Carlsen applied digital images to 3-by-3-foot wood panels, making the work look like old-time Polaroid images.
Each image is a blaring, wacky sign on a full-colour background in blue or pink or orange. Beneath the signs are meticulous, faint, pencil drawings of the Grand Canyon, or a teepee in front of a line of rail cars. These images are taken from her scenic Arizona photographs and are not directly connected to the signs.
A sample of Carlsen’s work can be seen here. Images include signs from the Supai Motel and Copper Cart restaurant in Seligman, Pow Wow Trading Post and Butterfield Steakhouse in Holbrook, and the Western Hills Motel in Flagstaff.
Next year, Carlsen wants to buy a camper van and explore New Mexico.
Wow, truly showing you can find inspiration anywhere, you just have to get up and look for it! Check out my blog posts about finding creativity and see what you think, I’d love to hear your feedback, your art’s amazing.