Ready for some random trivia? I’ve driven across the United States seven times, and spent at least two nights in every state (save for Alaska — I’ve never been).

During those adventures, I’ve traversed every mile of Route 66… also, affectionately known as ‘The Mother Road’. So, when a gentleman with a Route 66 email address signed-up for my newsletter — I had to find out more. Following a brief correspondence, I discovered Robert Gehl is on the Route 66 Association of Missouri Board of Directors… specifically, Advisor for the Neon Heritage Preservation team. It was through these conversations that Robert put The Western Motel, in Sayre, OK on my radar.

From Robert — “I confess to having many ‘favorites’ along the route — it’s very hard to choose one — but I’ve always had a special emotional reaction to this particular sign. It just speaks to the image of Route 66 — the pull of heading West (that movement captured in the sign), the imagery of the West itself… just whole thing.”

This spoke to me, particularly as someone who moved from Manhattan to a town of 2,088 in the Rockies. And so, it was decided — The Western was destined for the easel.

They have a saying, ‘go big or go home’; they also say, ‘if you can’t do well, do big’; hoping you choose to embrace the first quote, I decided on a 48″X60″X1.5″ Belgian Linen surface.

First, I reduced the form to a simple red shape. On Facebook, I posed the question — what do you think this looks like? I heard: a lifeguard stand, vintage Tyco train engine, tractor leaving a barn on stilts…

This stage completed the under-painting, but if you look closely, you can see many, many hours of drawing. Interesting fact about this sign — a photo of it ablaze does not exist. This isn’t based solely on a quick Google… we had an entire time of Route 66 experts dive into the archives… we contacted the city of Sayre… nothing. This, of course, posed a challenge… one, fortunately, I’ve faced before in re-creating Ashes.

Itself a large canvas (48″X48″), in this commission of Ashes in Upstate New York, the neon was re-imagined in a specific palette.

As it happens, Robert was kind enough to introduce me to David Hutson — a spectacular neon artist and expert in everything that glows. David is the owner of Neon Time, located in St. Charles, Missouri. Applying his skill and imagination, David suggested the following:

“1) The bulbs around the perimeter were the yellow ceramic type (such as was original to the Munger Moss);

2) NO VACANCY was clear neon red;

3) There was no neon on the sign that was gold or yellow;

4) The other colors were phosphor coated tubes, so…

Knowing what is typical for this era, if I were to restore this sign and have no tubing to reference, I would make the cactus and the tall outer arrow/angular pieces in turquoise.  I would definitely do WESTERN in flame (orange) neon.  I would probably do MOTEL in neon pink.  I suspect they differentiated MOTEL and WESTERN and did not make them the same color. ”

And so, with this guidance, it was off to the races. I began by painting a slow, careful, not-quite-twilight sky gradient. Then, I jumped into the flame orange, and laid out the other tubes and bulbs.

Next, it was about getting the teal tones nailed down, imagining how the radiating light would react to red and yellow backgrounds.

Now, it was time to paint a few thousand leaves on the tree in the background. I wanted this to provide a visual anchor for the canvas… the technique was the same used in my Central Park Piece (also large, at 48″X56″). Patience, and the demise of several 5X0 brushes… that’s all it took.

Ah, soooo many trees.

Thanks to a few things… namely, a fortunate string of commissions and a Global Pandemic… this was the status of the painting for about five months. As the year clicked over to 2021… it felt like the right time to revisit and finish this bad boy.

Oh man, it took me forever to paint these bulbs. And, thanks to yet another piece of David Hutson wisdom — I dimmed the trailing bulb to create more motion. Additionally, I painted all of the metal on the sides of the sign, as well as the poles. Now… all that remained was a solid week of painting grass. That’s right, grass.

And while I can’t claim to have ascertained my kicks while painting grass on Route 66… I can confirm, I am pleased with the result of this painting. Route 66 has and always will hold a special place in my heart.

Heck, I even used The Blue Swallow Motel as a point of departure to roast hockey rival Weiner. Could this be the beginning of a Route 66 series? Only time will tell. Until then, I thank Robert for turning me on to this magnificent sign; and I thank David for his expertise and guidance on the glow.

Thank you for being here.