![Courtesy photo "My pieces are one of the only things that [are still] fully handmade that's on an industrial level," says artist Todd Sanders of his neon fine art work. "My neon bender, he stands in a fire and bends these neon tubes by fire. The metal is shaped by hand. It's hand-sketched. And then I do most of the painting, and then I do all of the weathering. So I can identify with people that are doing the American-made/handmade movement."](https://wehco.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2018/08/19/188421260_Todd-Sanders_ORIG_t800.jpg?90232451fbcadccc64a17de7521d859a8f88077d)
There's just something about neon. Singers are enamored with it; lonely hearts are comforted sipping a beer beneath its glow; it guides the excited and the weary alike as they roam their cities after dark.
"We've had a neon sign in the sky for as long as mankind has been around," says artist Todd Sanders of the famed Northern Lights -- a reaction of charged particles similar to that taking place in the tubes of a neon sign. "So it speaks to something very primal in the human nature; it's something that really attracts us because we've been seeing [it forever]."
FAQ
Artist’s Reception
And Neon Stroll
WHEN — 7 p.m. reception; 8 p.m. stroll Aug. 23
WHERE — Arvest Bank on the downtown Bentonville square
COST — Free
There's also, of course, the element of the medium hearkening back to another time -- a slice of Americana, reflecting society's current obsession with all things vintage.
"I fell in love with neon back in the 1980s, and I would travel around and take photos of old signs around the country," Sanders shares. "They weren't really appreciated very much back then, they weren't restored, some of them were falling off the buildings.
"But you know, with the advent of social media being what it is, a lot of people are taking thousands of photos of neon signs and the interest has grown," he continues. "When I got into neon in the late 1980s, early 1990s, I thought I was behind the times; I thought I was past the era of neon's popularity, but I didn't care. I wanted to spend my life in it anyway because I loved it. I had no idea the biggest popularity of vintage style neon signs would be now."
Following a fruitful career making signs commercially -- the first modern company in the country, as far as Sanders is aware, dedicated to building 1950s-era neon signs for businesses -- Sanders was fortunate enough to take his passion into the fine art world. Now, his catalog of pop art, as he considers it, is prized by collectors and celebrities and includes pieces that have appeared in luxury magazines and major studio films. Sanders' body of work also comprises nearly a dozen pieces displayed around downtown Bentonville, which will be featured and celebrated during a Neon Stroll and artist reception Aug. 23.
"Around Bentonville, some of the pieces are really cleverly hidden down alleyways and things, so they're not really apparent at first, but there are quite a few when you start to really add them all up," Sanders says of the unique art. "I think the faster we move and the more we're able to punch a button and have something pop out the other end, the more a certain group of people are going to embrace things that are made completely by hand and that show the artist's hand in the work."
NAN What's Up on 08/19/2018