Motel, Air Conditioned, TV, Swimming Pool: These words, lit up in glowing neon, welcomed a generation of Americans to a good night’s rest just off the two-lane highway. I was one of those kids happy to tumble out of the station wagon and into the pool. Albuquerque, New Mexico in the 1950s was where my first memories were created.

Route 66, Central Avenue in Albuquerque, was the gateway to the city. At night it was a kaleidoscope of neon signs with a riot of animated color and light. I was a wide-eyed kid with an imagination fueled by John Wayne westerns and curio shop rubber tomahawks.

By the time I was twelve I had attended four different elementary schools, motored coast to coast and seen a big swath of America, much of it via Route 66.

I have walked through these doors, eaten in these cafes and slept in these motels. The art I make is distilled from that experience. This emotional response is what I’m most interested in.

 Although there is an aspect of cultural anthropology in my work, I have a profound personal connection with my subject. As the corporate homogenization of our commercial landscape continues, Mom & Pop roadside businesses are fast becoming extinct. I have made these paintings with hope that future generations may get a sense of an America that I once knew.