Please check your email inbox for the zoom link. 

The heat was very real, but the drinks were cool and the company was even cooler. Neon’s finest came to celebrate, reminisce, and plan for the future. Catching up with old friends and making new acquaintances was the highlight of the day. The beauty of these events nowadays is for the folks that are scattered around the country to finally meet people they’ve been talking to online for years! Especially for benders that are pretty isolated, getting the chance to connect face to face is rare and special. Although the NYC region was highly represented, people from all over the US traveled in, with the furthest being Seattle! Personally, I was excited to meet Steve Biebel from Atlantic City who is a second generation bender like myself, as well as women, gender-nonconforming and queer folks, all of whom are contributing important perspectives to what has traditionally been a very non-diverse world.

We set up silk screening, and decorated t-shirts, patches, and tote bags galore to commemorate the occasion. True to bash form there was a swap table with pieces of equipment looking for a new home and a cadre of antique electrodes for the curious and brave! The event was enlivened by a welding contest, to see who could make the most welds in a half stick of glass. The trophy went to James Akers, with a phenomenal 53 welds! Honorable mention goes to everyone who gave it a try, even those that gave up because sweat coated glass was too slippery to handle! The day was capped off by Sean Bradley and James Akers utilizing the hot shop to hand-pull tubing made from a chunk of uranium that Sean generously gifted the group. 

The Neon Makers Guild Board was represented by Eve Hoyt, Sean Bradley, Danielle James, and Zoelle Nagib, and the space was provided by Dave Ablon of Precision Neon at Brooklyn Glass. A huge THANK YOU to Dave Ablon for hosting, and DJ for planning!

The Kitco Cutter has become one of those tools of somewhat legendary status.  During its day, I am not sure it was a big seller and I only used them a few times.  But it seems like after the advent of lead-free glass this tool has gained a new usefulness in the neon studio and it has, more than once, shown itself to be a saver of one's bacon.  Apparently others feel the same and so there has been renewed interest and it seems I get asked where they can be bought or how can they be built with some regularity.  I had previously shared some reverse engineering information but now have tidied it up a bit.  It can be found on my blog page at:  Kitco Cutter Information  and I have also uploaded a copy to the NMG library as well.  Happy building! 

This is a fun little video demonstrating a cheap Neon Transformer operation with a little bit of hacking to run a lamp brighter. This is a really great channel for everything circuitry, even though half the time it's way over my head, the more I keep watching the more I catch as the years go by. Enjoy!     

This is a really intersting and thoroughly researched video on AC Transformers, which is a really dense topic that Kathy covers with immpeccable siting of sources, even with links to all the transcripts and sitations for your enjoyment. If you like this video go give Kathy a follow and check out some of her other videos on these topics. There is also a video on 3-Phase electricity that I recommend, which touches more on the relationship between Westinghouse and Tesla, along with many other historic figures involved in the field to be remembered. She also just came out with a book called "The Lightning Tamers" which covers over 400 Years of electrified history!

"Kathy has earned four higher education degrees in physics, engineering, and science education, but she feels as if her real education came from spending 12 years as a public high school physics teacher. She is an alumnus of the University of Chicago, Penn State, and the University of Utah." 

Bio from https://kathylovesphysics.com/bio/

A video a friend sent me about the film industry and use of mercury vapor lamps and neon lighting, enjoy!

Hello fellow guild members and thank you for the warm welcome to the Neon Makers Guild! It is an honor to be a part of such an amazing group of artists, makers, and enthusiasts alike. I look forward to bringing Neon into the next generation with you all, and even more so, being a part of making information on this field accessible for anyone interested, which so far, I’ve not met that person, when bringing up the topic of neon. Which means to me, that the more we spread the fascinating details on what it takes to make a neon tube work, the more interest and success will occur within the field. There are many avenues one can take when approaching a working practice, and it's really fun to get to see all the different shops popping up, and the way each one works on a day-to-day basis. From sign making, to one-day experiences, to multi-week classes, or making new and interesting works of art, and even beyond that. It really is a beautiful thing to see all these adaptations, and exciting to be a part of such an interesting community of people.

I think what really made me appreciate the organizing of the Neon Makers Guild, other than bringing a community of people with like-minded interests together, is the idea of a place you could go to where the news feed was nothing but the thing you are searching for in that moment, without distractions. When researching a topic, I love when I find a directory about something, that will lead you down the path you are looking to go, where all the information about that thing and things related are in one place, I mean who doesn't!? As a person who gets very distracted by media and flashing lights, places like Instagram and Facebook really are a hindrance to my progression as an evolving human, which might sound a little dramatic, but is a very real feeling I get when using those applications. As some can moderate and block out information they don't want to perceive, I tend to get lost in an endless scroll of people I don't follow, lost in time, and with all the shocking and overstimulating things that I have been seeing in the last few years on these apps, I find it is healthier for me to stay away and focus on what's right in front of me. This is why I love to see NMG provide a space to come and meet people from all over the world with a passion for neon, and walk further down this well lit road into the unknown. If you have met me, you know I love to talk and have fun, and my passion for this field really knows no bounds, so having a healthy moderated space to still be able to make connections and keep up with what's happening is truly something I am thankful for and makes me feel able to included, without having to doom scroll to do so.

I really look forward to the future of this craft and am grateful to have found this community. If anyone ever needs to contact me, has any questions, or just want to share your thoughts, don't hesitate to reach out. I will be posting the journey of my studio build as I go along here on NMG, so anyone interested can keep up with my progress on everything I am working on. I look forward to seeing yours too!

Stay Electric, Séan Bradley

I am very pleased to announce that our first election was a success, and excited to welcome Sean Bradley (vice-president), Annie Saunders (secretary), Zoelle Nagib (treasurer) and Kat Kazlauskas (at-large) to the NMG Board of Directors.  In doing so, we also say goodbye to 3 of the Guild founders, Alleson Buchanan, Nick McKnight and Cameron Clow. I am so appreciative of their hard work and contributions toward getting the Neon Makers Guild started and wish them the best. The other 3 founders, Robert Haus, Danielle James, and yours truly Eve Hoyt (President) are excited to get to work with the new board members. This year we are working to acquire our 501c(6) status, which will help give the Guild the foundation to be an organization that I hope will be around for years to come. We will carry on with our mission to foster a community of support to this wonderful craft of neon making, of helping one another, and providing the information and resources we need to keep our beloved craft of neon alive and relevant in the age of LED's and diminishing tradespeople.

A word from our outgoing Vice-President, Cameron Clow:

This election was a big milestone for the NMG. From the very beginning of Guild, all directors agreed it was very important to make the guild a fully democratic association allowing regular input from its members. This election was a good first step. Committee work and involvement is probably the next big important goal for the guild but for now we can take a breath and feel good about where the Guild is going and how. Please take a minute to reach out and congratulate our new directors and wish them well as they take on these important roles. To our members we say please consider what you can bring to the guild...committee involvement is just around the corner and every voice in our community is important!! 

Cheers and see you in the fires! 

In solidarity, Cameron Clow

"Yes, the Neon Makers Guild's first election is here and we are hoping some of you are considering nominating someone for a seat on the board..and yes you can nominate yourself!! Please be sure your nominee agrees to the position and is willing to serve.

If you would like to take on a role on the board please don't be shy and understand The Guild needs voices and opinions from all corners no matter if you are a neon wizard or a neon apprentice!! All voices are wanted, are valuable and can only add to our diverse neon community!"

Nominations close on January 29th!