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Learning to BEND NEON!

Xyla Foxlin

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WATCH JOANNE BOMBARD: How a Neon Sign is Bombarded (@ Museum of ...

Many thanks to the Joanne and the Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles (Glendale) for letting me film in the studio. https://www.neonmona.org/

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20 Comments

@DerrickBommarito 1 year ago

I don't need a new hobby. I don't need a new hobby. I don't need a new hobby.

@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse 1 year ago

I'm slightly saddened by the disappearance of real neon tubes. They're something special.

@thethoughtemporium 1 year ago

I fricken LOVE neon. I'm so jealous you got to do this. And that two tone gas is GLORIOUS. I've been looking for a source of custom neon signs and I think I just found it.

@pz7510 1 year ago

mad props for being willing to show the real difficulty of learning something like this and how many repeated unsuccessful attempts you had, great stuff 👍

@agaperion 1 year ago

"I'm gonna screw this up so much."
"Noo... I mean... Well, also yeah."
lmao

@TheMicroTrak 1 year ago

Bending Neon is moral, because it is a noble gas.

@LoganLovell 1 year ago

My wife got me a true neon sign for my birthday and sometimes I just sit there and stare at all of the bends and curves. The artistry and skill is so incredible, and now I have an even greater appreciation for it

@andersoncpu 1 year ago

OK, another skill added to her skill set, pilot, rocketeer, metallurgist, mechanical and aerospace engineer, master carpenter, exceptionally skilled orator, musician, roboticist, video producing and editing, neon sign maker, and many other skills I am sure I am missing. Wow, just WOW! Another great video, thanks for sharing.

@Osmotic 1 year ago

That joy from being praised by the instructor was too good

@YuzuDrink 1 year ago

Alright… FELLOW MEN! 😂😂 Best ad I’ve seen in ages! 😂

@kthfox 1 year ago

Plying molten glass by hand is the most satisfying tactile sensation. The sensation of home made magma yielding, drawing, setting; a sensation meant for gods. And you can just do it. You can go to the hardware store, buy a 40 dollar torch, and just melt some marbles or broken bottles, draw it into fibers or mold it into shapes. You can just do that. How amazing is that?

@Bolthole_Studios 1 year ago

Great to see youngin’s appreciate and learn the old school arts and crafts! So crucial to keep passing on these skills.

@ianadams2746 1 year ago

So glad you did this! I learned to bend neon 25 years ago through a class offered by the Museum of Neon Art, taught by the great Michael Fletcher. He's got a neon studio in the Van Nuys area, which you should totally drop by and check out. Bending neon is so much fun.

@damnnicepants2706 1 year ago

I've spent over 30 years in the sign business and nobody who knew how to bend glass ever wanted to teach you. I guess now that it's almost a dead art people are opening up to teaching again.

@JayWelchy 1 year ago

Neon needs to come back in a BIG way. Its always eye catching, artisan, and makes any building/block/town feel fun. Yea, bring it back!

@davidluftig4644 1 year ago

I took neon design w the original museum founder, Liily Lakish back in 1982/1981. And bending at Urban Glass (formely the experimental glass workshop). It takes a lot of practice and then continuous practice. Good for you for going for it.

@snowhyt77 1 year ago

I spent 25 years as a production glass bender making signs for the worlds largest sign company. Best job I ever had!. You did great for just a few days practice. We rarely did any bending with a full tube, rather one or two letters on a shorter piece and then weld them together. Full tubes were for large borders or big curves.

@CoffeeKadachi 1 year ago

This is so cool! Your teacher seemed wonderful too. Neon is definitely an art I hope we don’t lose

@rhoptry 1 year ago

In 1978, I salvaged a couple of neon transformers from an old building we were working on. Goin' to make neon art I told myself. Well, life happened and I didn't.
Until now, vicariously!! Big thanks!

@twocrazyhens 8 months ago

Worked at a sign company back in the early '90s. We outsourced to an old man that was very skilled at making all types of "neon" tubes. He was a master at it. It is sad to see this art dying as they are so beautiful to look at.