66 Motel   Big Boy   Cozy Dogs               Fosters   Fresh Donuts 2   Golden Spur               Jerry’s Cafe   Metro Diner 1   Metro Diner 2               Palm Cafe   Rod’s Steakhouse 1   Rod’s Steakhouse 2               Hollywood Star   Teepee Curio   Wilders               Chicago Theater   Tower Theater   50’s Cafe               Blue Swallow Motel   The Capri Motel   El Don (Day)               El Don (Night)   Evening Sands   Hiway House                 Roy’s Motel       Skyliner Motel

Historic Route 66 Art Paintings and Prints

Route 66 was coined “The Mother Road” by John Steinbeck. The flight from suffering changed to a link between Chicago and Los Angeles for leisure travelers and sightseers in the 40’s and 50’s. To bring the traveler to the various businesses along Route 66 the neon sign was used very creatively. My paintings of the historic signage of Route 66 is a homage to these uniquely American iconography.

The Historic Route 66 paintings were born from traveling across the country doing art fairs. Fortune brought me to Chicago (from LA) to do the Port Clinton art festival. Along the way I noticed the dilapidated neon signage, some almost completely gone, others in danger of disappearing. I had just begun to create the unique neon imagery around the Los Angeles area and this was a terrific opportunity to document those signs on the Mother Road.

After the trip I decided to commit to documenting the Road by painting the unique signage. The paintings you see here were part of the Oklahoma Route 66 Centenial Celebration in 2007.

Enjoy these images and If you have any Historic Route 66 stories let me know!