If you have walked down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, you have seen the neon sign work of Todd Paden, co-owner of HeliosGraphics. Ditto for Oz Art, a big collection of neon signs in downtown Bentonville. There are numerous examples of his repair work all over Northwest Arkansas including the famous Palace Hotel Bath House sign on Spring Street.
Local work he has done includes a huge pine tree for the Pines Motel, which now caters to mountain bikers. Paden redid the Joy Motel sign at Wanderoo Lodge. Around town, he has neon art at the Escape Room, Brews, Angler’s, Mud Street Annex, ES Flowers and Gifts and at Dust and Rust, an antique store in Gaskin Switch.
While living in New Orleans, Paden did neon artwork for movies including Ray, The Green Lantern, Mr. 3,000, Because of Winn Dixie, GI Joe and Looper with Bruce Willis. “They used us a lot in the film industry because we were reliable, got in there and did good work,” Paden said.
One of his largest and most artistic pieces is a six-foot by 12-foot horse for the Railyard Live and Onyx Coffee in Rogers. Paden is doing two more neon horses for Onyx Coffee’s new location in Springdale and smaller neon signs for more than 800 locations that sell Onyx Coffee.
Dann Richardson, co-owner of HeliosGraphics, is a graphic designer who has been involved in the company for 30 years. Richardson and Paden worked together in New Orleans before moving up here where they purchased a home and studio on Beaver Lake.
“At this point, Todd is providing neon art services to a good deal of the NWA corridor,” Richardson said. “People come from up to 400 miles away to have repairs done or something new made. We are in the middle of a huge project now for Onyx Coffee that is making a really big footprint. When they branch out, they put our neon signs everywhere. So, we ship all over the world. Most of the people supporting neon in NWA are either getting it directly from us or indirectly from a third party.”
As a graphic designer, Richardson enjoys that it gives him another medium to work with. And he has worked with his partner so long that Richardson understands the constraints of neon, bending tubes one-by-one.
“We work well in tandem,” Richardson said. “Plus, I really like the product. Each one is different completely different. It keeps your mind active and happening which is great for an artist.”
Paden is one of the last neon vendors of his generation. He has been doing neon for more than 40 years.
Paden went to college at Alfred University in New York where he earned a degree in ceramics. He ended up learning how to do neon through taking other courses. After graduation in 1984, he moved to New Orleans and set up a shop there. He had a large studio and loaned out studio space to other artists.
“New Orleans was a particularly fun spot to be in,” Paden said. “New Orleans became the Hollywood of the South, and I eventually got into the movie industry. I moved into being a neon art supplier for a great percentage of productions done in New Orleans. But when light emitting diode (LED) signs came in, they sort of devastated the neon trade for a little while.
“Some people today think certain signs are neon but they are LEDs. I call it fake neon. The suppliers claim they will last forever, and they won’t. Neon can be repaired; when LEDs go out, they are hard to fix. You will see a dark spot. LEDs go out one at a time and there is no way to replace them.
“I’ve had neon tubes out there for 30 or 40 years and they still work. There is no filament to break. The oldest neon tubes are hundreds of years old. Anyone can put a sign together with LED; neon is a craft that needs to be learned and practiced. It is just a beautiful, pure light.”
He is concerned that neon is a dying art. It is harder and harder to get materials. Most of the glass now comes out of Venice, Italy, where it is manufactured. There are some young people coming into the industry, but they have fewer colors to use.
New Orleans changed a lot after Hurricane Katrina with high crime rates and inflated costs of living. Paden and Richardson had a new truck stolen after owning it for only a couple days. They also felt threatened by two murders in their neighborhood. After deciding to relocate, they first looked at Hot Springs. But after learning about 30 gay-friendly bed and breakfast establishments in Eureka Springs, they decided to check it out.
“Eureka Springs was just the right fit,” Paden said. “When we first visited, we visited Eureka Springs School of the Arts. Peggy Kjelgaard was director then. She pulled out plans for a new metal shop and was so excited. I got to know Mary Springer, one of the founders of ESSA. I’m on the board of directors for ESSA right now. We built a new woodshop and then four housing units. It has just been a great experience.”
Quite a few people from the Gulf Coast moved up to Eureka Springs after Hurricane Katrina. Both cities are known for the arts, great cuisine and festivals.
“It was the right move for us,” Paden said. “Eureka Springs looks a lot like New Orleans except for the hills. And Eureka has a low crime rate. ESSA was a big draw for us because I wanted to get involved in it, and I wanted to get back into doing pottery. We put in an offer on the second house we looked at, a place on Beaver Lake where the whole downstairs is our shop. We have been here since 2014.”
For more information and photography of his work, look for him on Facebook and Instagram.