Neon Lizard

Neon With Matt Jackson

Who doesn’t like the bright colors and attraction of neon, and of course there is fire and glass too!  Matt Jackson is a third generation neon artist who generously offered an opportunity to learn what it takes to produce a simple neon work of art of your own.  He begins by covers the tools and techniques used in making neon.  We practiced making angle, double back, and drop bend using a blow hose and a cork and either a ribbon burner or cross fire torch.  Matt is very patient and encourages you to jump in and start working.  At first I thought I would be pleased if I bent a tube without collapsing it, but with his help and a few blowouts later, I managed to make a very good letter D.  You get a real good understanding of why layout and execution is important when working with neon glass.  And if that wasn’t amazing after we created our simple neon projects to incorporate with a fused glass project, with Matt’s help he attached the electrodes and we lit them up, and that was just plain cool!  He demonstrated how to burn out any impurities inside the neon tube and then adds the appropriate gas neon or argon depending on the color desired.  I would recommend his intro class to anyone who has ever wanted to try making neon, it is an opportunity not to be missed.

Neon SamplesMatt Jackson - neon artist

Wayne Frewin creates detailed and unique fused glass pieces in his Salt Lake studio with help from his adorable studio pups.