Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Sue Price.
Hi Linda Sue, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I began working with neon in 2004 and started formal training in bending tubes in 2005 with Michael Flechtner at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale.. My first neon exhibit was in 2009. Learning to bend is the hardest thing I have ever tried to do as I had not worked with my hands before. My background is in video production and computer graphics.
When I first started to learn how to bend my intention was to bend free form. However, in order to get in touch with the glass I had to practice bending to pattern. Pattern bending comes from the head whereas freeform comes from the gut. Most benders bend to pattern.
When bending freeform I feel very connected to the glass. It’s like having a conversation with the glass. Some times the communication flows and other times not.
There is an idea in performance based skills that you need 10,000 hours of practice to develop an expertise. I am at about 3500 hours so I have a ways to go..
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In the beginning I under heated the glass because when the glass was at the right heat it was too easy to accidentally stretch the glass. By under heating I eliminated the stretching but then I got kinks because the glass wasn’t hot enough.
Once I started getting the glass hot enough, I struggled with over inflation. Part of the process of bending is having a blow hose attached so you can inflate the glass when it gets hot to keep it from collapsing.
Then In my pattern practice, I struggled with making U bends without getting kinking on the inside. I discovered that I was twisting the glass coming out of the fire. so I spent time breaking that habit.
I started counting the rotations I was making in the fires. Counting helped me stay in focus but then that became a distraction and I had to stop.
Now I am trying to be in the flow when bending. That is a big mindset change–paying attention but not concentrating on the details.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I bend neon tubes into abstract organic shapes. They are bent freeform in the air so each piece is custom. Recently I have added video animation via a digital frame to my work so the video and the neon both animate.
I see myself as an investigator of cultural phenomena; one who endeavors, with the aid of observations, history/science/philosophical readings, to arrive at a point of reference that connects the human experience with all of the other parts of the environment.
I am known for injecting my personal reflections into abstract shapes and to manipulate how neon is perceived as a medium. I wanted to see how many different ways I could bend a tube. Elements of historic neon signs, abstract expressionism, social realism, pop art and graphic design influence my work.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Come by for a studio visit. I would love to meet you. I can be reached via my website…. www.lindasueprice.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lindasueprice.com
- Instagram: lindasuepriceneonartist
- Facebook: @lindasueprice.artist
Image Credits
Linda Sue Price, Suzie Titus
