A neon light business has teamed up with a Manchester artist to bring their creations to Manchester city centre for the festive period.
Neon Creations has opened a pop-up shop on Deansgate just in time to help anyone undecided about what to get a loved one for Christmas.
Co-founders Catherine and Tony Spink are selling jaw-dropping pieces while also offering their services – upon request – to create bespoke pieces for businesses and individuals.
Catherine said: “It’s very nostalgic; neon has been around for more than 100 years, and people will have seen it in their favourite film or on an iconic building.
“And we thought, in the lead up to Christmas, having a store in Deansgate would be ideal.
“Over our company’s 18 years, we have come to have a lot of display items in our workshop, and we have run out of room for everything.”
While Tony added: “It’s no good here; it would be better on someone’s wall.”
They have teamed up with Dionysus Art creator Stephen Lynn to demonstrate the beauty and unique art that can be created using neon lights.
Tony said: “He is a Manchester-based artist, very very talented.
“And we thought if the pop-up store was just neon, it may be overwhelming in terms of an overdose of senses, and you don’t know where to look.
“So, we are going to break it up with his incredible artwork.”
This store brings an art form that is becoming a dying craft as only a handful of neon makers exist in the United Kingdom.
Along with trades like ladder making and straw working, neon making is considered endangered and likely to die out altogether if urgent steps aren’t taken to preserve it, according to the Heritage Crafts Association (HCA).
Catherine said: “You can’t actually go anywhere in the UK to learn the art of neon sign making, in terms of going to college and there are no recognised apprenticeships, so it relies on companies to take on trainees and to teach and pass the skill on.
“Currently, it is at a cost to a lot of small businesses, and they can’t afford to invest that time and money into training up somebody.”
While Tony added: “I never set out to make neon signs. It was something I fell into 33 years ago.
“I’ve done work for Premier League footballers, pop stars, and God knows who else.
“But there is a pride and fear.
“Proud that we are here; we are small, and on our own, we are fighting our own cause. Scared because obviously, from a business side, I wonder will it dwindle down to nothing.”
The culprit for this decline is LED alternatives with many companies advertising them as neon lights.
Catherine said:” They are probably half the price of a neon sign, but what a lot of the companies that promote their LED products do, actually call them neon signs.
“When somebody is looking for neon signs on Google, for example, they’ll find our company and an LED company, but because their company has ‘neon signs’ people may not understand the difference and why ours is probably twice the price.”
There is work being done by the neon light industry to combat false advertising and help combat the decline of the craft.
A global effort has been organised by Neon Creations as they look to raise awareness of this issue.
Catherine said: “We have got support from around 90 people, mainly throughout the UK and some international companies that are directly involved in the neon sign industry. They have supported a letter we have written to the advertising authority that there needs to be some clampdown on LED companies promoting their products as neon.”
This is the first step in saving the traditional craft first created in 1898 by British scientists William Ramsay and Morris Travers when they filled a glass tube with noble gas and electrodes.
There is hope for the future of neon light-making through the efforts of people like Catherine and Tony to demonstrate through art.
Tony said:” It hasn’t changed since 1912. Nothing has changed since the first neon sign was made, other than creativity.”
The Neon Creations pop-up store opens on Friday, November 24th, until Friday, December 22nd, at 285 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4EW.
https://www.neoncreations.co.uk/
Feature Image: Brendan McGilligan
Images: Brendan McGilligan
