10 Aug Heart’s Desire Motel, Florida
In the mid 1980’s I was working as a graphic artist in New York City, having been trained at Art Center College of Design. I had a host of different clients, one of them being People Express Airlines, which at the time had many cheap flights all up and down the east coast. They didn’t have a lot of money to pay me with, but we bartered a great deal: I provided the artwork, they provided lots of free plane tickets! I primarily chose to fly to Florida (especially nice in the winter) and while there on numerous trips, found great joy photographing (and then painting) a number of the motels and signs that caught my eye!
I love the way small business owners used to be fun and creative in their choice of names and sign designs: Heart’s Desire Motel is right up there as one of my favorites! These 1980’s cars were of course totally normal at the time I did this painting, and now they really give the painting a fun retro look. The man in the phone booth is also something that at one time was so “normal” and now extinct! The modern high rise buildings in the background show the direction Florida was moving in the mid ’80s. A wonderful time capsule!
Watercolor, 20×14”
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