Seeing the Signs
A love of typography led Stephanie Schechter to paint signage that can serve as reminders of a place and time
A love of typography led Stephanie Schechter to paint signage that can serve as reminders of a place and time
oil on canvas, 30 x 60"
This piece is based on the iconic signage atop the historic Al Mac’s Diner is Fall River, Massachusetts. I created this composition to articulate what I find most powerful about this signage—the beauty of the chrome and the sweeping shadows inside the letterforms created by the neon. The building’s siding is included in the composition as a means to direct the eye.
oil on aluminum, 40 x 40"
I was most attracted to the vintage sign for Archie’s Pizza in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, by its colors and its sinuous arrow, and its many lightbulbs. This composition was created to best highlight the sign’s threedimensional form. By adding violet to the blue of the sky, I was able to create a strong contrast that made the complementary orange area of the sign really “pop” without visually vibrating.
oil on canvas, 24 x 40"
Inspired by the storefront of the Luxury Dry Cleaners in Lincoln, Rhode Island, the focal point of this painting is the exciting chrome lettering with its streamline style font. This composition was crafted to direct the eye toward the letters. I added a hint of the neon “OPEN” sign as an element of surprise and a pop of color in this otherwise muted work.
oil on canvas, 24 x 24"
This fun piece is based on a small section of a much larger sign for Skip’s Snack Bar in Merrimac, Massachusetts. This tightly cropped composition highlights the beauty of the neon and the graffiti-like shadows created by the neon cast upon the curved sections of primary color.
MART, oil on linen, 24 x 36"
When I first noticed this facade of a gas station’s convenience store in North Providence, Rhode Island, I fell in love with the exposed neon inside the A, which was missing its plastic face. My goal with this painting was to create a strong, dynamic composition, using the angles of the various elements to direct the eye.