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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Alice Fisher

Neon, kilts, cricket bats: artisans gather to shine a light on Britain’s endangered crafts

A neon sculpture of a hand by Nick Malyon.
A neon sculpture of a hand by Nick Malyon. Photograph: Nick Malyon

Nick Malyon was seduced by neon lighting at the end of the 1980s while travelling in America. He left home after failing his A-levels and doing a disastrous four-year stint as a vintage car salesman in London.

“I was introduced to a sign painter and a neon signmaker, and it seemed like an alternative lifestyle to the one I’d left behind. On my return to the UK, I was probably attempting to carry on some American dream by training, but I loved the weird alchemy of illuminating a piece of bent glass tubing – the change from nothing to something.”

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