Bed and Breakfast Ahead

Some of those western landscapes needed some extra visual stimulation, and, in the heyday of Route 66 (and until just recently), motel, restaurant, and souvenir shop owners did exactly that by putting up hand-painted billboards. These days, the grand old mom-and-pop motels are being supplanted by the big chain hotels on Interstate 40, and sadly the hand painted signs are going down. One of my favorites, this billboard for the Sun 'n Sands Motel still decorated the side of Route 66 west of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, a few years ago. But Carol and I didn't see it on our last trip, so I suppose it's lying in the weeds. If you're curious, here's a link to the website describing the Sands Motel's decline.

But the idea of Old Route 66, "America's Mother Road," still lives in my heart and mind from those trips in my family's station wagon. And I'm glad I captured so many of the old signs in photos, especially on an assignment by Legacy Gallery and the Booth Western Art Museum for a solo exhibition in 2009-10 (Route 66 Meets Highway 41: Roadside Impressions by Chuck Middlekauff). I'm still using those images, haven't painted them all yet. Here's the link to Sorrel Sky Galleries, where you'll find several more I've painted.

To see a larger image, click "zoom." And to see how it looks in a living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc., click "room." 

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To purchase this piece, please follow the link below to the gallery website.