Inspired by a 2015 trip to the Neon Sign Museum in Las Vegas, NV. The retired signs in the Neon Sign Museum are metaphors for life, they are born, have the vigor and beauty of youth, at times achieve fame or notoriety, they age, and then are retired, sometimes memorialized and at others forgotten. I painted the defects, the scars, the broken parts, as a reminder that our broken parts, our imperfections are part of our whole being, and can be a source of strength, empathy, and compassion, and when we become whole there is great beauty.