 I've gotten to make album covers, work with Shepherd Ferry on three projects. Getting to meet Willie Nelson, I'm his neon artist now. I'm so proud that I'm showing in art galleries. I'm just tickled that they show Damien Hearst, Shepherd Ferry, Andy Warhol, and then they have my work. My name is Todd Sanders. I'm the owner of Roadhouse Relics Studio and Art Gallery. I'm a neon pop artist. I am originally from a small town in East Texas called Montgomery. When I was a little kid, I wanted to be an artist. People discouraged me, that's not a practical thing to do, so I actually enrolled in a college. I took graphic design and advertising, and I realized I'm not going to be able to sit in an office. I wanted to work with my hands. My buddy and I were going to drive to New Braunfels, and we were just grabbing along and weren't paying attention. And I realized I saw the Austin skyline. We drove around town. I felt the vibe of the city. That was the best miss turn in the history of all miss turns. The one thing I try to do is make my art look like an antique neon sign that's made in the same sensibilities as an original antique sign of the 1930s and 40s. My process can take sometimes up to a year. On average, it takes about six to eight weeks to create a piece. So this is the part where I just am defining the piece on the gridded vellum, the part that I really enjoy. It's just me and a pencil, and it's almost meditative in a way to just let the lines come out on the paper. I take that and print a transparent copy so that I can enlarge it on the overhead projector and make my full-size pattern. I'll put a large roll of paper on the wall and start sketching it out. The pattern is blown up full-size now, and I'm going to put it on the table and do the pounce technique on it to perforate the holes in it. Everything's hand-painted, and then after the paint dries, I begin my weathering techniques, and then the neon comes back from the vendor and I assemble it onto the piece and put a transformer inside and light it up. The first time I plug in a piece and it lights up, and I'm seeing it for the first time ever, is spiritual to me. To light up a neon sign takes anywhere from 8,000 to 15,000 volts to light one up. So if you touch a wire, you'll know it hurts. I met my wife the day before I turned 38. She came into Roadhouse Relics to buy a little neon work of art. That Christmas, I gave her a little small neon cowboy hat. That was the second. Her third one came with the artist as well. It was a neon sign that said, Sarah, will you marry me? Sarah is a really big part of Roadhouse Relics. She started the gift shop, but she's also someone that I've bounced creative ideas off of. I value her opinion. When I found Austin, it's the first time that I ever felt like I really fit into a place. I call Austin the land where the misfits fit. I bought this building in 1997 and my dad brought him here. I was so excited to show him. He went, you've got to be crazy. How can I help? Roadhouse Relics is a very niche type of art. When I created my first website, my success took off. With my wife, part of our journey together meant the struggle, and now it's sharing the good news and the successes.