Wonder Docent Presents NEONoir: New Works in Watercolor by Ghost Baby
11/17/25
When Nevada City-based multimedia artist Erika Peterson gets an idea, she follows it all the way through.
While working at Winnie Superette earlier this year, she became fascinated with the packaging of the shop’s snacks. This obsession led to a series of 50 6x8 watercolor paintings, which were exhibited at the Asian grocery store this summer in a show called Bite Sized.
The prolific creator has now turned her focus to neon signs. Building on her work for Bite Sized, Peterson—who shows her work under the name Ghost Baby—began experimenting with watercolors on black paper, initially painting photos taken by her friend, photographer Chloe Rice.
The result is NEONoir: New Works in Watercolor by Ghost Baby, which will debut at Nevada City’s Wonder Docent this Friday, November 21st. The show features 32 watercolor paintings, varying in size from 5x7 to 12x18, all depictions of neon signs and the dark environs they illuminate.
The traditional approach to watercolor is to paint light to dark, with a painting’s highlights coming from the white of the paper. The paintings featured in NEONoir turn this approach on its head.
“I like to break rules,” said Peterson, who started painting in watercolor fairly recently and refers to her method as ‘cursed.’
Painting neon on black helped the artist focus on the small details that brought the image to life.
“Making art is about truly seeing something,” Peterson said. “I found myself playing with light and reflection–pulling out the brights, maintaining the darks, and finding the balance within the image while trying to capture the colors and shapes that create the glow we associate with neon.”
Erika Peterson
She was especially drawn to images that capture the feeling of place. Many of the paintings hint at the desolation of the dark—long after the restaurants have closed, the streets have emptied of people, and the neon is the only sign of life, spilling color onto the nearby pavement. Even the all-night laundromat is empty.
“Neon has this transgressive quality to it. It’s an art form that requires darkness to be fully expressed, so I think it has this connotation of danger. I like the idea of combining the preciousness of watercolor with the almost rebellious attitude of neon,” said Wonder Docent co-owner Heather Heckler.
Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that neon signs have been banned in downtown Nevada City for decades.
“Before Ordinance No. 338 established Nevada City’s Historic District in 1968, Broad Street was covered in neon signs,” Heckler said. “The ordinance prohibited signs containing ‘flashing, blinking, or moving characters or other elements’ and said that ‘no sign shall contain any outline tubing,’” Heckler said.
“That was the beginning of the end of neon signs in downtown Nevada City.”
NEONoir evokes nostalgia for this once-prolific form of commercial communication and celebrates the do-it-yourself spirit of an artist who turns her passions into paintings.
”Erika is my favorite kind of artist,” said Heckler. “She lands on an idea and doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She is always learning, adapting, and searching for the right materials to express her vision. This is exactly the kind of approach to creativity we promote here at Wonder Docent.”
NEONoir opens Friday, November 21st and runs through January 4th. The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, November 22nd from 6-8 pm at Wonder Docent, located at 230 Broad Street.
View a few of the 32 paintings from the show:
photos courtesy Erika Peterson
