Thanks, everyone, for all your replies to my initial post. It's kind of nice knowing I'm not the only shlub out here who does not have one of those million dollar studios. Somehow, I imagined all of you in your pristine settings turning out great art by north light. I truly do envy those who have it, but I'm encouraged by those who don't have it, and still manage to make something out of nothing.
And by the way, did you all know that you can buy perfectly good 5,000 degree Kelvin neon tubes at WalMart/Kmart or most other "marts" for around $5 a tube? I'm not trying to cheat all those guys we see in the magazines with their high priced "north light" bulbs, but the fact is, they are available for not a lot of money at the big stores like K-Mart, et al. Just be sure you get the 5K light. They are marked on one end of the bulb. If in doubt, get a clerk from that department to help.
Also, if anyone feel chintzy for using neon, go to
www.richardschmid.com and read his comments about his studio, or read the article about his studio in this month's The Artist Magazine. He uses banks of these same 5K neon tubes, so I guess that puts a lot of us in good company.
Thanks for all the help.
Dick Budig