Questions of the Heart

Posted on by Spyder Webb

16×20” Acrylic on canvas panel

A thorny heart. And although it kind of looks like juggling, you don’t juggle just one thing, do you? More like a hot potato maybe.

It’s funny how paintings evolve. The woman on the other side of the wall (and the wall itself) were not part of the original sketch. Neither was the starry sky he’s standing in/on. But that’s the way it’s been working lately, and it seems like a good process.

You can own this painting for what it’s worth to you! (Also known as Pay What You Want.) Just shoot me an offer and we’ll make it happen.

Did you know? You don’t have to be a Medici or Borgia to be a patron of the arts. As little as a dollar a month is all it takes to join me on Patreon (www.patreon.com/spyderwebb) and help keep me in paints and canvas and brushes!

Earth Mother Rising

Posted on by Spyder Webb

Acrylic on canvas panel, 16×20

You know, I let you two-leggeds have your way for a few million years, but you’ve really been taking advantage of my good nature for the last few centuries. And lately you’re all acting like a bunch of spoiled two year olds. 

I don’t much care what you do to one another, but if you’re not going to take care of what I’ve given you, at least you’ve got to learn to clean up after yourselves. 

You don’t want me to lose my temper, trust me.

So. What’s it gonna be, kids?

You can own this painting for what it’s worth to you! (Also known as Pay What You Want.)

Did you know? You don’t have to be a Medici or Borgia to be a patron of the arts. As little as a dollar a month is all it takes to join me on Patreon (www.patreon.com/spyderwebb) and help keep me in paints and canvas and brushes!

Watchers (The Walk of Life)

Posted on by Spyder Webb

16×20″ Acrylic on canvas panel

“The Walk of Life” isn’t a formal part of the title, it’s what happens when I can’t decide between two titles. I like that “Watchers” is a little more open ended, and I feel like maybe “The Walk of Life” is a little too specific, limiting the viewer’s imagination a bit too much.

Anyway, I hope that it gives you food for thought as it does me. This series has been really interesting in that the paintings help me understand what I’m thinking and feeling. It’s like I have a vague idea of what I’m thinking, but seeing it laid out in paint frees the thoughts from the literalness and the constraint of words.

You can own this painting for what it’s worth to you! (Also known as Pay What You Want.)

Did you know? You don’t have to be a Medici or Borgia to be a patron of the arts. As little as a dollar a month is all it takes to join me on Patreon (www.patreon.com/spyderwebb) and help keep me in supplies and more!

Algerian Immigrant, Ellis Island

Posted on by Spyder Webb

Oil on Arches oil paper, 11×14″

Back to the portraits in oils today. I still have another five of these that I’ve begun, but I’m having so much fun and I’m finding the others that I’ve been doing lately so satisfying that these portraits have gone on the back burner for a while.

Having said that, I’m particularly pleased with this one. I don’t see fear in his gaze but rather a calm confidence and determination to face whatever unknowns lie ahead.

This fellow is part of my American Hero series. So why do I call him an American Hero? He left his country with everything he knew, including possibly his language, to start again in a strange land where he was a stranger to the culture, the laws and pretty much everything else. A brave and heroic move indeed! But he came and became part of the story of America, coming through Ellis Island as my mother did. Adding his story to the story of America.

PS — I’d love for you to join me on Patreon for as little as $1 a month. It would mean so much to me and it would help keep me in painting supplies! YOU get be an art patron, and you don’t have to spend a million dollars!

Is It Safe Yet?

Posted on by Spyder Webb

16×20″ Acrylic on Canvas Board

We’ve all had to protect ourselves, and we’re wondering if it’s safe to emerge now. Protect ourselves from what? Well, take your pick: prejudice & hate, broken hearts, disease, toxic culture, ecological disaster, war…

I imagine we could all come up with something that’s personal to us, but it really doesn’t look safe at the moment does it? There are some things that we’ll never be completely safe from. And yet we have to function in the world somehow, even if things never get objectively better.

Or do we just retreat into our hardened bunkers and isolate?

Reseeding After An Apocalypse

Posted on by Spyder Webb

Acrylic on canvas panel, 16×20″

Not necessarily THE Apocalypse (however you might understand that), but any apocalypse. The meteor that killed the dinosaurs and most of the other life on our planet, for instance. 

The point is that given enough time, life always comes back. It comes back different, but it comes back. And our dear Grandfather Sun is behind it all, endlessly, patiently, pouring energy into our little corner of space.

Sometimes you have to look at a long time scale to see the hope. A very long time scale. Actually, a ridiculously long time scale.

Fortress Mentality

Posted on by Spyder Webb

Acrylic on canvas panel, 16×20″

Fear can be useful, but it can also imprison us. When we’re hunkered down in “seal the entrances, raise the drawbridge” mode, it’s hard to think of anything else. We’re protecting ourselves, but we’re now obsessed with protecting ourselves.

And there’s not much energy left for anything else.

Available for sale on a Pay What You Will basis.

Coming Out

Posted on by Spyder Webb

Acrylic on canvas panel, 16×20″

I seem to like the black outlines with bright colors no matter what style I’m painting. 

I’ve painted several, and I’ll keep posting for sure. So far this series seems sustainable, but what do I know? Like everything else I do, I might get bored with it in a few weeks. Or months. Or years if I’m lucky.

But things are bubbling up in a most unexpected way. This series is different in that most of my previous work was focused on making something pretty or making a point of some kind, but these are about something deeper. Something emotional, about navigating this world, this human experience. They just seem to emerge as I play with and develop each piece. You’ll see as I keep posting these.

So for those reasons I think this might have legs.