Acrylic on recycled wood, 14.24″x6.5″ (approximately)
This painting is on reclaimed 3/4″ scrap plywood. The black line at the bottom right is not part of the painting, but is where the wood is missing from where it was cut as part of some project.
These paintings on reclaimed scrap wood are sometimes not square, having angles, saw marks, and other imperfections. The left side of this painting is not straight, although this doesn’t show in the picture.
I love the idea of painting on something that was destined for the landfill. Making something beautiful out of something that absolutely was not. Kind of like what can happen with our lives, don’t you think?
If you’d like to consider supporting my work on a monthly basis (for as little as $1 a month) and keep me painting, I’d love to have you join my team and get available discounts on original art and exclusive behind the scenes content: patreon.com/spyderwebb
It didn’t to me either, but that was the first thing my wife saw, and I liked that.
I just finished rereading The Legend of Bagger Vance by Stephen Pressfield (stay with me here) and there’s a lot in that book that isn’t about golf. In fact, the book isn’t really about golf at all, golf is just the vehicle for the meaningful stuff. I also found out that the book was based on the Bhagavad Gita.
There’s a lot of talk in the story about finding your authentic swing. And of course, your authentic swing is what you have to find in life, whether it’s your golf game, your painting game, your relationships, or your own spiritual journey.
I feel like I’ve been honing in on my authentic painting swing for the past year. I’ve come close in my career, but never as much as recently. And like Rannulph Junah, the protagonist in the story, I found it, then got in my head and lost it, and have come back to it now with greater understanding. I don’t find my painting path, my painting path finds me. And then I get out of the way and allow it to paint through me.
Kind of like getting on a ride at a theme park.
Oh, and the field of flowers or the bridge? It makes absolutely no difference. That’s head stuff that happens after the fact. I present the painting with a name that serves as an identifier, with some reference however tenuous, to the imagery so the title can be a useful tag.
The Pharaoh Sleeps Tonight Acrylic on canvas board, 9″x12″
“…in the jungle, the mighty jungle”
My wife said it should be “in the desert” if it’s a pharaoh — but I pointed out that it’s a jungle in the painting. Then she said well then it’s a Central American pyramid. But it’s definitely an Egyptian pyramid. Not at all like the Central American ones.
Of course the desert was once lush and tropical, so either I’m conflating two different times or this is revisionist archaeology.
Or something…
It’s just a painting. Give me a break.
If you like this painting, please share — it really helps!
If you’d like to consider supporting my work on a monthly basis (for as little as $1 a month) and keep me painting, I’d love to have you join my team and get exclusive behind the scenes content: patreon.com/spyderwebb
I can’t help seeing lollipops when I look at this. Well, fall foliage is eye candy anyway, so I guess that makes sense. Either that, or it’s just my serious sweet tooth kicking up its heels again. (Do teeth have heels? I didn’t think so…)
Anyway, we’re expecting our first shovelable (is that a word?) snow tomorrow, so even though I’m sure it will be pretty as always, it won’t be as colorful as this. I wonder if a snow scene in this style would work? Hmmm….
I wanted to do something larger than 6″ square. It took me a while to finish this one, and not just because of the amount of time it takes to paint that many dots. There’s more thinking and pondering time involved.
When I’m looking at a smaller piece, it’s easier to grasp the entire thing at once. So I know what’s working and what may or may not be needed pretty quickly. Also, because of the small size, there’s only so much I can fit in, given the limit of detail I can get with dots. Unless I use microscopic nanodots (new word!) which isn’t all that appealing to me.
Anyway, I really like the way this one came out. Now I’m thinking I like it so much I’d like to try something even larger. Maybe this is a solution to my ADHD quickly bored, oh look another shiny object over there! Meaning changing up between larger and smaller pieces, each with unique kinds of challenges. Work on big or small pieces until I’m bored, then switch.
When I was a little boy, we moved a lot since my father was in the Foreign Service. So most of my toys went into the shipping crates, and when everything was unpacked months or weeks later, the old toys were new again!
So like that.
If you liked this painting, please share — it really helps!
Seeds aren’t generally very big (except for avocados, yum!) but the potential they carry is mighty.
If you liked this painting, please share — it really helps!
The sides of this artwork are attractively painted black and you can hang it immediately with the attached paracord. Or, you can always frame it — your choice, of course!
If you’d like to consider supporting my work on a monthly basis (for as little as $1 a month) and keep me painting, I’d love to have you join my team and get exclusive behind the scenes content on original art: patreon.com/spyderwebb
Combining the Yin/Yang with a reflection on the times we’re in. Maybe it’s not a bad way to put things together. If we can see a little of this in that, them in us, us in them, maybe we can handle the inexorably rising — and apparently turbulent — river that’s surrounding us.
But that tree looks pretty healthy and strong, doesn’t it?
Think it’ll survive the flood?
I’ve been thinking lately a lot about the economy we’re in, how things are working with so much shut down. Art galleries, for instance. How can an art gallery function normally with social distancing?
Art lovers have to have the freedom to browse at their leisure, not feel like they have to get in and out quickly. And then there’s the personal shopping and meeting & greeting and excitement at a show opening. Sure, you can see the art online and I guess you could get curbside delivery, but you don’t get the full experience of the artwork itself.
When I was a young artist living in the Washington DC area, I pored over art books incessantly to soak up everything I could from the masters, both old and new. But going to the many National Galleries was a completely different experience, seeing the actual physical objects and being in their presence was a whole ‘nother level of power. Same thing with regular commercial galleries.
The physical artwork has a presence, a power that just doesn’t come across on a screen. The handmade object has a level of authority and impact and spirit presence that the flat image cannot convey.
But back to the economies of making a living, or even just covering one’s expenses for materials — that’s one of the reasons platforms like Patreon are so important to artists of all kinds now.
River’s rising.
The sides of this artwork are attractively painted black and you can hang it immediately with the attached paracord. Or, you can always frame it — your choice, of course!
If you’d like to consider supporting my work on a monthly basis (for as little as $1 a month) and keep me painting, I’d love to have you join my team and get exclusive behind the scenes content on original art: patreon.com/spyderwebb
I guess this is one of those instances where abstract meets representational and logic finds somewhere else to hang out for a while.
The logic part had me hesitating to post this but the abstract part kept saying “it’s OK just go for it.” So here we are.
If you liked this painting, please share — it really helps!
The sides of this artwork are attractively painted black and you can hang it immediately with the attached paracord. Or, you can always frame it — your choice, of course!
If you’d like to consider supporting my work on a monthly basis (for as little as $1 a month) and keep me painting, I’d love to have you join my team and get exclusive behind the scenes content for patrons only: patreon.com/spyderwebb
Thinking of all those affected by the wildfires in western North America.
This didn’t start out as anything like this. It was just a little 1″ square doodle, but as I brought it up to size I just kept seeing it this way. I guess putting this in my “Sparks of Joy” collection is a little ironic. But so often great disasters have a beauty within the horror. Not to glamorize them, but it’s just a fact that things like fires and explosions can be pretty spectacular visual events.
If you liked this painting, please share — it really helps!
The sides of this artwork are attractively painted black and you can hang it immediately with the attached paracord. Or, you can always frame it — your choice, of course!
Follow me on Instagram: @webb.spyder If you’d like to consider supporting my work on a monthly basis (for as little as $1 a month) and keep me painting, I’d love to have you join my team and get exclusive behind the scenes content for patrons only: patreon.com/spyderwebb
Just a little break from all the heavy stuff. Sometimes you just have to sit back on the porch, put your feet up, and tuck into some apple pie as you enjoy the view.
Apple pie? Mmmmmmmm…
If you liked this painting, please share — it really helps!
The sides of this artwork are attractively painted black and you can hang it immediately with the attached paracord. Or, you can always frame it — your choice, of course!
Spyder Webb Fine Art 