Part of the Journey

Posted on by Spyder Webb

Acrylic on canvas, 24×18″


You know, I’ve always loved train rides. Not that I’ve been on a train any time in my adult life, but still. I think they’re a beautiful way to travel.


You get to enjoy the journey. You get to see the country at a speed that you can appreciate the view. Which is what this painting reminded me of.


We can get so caught up in speed and the destination that it’s really easy to miss the beauty of each part of the journey. 


And each part of the journey has gifts for us.


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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 available discounts on original art and exclusive behind the scenes content:  patreon.com/spyderwebb
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The Other Side of the Road

Posted on by Spyder Webb
Acrylic on canvas, 14×11″

The Other Side of the Road

Looks pleasant enough over there, but are you willing to do what it takes to get there?

First you have to go through the red hot lava field. The good news is, there’s water on the other side of the lava. But then you’ll have to cross the water. Then if you manage to gain the opposite shore, there’s that road.

Now, here’s the tricky part. You see, the road is very pretty, you get a great close up view of what lies beyond, plus it’s a good way to assess where you’ve come from and how much you’ve accomplished. Which is considerable!

But it’s the road of temptation, it’s smooth and flat, and easy. And it’s really the greatest obstacle you’ll face, because this time it’s from within. You could spend the rest of your time happily going back and forth just sightseeing and congratulating yourself on your achievement. And that’s where your journey would stop.

But if you want to discover what lies beyond, you’ll have to let go of the path of comfort and prepare to take on the jungle and the terrain. Into terra incognita. 

The hero’s journey.

What say you, hero?

If you like this painting, please share — it really helps! 

All works are available for sale. DM me or check out my website:

spyderwebbfineart.com 

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 available discounts on original art and exclusive behind the scenes content:  patreon.com/spyderwebb

Land Bridge

Posted on by Spyder Webb
11.25″x9″ (approximate measurements – pretty close, anyway) Acrylic on reclaimed scrap wood

Me listening to a podcast and forgetting I had the headphones on when I took the picture.

I’m working with larger sizes and larger drill bits. And therefore more detail in the dots, which I’m really enjoying. The magical ethereal effect is just magnified.

And yes, I’m having as much fun as it looks like!

If you like this painting, please share — it really helps!

All works are available for sale. Please visit my website:spyderwebbfineart.com

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 available discounts on original art and exclusive behind the scenes content: patreon.com/spyderwebb

Purple Cloud

Posted on by Spyder Webb
11.5″x11.25″ (approximately) Acrylic on reclaimed wood. $288.00

This work is painted on reclaimed wood, so the dimensions are approximate. Also, the sides might not be perfectly straight, but they’re close. I’ve left the edges of this painting unpainted, letting the raw wood show just to keep in the spirit of recycling. I’ve also attached a black paracord and wall bumpers to the back for easy hanging, though of course you’re welcome to have it framed if that’s your preference.

For those of you curious about why I paint this way:

My mother appeared to me outside a window of my house about a dozen years after she passed away. She was standing in gently rolling fields of living, aware flowers of the most unearthly beauty — colors that don’t exist on earth. Many years before that, my experiences with entheogenic substances caused me to perceive the world in a new way. 

And what that has to do with the way I paint is everything.

I can’t reproduce the colors or textures from those experiences, but these Sparks of Joy are as close as I can come. And yes, it’s a very joyful experience when you see the world like this. I don’t mean literally as in “seeing things” but knowing that this is the reality of the way the world is made, that behind and beyond the mundane outward appearances there is a magical substrate: well, the joy that brings me is something I want to share with anyone who chooses to bring my art into their lives.

If you liked this painting, please share — it really helps!

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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 (and discounts) for patrons only:  patreon.com/spyderwebb

Traveling

Posted on by Spyder Webb
14.25″ x 5.5″ Acrylic on reclaimed wood, $316 (US shipping included)

The little curved black area at the top right and the thin black line at the bottom are not part of the painting, they’re areas where the wood doesn’t conform neatly to the rigid straight lines of the graphic image. What do you expect? It’s leftover wood from some project or other. I think these imperfections give the artworks an extra bit of character. Plus, I feel good that it didn’t go into a landfill. (You can feel good about it too, if you buy it! 😄)

Of course, I make sure to seal the wood with acrylic medium and multiple coats of acrylic gesso before painting to make sure the art itself is as archival as that painted on any traditional support.

I have no idea if people are going to respond positively to the recycled aspect or not, but it means something to me, so I’m going to keep going with it, as well as continuing to paint on traditional supports like panels and canvas.

So what does the title mean? Does it evoke traveling to you? My wife Tekakwitha came up with the title when I was stumped, and I can totally relate to it. 

If you like this painting, please share — it really helps!

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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 available discounts on original art and exclusive behind the scenes content:  patreon.com/spyderwebb

Kundalini With Pink Stars

Posted on by Spyder Webb
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?

This painting is available at my main website: spyderwebbfineart.com

If you like this painting, please share — it really helps!

spyderwebbfineart.com 

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 available discounts on original art and exclusive behind the scenes content:  patreon.com/spyderwebb

The Red Bridge

Posted on by Spyder Webb
Acrylic on stretched canvas, 10″x10″

So maybe it doesn’t look like a bridge to you.

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 Hills Are Alive With the Sounds of Pharaoh

Posted on by Spyder Webb
Acrylic on stretched canvas, 10″x10″


This is the last (for a while at least) of the pharaoh/pyramid/children of immigrants paintings. It’s another one with the more random dot colors in several areas of the painting where appropriate. I think I’ll stay with this approach.

Some aspects of nature (crystals, for example) are very structured and ordered. Others appear almost random. I’m not going to get into chaos theory here, and of course I’m not attempting to describe these things literally. It’s more like I’m riffing on them.

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Sunrise Over The Hills

Posted on by Spyder Webb
Acrylic on canvas board, 6″x6″ $96 (shipping included)


What do you see first? The sunrise or the fire coming over the hills? the first thing I saw was the fire, but after a while I saw a sunrise.

Maybe it’s both. the destruction of a massive fire followed by the promise of a bright new day. Sound familiar? That could apply to a lot of things in life, couldn’t it?

I deliberately made the colors in the dots in some ares more random to add texture. First time I’ve done this. I have a larger one I’ll be posting that’s the second one done that way. This was more of a quick experiment, but I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Cry Me a Pharaoh

Posted on by Spyder Webb
Acrylic on canvas, 10″x10″ $160

Not a Beatles song this time!

If you like this painting, please share — it really helps!

spyderwebbfineart.com 

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 discounts on original art and exclusive behind the scenes content:  patreon.com/spyderwebb