Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Jean Webb.
Hi Tom, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In many ways, I genuinely feel like I’m on that same journey I started as a child, that this is all the same path from the same story, depicting a land found in dreams and romantic imagined adventures.
Growing up, drawing was a transformative experience and I feel blessed it has gone on to become my passion and career.
I’m from England and lived next door to my grandfather who loved all things Americana. His house felt like a museum to the South West and was a magical space for me, it felt quite natural to be influenced by him and his home.
After years of creating and critiquing my work and art process, I became interested in the idea of starting a dialogue between the imagined and real, to see what this new reality and I could create.
To do so, I started to take trips to the lands of my work. It has created an interesting dynamic between the leading as well as learning forces of being and the idea of art leading life or life leading art. Making work inspired by the realness in what I find but also allowing space for the added artistic creation or surreal.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Yes and no. I feel there’s two ways to answer this question, the process of creation and idea of acceptance or ‘success’. There was a time when I had a conversation with myself about my approach to making art, that it had to be fun. This was something that I was choosing to do with my time and so I should enjoy it. To remember and add in some of the ‘play’ that I had as a child and run on those instincts. To open up the idea of what I could create and allow it to be that, without concern of outside acceptance. So when I look back at the process of making my work it feels positive.
When it comes to the notion of acceptance or success, then its a hard journey to get there. I have done many jobs to help fund my art and had years of working on my art during evening hours and weekends. But this was my passion so it felt worthwhile and essential.
I’m from England and to make my way to be an artist here in the States has been a dream of mine since childhood, I would say that would be my biggest challenge and achievement. It has taken a lot of hard work to get here and I’m grateful daily.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a painter/sculptor. There’s an ordered dreaminess to my paintings. The solitary figures, lonely landscapes, and palette lend a certain romance, while the thick black outlines, which surround everything in the images, from stones to mesas to snakes, make the individual elements in the paintings look like pieces in a puzzle. There’s a developed idea of investigating the use of space, specifically how to create room for an unknown or unforeseen in an artwork. To create work that allows someone to find room to breathe, to participate and discover. How negative space can speak through the process of absence, a voice through silence. That in a song it’s the silent moments that make the sounds.
I create work to try understand the human condition, relationship to one another and the natural world, through quiet contemplation, solitude and ceremony. Visual poems as told by a journeyman, wandering through land and time in search of meaningful connection and creativity. Playing with making work that speaks of the real, the surreal, fantasy and the found.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I’m always open to collaborating if the project is right. Its something I have tried to develop, to open up my process to be more vulnerable to others’ ideas. It allowed me to lose a healthy amount of control and created room for me to learn. Also being an artist can be quite a solitary experience so it’s nice to do projects with others to counteract that.
If someone would like to, they can email me, Im, always happy to hear ideas or thoughts on projects.
In terms of supporting me, I would say take the time to look and spend time with my work. I believe in the idea of art as communication, so it needs viewers or participants to complete the conversation. I want the audience to be a part of what I do and make, it always means a lot that people give my work time and presence and let me know how they feel.
Contact Info:
- Email: tomjeanwebb@gmail.com
- Website: tomjeanwebb.com
- Instagram: tomjeanwebb
