Sounds Like - Art

In the painting Sounds Like, a single figure takes a prominent position at the center of the frame. The image is not a traditional musical note, though it vaguely resembles one with its long stem and solid black point on one end. In keeping with the title, the image merely looks like a musical note, though a musical connection is suggested by the title of the piece.

The piece is quite simple, and it uses black as the primary color. This also reflects the color scheme of musical composition – the black on white of printed sheet music is brought to mind. This piece is a playful take on music and an abstracted view of the often elegant and visually pleasing art of musical composition. In Sounds Like, a musical note is extracted from a scrap of sheet music and transplanted into a visual arts context. It is contorted and altered until finally it creates an interesting reaction in the viewer by forcing him or her to look at this musical symbol in a new way.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Lyrical Tabs - Art

Lyrical Tabs is a minimalist piece that plays on musical symbols in to create a whimsical, enjoyable piece. The abstracted image of a musical note that would appear in written sheet music is used in this painting. A monochromatic image in black on a spare white background, this painting emulates the color scheme and general appearance of printed sheet music.

The shape of these strange musical notes reflects the sound that each makes upon being played. The graceful curves of one symbol denote the elegant, suspended crescendo of sound that would be heard if this were sung or played on a music instrument. The sharp angles of the other note represent a sharp, staccato sound that ends quite abruptly.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Silk Line - Art

Silk Line is an unusual monochromatic piece in which a winding ribbon fills the frame of the painting. The piece is composed entirely of black on a stark white background. A meandering line, presumably a silken thread, dominates the painting, and a dark, small circle sits below the tangle of thread. The painting has an almost menacing aspect, as the tangle hovering over the little planet seems ready to engulf it in a matter of moments.

The silken line of the painting represents a chaotic force, an overwhelming tangle poised to engulf and possibly even incorporate the little black planet. This creates a sense of impending danger and fear, a fear of chaotic, unknown forces that may disrupt and destroy what they come into contact with. The painting’s monochromatic, severe color scheme adds to this sense of discomfort and fear. The black figures against the spare white background give an eerie mood to the painting’s overall impression.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Sunburst - Art

Sunburst is a lovely, simple piece with clean lines and an elegant complementary color scheme. The warm red accent tones bring out the cool, purple and bluish tones of the flower’s petals and stem. The resulting contrast is striking.

The flower itself appears to float up from the bottom of the painting. It appears weightless, as if it might continue to float up and out of the top of the piece. In this respect, the flower resembles the sunlight suggested by the title. Perhaps this is not a flower in the sense one typically thinks of, but rather a sunburst floating upward, an explosion of light that was released and must now continue on its path. This flower-shaped sunburst has a great deal of energy directing it along its path, and, as the painting’s strong sense of movement suggests, it will continue moving upward until this energy is spent.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Handle Me - Art

Handle Me is a dichromatic piece featuring two contrasting colors and abstract, freeform shapes. The flesh-tone background of this piece reflects a human presence. The title of this painting becomes a play on words, the flesh colored section of the painting becoming representational of a human hand. This dual meaning of the painting’s title adds a layer of meaning to this piece, remarking on the duality and partnership of hand and handle.
The other color that is featured in this painting is a cool, aqua tone. A color often associated with calm and water, this shade adds an interesting element to the painting. The hand now appears to be grasping something amorphous and elusive – water itself. Try as it might, the hand can never really wrap itself around water; it will always slip through its grasp. This provides an interesting commentary on the nature of control. Some elements can never be controlled, no matter how strong the grip, and they will always slip away.


©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Links - Art

In Links, the nature of connections is examined in a minimalist, freeform image. The links depicted in this painting are not drawn as neatly interlocking rows of rings, but rather as loose, approximate connections with gaps and absences, as well as points of stronger or weaker connection. This interesting configuration represents the fluid and ever-changing nature of human interpersonal connections. Relationships are born, metamorphose, and die in relative short periods of time.

This painting has an extremely minimalist feel, distinctive and simple black lines set against a stark, white background. Yet little is needed to give this painting profound meaning, and the painting’s economy only serves to highly the importance of these human relationships, which are crucial elements in an otherwise bare, cold, and unfriendly universe.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Outcome - Art

An abstract piece painted in muted colors, Outcome is an enigmatic painting with layered meaning and significance. The painting itself is an “outcome” of focused concentration and effort on the part of the artist. The effects of the painting on the viewer are the repercussions of that outcome. The painting’s lines are broad and strong, showing the power that the outcomes of different events have on the course of history and on human lives. An outcome is a very significant thing, something waited on, paid attention to, anticipated by people across the world.

The muted shades of this painting also reflect the way an outcome of any even behaves in the universe. The outcome continues to have impact even after the initial effects have transpired and passed away. Thus, the faded, muted colors of the painting show the way that the lingering effects of one of life’s outcomes can continue to play a part in the world at large. Memories, emotional impact, karmic results – these are all ways that an outcome can continue to influence the world.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Lost Dams - Art

Lost Dams is a depiction of the fate of manmade dams, engineering feats that stand as a testament to human potential, yet, like everything mankind creates, must ultimately crumble. The style of this painting is distinctly minimalist. This piece is composed of a single green tree on a spare, white background. A monochromatic color scheme contributes to the sense of simplicity in this painting.

Manmade structures must ultimately crumble. This painting asserts mankind’s relative insignificance in the context of the planet’s history. Ultimately, everything that mankind creates will return to nature. In this piece, a tree has grown in the place of mankind’s artificial creations, invoking the cyclical nature of life – the reclaiming of things into the natural order.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Meousa Sisters - Art

In Meousa Sisters, a trio of figures is the center of attention. The shape of these figures is like a slightly abstracted image of three blooming flowers. The three “sisters” of the painting are in full bloom, their petals spreading toward the sky in a beautiful display of muted color. The colors of this piece are not particularly vibrant, but the use of a dull periwinkle shade and lovely lavender give the painting a haunting feel. The muted colors give the flowers an ancient feel, as though they might have grown in a Victorian garden at the turn of the century, or even in a garden at Versailles before the French Revolution.

Meousa Sisters has a languid mood, and it creates a feeling of suspended time. These blooms seem to be frozen in time, a perfect representation of the beauty and elegance of bygone eras. The simple pleasures enjoyed by people living in simpler times have been lost in modern society. The simple beauty of a well-kept garden, the lushness of a trio of flowers in full bloom – these things are often overlooked by busy members of modern society. This refined and lovely piece greatly encourages the viewer to take a closer, more observant look at the objects of beauty in residing in his or her immediate surroundings.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Warmth - Art

In Warmth, an obscure figure huddles in the center of the painting. The figure has an indistinct form, but it is clearly huddled under some sort of cover amidst the darkness that overwhelms the rest of the piece. The shapeless figure appears to have its head bent against the dark wind that swirls around. Though the painting’s title is Warmth, the viewer can almost feel the ice-cold wind of the painting as it swirls about the little figure huddle beneath its covers, the wind’s frozen darkness leaving one with a frightening and chilling impression.

Yet the figure in the painting finds a source of warmth in this cold, desolate landscape. By huddling up, the figure traps its own warmth under its cover, using its own heat to maintain life in a cold, uninviting place. The figure’s ability to survive and find a source of warmth in this desolate place is inspiring, for by relying upon oneself, a person can sustain himself or herself in any situation.

This human ability to self-sustain has protected many men and women. The survival instinct is strong, and people find ways to protect themselves, both physically and emotionally, from damaging factors in their environment. Internal strength is the greatest source of warmth and sustenance, a strength that can sustain a person in unthinkably terrible conditions.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

New Growth - Art

In New Growth, the faint, shadowy images of two plants are set against a stark white background. The plants barely show up against the canvas, their pale color almost imperceptible. This faintness is significant, for it is with this lack of color saturation that the painting makes an important statement about the nature of newly created and growing things. By nature, anything that has just been created needs time to take root and to grow to a sustainable level of strength. The faint color of the plants reveals their newness. They have just been crated and are therefore less vigorous as they try to plant their roots more strongly in the earth to gain sustenance and strength.

The shadowy plants are not the only things that must take time before they are strong enough to stand alone. This characteristic can also be seen in the offspring of animals and humans, newly created forms of government, social programs – basically anything that has been recently created. All of these new developments need to be nurtured and stimulated until the newness has worn off, and the entity has the power to sustain itself with a full measure of strength.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Taking a Stand - Art

Taking a Stand is an abstract piece that features a number of elements. At the center of the painting is a faded gray column that has a stippled texture. Other, more colorful elements can be seen on either side of the column. On one side, set off by a curved black line, three colored circles appear – one each in beige, yellow, and teal. Filling the other side of the painting is a cluster of pinkish-red lines. These coral-colored lines also appear in a smaller segment above the colored circles.

The painting’s title implies that someone or something is taking a stand against an oppressive force. The most likely candidates are the colored circles, for they are the most individualized elements of the painting, appearing as distinct, independent objects. Yet one still wonders what they are standing up to. The faded gray column may be their last defense, a fortress that is failing against an oppressive force represented by the red lines. Red is a forceful color, the color of war, and it seems to have filled one side of the painting and is creeping into the side where the colored circles reside. It is this aggressive force that they must take a stand against, as their barrier appears to be letting this invading force into their safe haven. Taking a Stand is a complex piece with many conceptual elements to reconcile; yet it is an intriguing work that is worth the effort.

Homeland - Art

Homeland is a vibrant, abstract piece that uses highly saturated blocks of color to create a sense of nostalgia for things lost. Bright swatches of color in periwinkle, teal, green, and purple create a beautiful configuration, and it is clear that the homeland alluded to in the title is a beautiful place. The color segments themselves may represent cultural elements of the homeland, or possibly regions or neighborhoods within the home area. Yet the overall impression is an undeniably positive one, drawing on a sense of nostalgia for home.

The homeland’s striking beauty also suggests its status as lost. Humanity tends to remember its past in the most positive terms possible, forgetting minor blemishes as the years pass. This homeland is one that has been abandoned, one to which the native will never return. For this reason, the negative aspects are forgotten, and only nostalgia for a time gone by remains. Homeland becomes a beautiful image of the nature of memory and its propensity to selectively remember and forget.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Sweeping - Art

Sweeping is an intriguing piece, and it is one that deserves close and careful consideration. This piece is dichromatic, its color scheme consisting of two colors – black and a rich, royal blue shade. The abstract black figure featured in the painting represents a person sweeping dirt and dust from the floor. With each stroke of the broom, the dirt flies into the air, an action represented by the wispy, insubstantial streaks of black that seem to float up into the air. The painting gives the impression of this ordinary task in a way that is visually exciting and suggestive of vigorous movement.

Though it is a highly recognizable and pleasing depiction of a man or woman sweeping up dust, Sweeping has an additional layer of meaning that is important to consider. Because the rest of the painting is black, the royal blue streak in the painting is particularly significant. This blue shade, almost purple, represents nobility and wealth. Blue has long been associated with wealth and power. This blue swath represents the “blueblood” element of society, and it is a crucial feature of the painting’s underlying meaning. The figure in the painting is not sweeping his or her home, but rather the figure is an employee of a wealthy family, working to clean their lavish home. Considering this interpretation, Sweeping is a meaningful and thought-provoking piece that gives a closer look into human socioeconomic relations.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Cluster b

Live like you were dying.

Imagined Congestion - Art

This abstract piece has multiples layers, and the colors are strong and compliment each other. This piece has an almost cluttered appearance upon first viewing. The many colors, shapes, and patterns superimposed on top of one another is at once disorienting and puzzling. Yet this untitled piece has much to offer upon closer inspection. It is intriguing to see how the patterns were layered on top of each other, which can be discerned by looking closely. A jumble of green and brown lines is entangled, and straight, lavender-colored lines strike through the jungle of green and brown, imposing order onto the piece.

The choice of green and brown for the unruly tangle of lines is clear – green and brown represent nature and its often-unmanageable unpredictability. The lavender color represents man’s influence. Often considered to be an artificial color, purple is rarely found in nature. The straight and logical lines of man impose an artificial order onto the unruly tangles of nature. Yet the imposed order is indeed artificial; viewers of the painting can see that the green and brown lines overwhelm the painting, showing man’s efforts at imposing straight, logical order are quite fruitless.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Nas Music - Art

Nas Music is a simple piece with a monochromatic color scheme and uncomplicated lines and shapes. This piece features a couple of shapes, including a very simple circle and square that work together to represent the music alluded to in the title. The type of music reflected in this piece is also alluded to in the title of the painting. “Nas” has a very colloquial feel, as though the music under consideration in this piece is actually some form of local, traditional music. Captured in this painting is the simple, unpremeditated music that rises spontaneously in the context of a celebration or ritual in some traditional culture.

Though music is often thought of as colorful and vibrant, the artist has chosen to depict music in this painting with simple lines and a charcoal-shaded, monochromatic color scheme. Yet this dark color scheme does not indicate that the music of this painting is dull or depressing. This simple color scheme simply reflects the simplicity and naturally uncomplicated nature of certain types of music. The painting is not hard to take in at once, its plain lines and single color bringing to mind the simple melody of a traditional folk song.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

My Universe - Art

My Universe is a monochromatic, abstract piece with graceful lines that reflect a natural beauty found in the structure of the universe’s very existence. In this painting, the universe is depicted by elegant arcs and graceful curves that seem to waft slowly across the painting. This movement seems to be outward, toward the painting’s edges, as if the shape of the universe shown is constantly expanding. This expansion is also a feature of the actual nature of the universe. Since the Big Bang, the universe has been expanding at a constant rate, a scientific reality explored in this piece.
Yet the painting does not treat the subject with a cold, scientific perspective. The universe is not drawn in an exact, clinical way, but rather as an expansion of expanding matter and energy, a graceful cloud that wafts across time and space, its slow movement imperceptible to the sentient beings living within this universe. This painting is evocative and beautiful, and the universe that it its subject is beautiful and emotionally affecting, its elegant lines bringing to mind the natural beauty and wonder of the universe and its vastness. My Universe manages to capture the infinite reality of the universe in a few simple, refined lines.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Indian Summer - Art

Indian Summer is an abstract, expressionistic piece that reflects the natural beauty of an unexpected warm day in the middle of the coolness of fall. The naturalistic color scheme chosen for this piece invokes typical fall colors, including tan, brown, and yellow. These autumnal shades present an image of falling leaves blown in the air on cool, fall winds. Yet, the painting has a great deal of warmth, and the yellow shade is vibrant and gives an impression of a warm, shining sun, providing unexpected heat in the midst of a typical fall day.

The structure of this piece is primarily quite abstract. Little streaks of neutral browns pepper the painting’s landscape, evoking images of leaves falling, wafting gently through the air toward the cool ground. The yellow heat of the sun seems concentrated in a single area of the painting, perhaps an indication of the fleeting and episodic nature of an Indian summer. By definition, this is a temporary pleasure, isolated to a single day or week in the fall. Eventually, the warm weather will yield to cool autumnal winds, and the sun’s heat will fade into winter.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

New Fruit - Art

New Fruit is a colorful piece with a single, dominating figure featured in the center of this painting. The fruit in this piece is colorful and instantly recognizable as fruit, though it is not any identifiable type of fruit typically found in modern supermarkets. Yet its shape and tropical colors reflect its fruit-like nature. The fruit appears to have a brown rind of some sort protecting a colorful, fleshy interior. A bisecting cut reveals the fruit’s interior vibrancy.

The warmly colored circle visible in the fruit’s interior is quite significant. The warm coral color suggests warmth and life, suggesting that this sphere may be a seed being protected by the fruit. In this way, the painting alludes to the biological purpose of fruit, which is to reproduce. The fruit protects the seed until it is planted; in fact, the fruit is the female reproductive feature of a plant. Fruit as a reproductive object is addressed in this piece, and New Fruit is a visually compelling and thought-provoking piece that encourages to think about fruit’s significance, other than in the produce section of the local supermarket.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Silent Jewel - Art

Using a bright red color scheme, Silent Jewel is a visually riveting piece with strong, curved lines and an elegant symmetry. A monochromatic design in a vibrant scarlet hue is the focal point of this piece. The jewel-like red tone reflects the painting’s title, and indeed, the image’s curves are elegant and bring to mind nobility and stature, as would a prize ruby of the same shade.

Silent Jewel is a visually appealing piece, as the design is quite beautiful and has a mysterious appeal. The vibrant red color seems to glow against the white background of the painting. The well-designed shape of the figure draws the viewer’s eye, and the fiery red shade appears multi-faceted as a jewel might be.

The choice of red is quite interesting in this piece. The jewel-like image and red color suggest a ruby, which has long been a symbol of love in many cultures. The ruby has also been associated with health, and even immortality. Considering these cultural meanings of the ruby gemstone brings new interest to an already beautiful and intriguing painting.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Snow Blossom - Art

In Snow Blossom, the artist evokes the cold beauty of a frozen snowflake. The snowflake becomes the winter’s blossom, the flower that can bloom in subzero temperatures. The painting shows that there is beauty to be found in the coldest, most barren landscapes. The painting is a monochromatic, close-up view of a snowflake. The snowflake has a crystalline appearance, marked by facets and angles of cold and frozen ice.

The choice of blue for the color scheme of this painting is also significant. Blue is a color often associated with cold and ice. By using this color, the painting creates in the viewer a strong sense of the cold, icy feel of a snowflake on the hand or face. The blue of the snowflake is quite cool in tone, not pale and not dark. This frozen shade of blue calls to mind a snowy day in January or the frigid chill of an Arctic glacier.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Society - Art

Society is a simple, monochromatic piece that makes a strong statement about society and the barriers that it often imposes on people. The red color used in this simple color scheme gives a sense of power and heat. Red is a color with powerful emotional effect, and the use of red in this painting illustrates the strength and power of society to influence the lives of its members. Society is a far-reaching element of human life, and its influence extends to every facet of daily life.

The structure of this piece is intriguing as well, as the painting seems to be divided into two halves. On either side of a strong, thick, red line, circles are divided from each other. This strong line becomes an imposing barrier, separating the circles and preventing them from interacting. This barrier reflects the barriers that society imposes on its member, cutting one group off from another and preventing their interaction.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Slow Start - Art

In Slow Startt, a painting in charcoal tones, pent-up energy and feelings of anticipating are captured in an abstract image in the center of the piece. This freeform piece is quite abstract, and lacking a distinct, discernible shape. Yet one can make out a strong line in one corner, the starting line alluded to by the title. Behind the starting line is a cloud of gray, blurry and dense. This cloud represents the pent-up energy of someone waiting to begin. The anticipation of the race is captured in the looming cloud, and a sense of great expectation is evoked in the viewer.

The pent-up anticipation is delayed – the slow start alluded to in the title. The magnitude of this delayed expectation is shown in the massive size and density of the cloud behind the starting line. One whose is forced to wait to start feels his or her anticipation build up inside, until it has reached the proportions of the massive, looming cloud in the painting. Once it has reached this level, this energy must be released, and the painting’s energy seems just under this breaking point, only moments away from bursting forth.


©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Hurtful Genes - Art

In Hurtful Genes, a monochromatic color scheme fills the painting’s landscape to create a commentary on the impact that genetic predisposition has on the lives of all living things. The green color chosen for this piece reflects the painting’s focus on living organisms. A color associated with life and nature, green invokes the concept of regeneration and life. Genes make the reproduction of life possible by passing on genetic information about physical and mental traits to the next generation of organisms.

As the title suggests, genes pass on not only positive characteristics, but also flaws and genetic problems. Many devastating diseases are passed on in the genetic material, as well as negative character traits, such as a tendency toward addiction or mental illness. Although these genes comprise the basic identity of the individual organism, they can also be seen as harmful, for they also pass down the problems and health concerns of the parents. Harmful Genes is an intriguing study of the nature of genetic inheritance and its dual nature as creator of life and harbinger of disease.


©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Nite Lore - Art

Nite Lore is a dark piece capturing the natural human fear of darkness and the unknown dangers that may lurk there. The concentric circles that are the focus of this painting are almost hypnotic, evoking the fearful captivation that the night can induce in a person’s mind. The alternative spelling of the word “night” in the painting’s title suggests another potential view of the image in the painting. “Nite” is a spelling that is often used for commercial and marketing purposes, such as in a product name.

The modern product depicted in this painting is a night-light meant to ward off the fear of the night. The circular night-light is a point of light that illuminates its immediate surroundings, accounting for the bright background of the painting. The night-light is a perfect example of the efforts of mankind to ward off the darkness, its primal power and ability to produce fear a threat to modern and ancient man alike. Just as prehistoric man conquered the power of fire as a weapon against the darkness, so does modern man use the powers at his disposal to ward off the source of his fear.




©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Open Clarity - Art

In Open Clarity, an image of an opening, emerging horizon is depicted in careful lines and a monochromatic color scheme. A black line sweeps across the painting, clearing an arc and creating a sense of clarity in this piece. The shape of the arc suggests the movement of the line, and this painting’s focus seems to be a horizon in the process of opening up, its clouds and sense of obscurity and confusion being cleared away in one grand, sweeping gesture to finally reveal and all-encompassing and expansive view of the surroundings.

The choice of such a simple color scheme is in keeping with this painting’s theme of clarity. Clarity and easy understanding is often linked to simplicity. The color scheme chosen for this piece is simple, and its uncomplicated composition creates a feeling of simple clarity, and garish colors do not distract from the unconventional beauty of this simple piece. Open Clarity is a study of growing awareness and understanding, spurred on by simplification and a general sweeping away of life’s complications.



©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Queens Price - Art

In Queens Price, a contrasting color scheme and abstract shapes reflect a folkloric storytelling style in visual terms. The color scheme in this piece is comprised of two dominant colors. A rusty red shade and a cool lavender occupy this painting, and the two contrasting colors blend together at certain points in the abstract set of figures that is the focus of this painting. The dichotomy of the two contrasting colors represents the opposing forces of good and evil that feature in folkloric stories that appear in the oral traditions of many cultures.

The figures in this painting have an almost tribal appearance, as though they are characters in some ancient, mysterious hieroglyphic alphabet. This similarity to tribal markings indicates the storytelling aspect of this painting, which is a visual representation of the story of a queen’s great sacrifice, told in the style of an oral folklore. Prominent leaders and royalty have always been common subjects for stories in the oral tradition. Since the most primitive civilizations, stories of good and evil and of sacrifice have appeared in human folklore, and Queens Price is a tribute to this storytelling tradition.


©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Mister - Art

This painting is an abstract portrait featuring an unnamed man simply referred to as “Mister.” In Mister, the man’s shape can be made out, but only its basic elemental structure. No specific details about the man can be made out in this piece. The man’s body is made up of colorful blocks, and he appears to be very broad and solid. There is a certain masculine strength to be seen in his broad shoulders and commanding presence in the painting. The man in the painting is undoubtedly a formidable force, his head and shoulders well-formed and impressive in their clarity and strong lines.

Though the man is shown to be a force to be reckoned with, he cannot withstand abstraction, and his lower body dissipates into a series of color blocks with no definite shape or form. The man’s deconstruction into abstract blocks that have are undefined reflects the way that every man, no matter how strong and solid he may seem, will one day be gone. The man’s mortality is captured in this abstract piece, as his strong, defined form melts away into shapeless blocks. These blocks represent the elements of the earth that the man returns to when he exists no more. Mister is a vibrant painting with a strong meaning, giving the viewer a close and personal view of his or her own impermanence.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Neuro interactive simulations

Mixed Growth - Art

Mixed Growth is a free form painting with strongly contrasting colors and a compelling subject of focus. A menacing object in the corner of the painting dominates the piece. The object has a tumor-like appearance, and its bulging shape suggests a growing, living thing that is rapidly increasing in size. The gray color of the tumor gives it a dangerous, unhealthy appearance, which stands in contrast to the warm, healthy color of the background in which the tumor is set. In fact, the background color is almost flesh-like, and it represents the healthy tissue in which the tumor lives. The red streak running alongside the tumor is the source of energy. The tumor requires a constant supply of blood, which is provided by the healthy tissue around the tumor. This relationship between tumor and healthy tissue is depicted in the way that the bloodstream originates in the healthy tissue and penetrates the tumor, supplying it with necessary nutrients.

Having hijacked the body’s energy supply, the tumor grows rampant. The title of the painting is interesting to note, because the tumor grows alongside the healthy tissue, becoming intertwined with it until it is difficult to separate the two. In this way, the growth is “mixed,” as the title suggests. The bad becomes entrenched in the good, until there is no way to remove one without damaging the other. This is the nature of cancer, and Mixed Growth is a compelling study of the slow, steady entrenchment of a tumor in the surrounding healthy tissue.



©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

I love tomatoes.

The Blues - Art

Aptly titled, The Blues is a monochromatic piece featuring different shades of the color blue. The shades of blue appearing in this painting are mainly from the lighter side of the spectrum. A pale shade of turquoise is the predominant color in the painting, and it covers most of its surface. Interspersed with this turquoise color are several darker shades of blue arranged in an eye-catching visual pattern.

Blue is a significant color, often associated with peace and tranquility, but also sadness and grief. The painting’s title suggests the color blue’s association with the blues, a musical genre with a longstanding tradition. Blues music evokes feelings of sadness, longing, and grief. The painting itself does seem to have a melancholy mood imparted by its blue shade. The Blues is an emotional painting that does not deal with a particular subject, but rather is a study of the color blue and its effects on states of human emotion.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved