Gentrification - Art

Gentrification is a simple piece that depicts the slow changes that occur over time to any given landscape. The structure of this painting is simple. Black lines crisscross an empty white background in a pattern that resembles a modified, irregular grid. Most of the blocks created by the grid remain empty. These empty blocks embody the original state of the landscape. Uncluttered and vacant, these bare blocks reflect the previous condition of the region.
Yet these blocks are slowly being filled in by color. Little by little, invading colors in shades of purple, yellow, orange, green, and brown have entered the landscape. This invasion of color represents human improvement of the land. In this way, the land is “gentrified” by the introduction of homes, buildings, and other manmade structures. This slow encroachment of humanity on nature is a significant theme in Gentrification, a provocative and meaningful piece.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Future - Art

An enigmatic piece with simple shapes and a monochromatic color scheme, Future is an examination of the nature of time and its passage. A wispy gray orb dominates the painting. This gray orb is a representation of the sun, its airy composition a reflection of the gaseous makeup of the sun and all other stars in our universe. The sun is bordered on the top and the bottom by other abstract shapes.
The dark shape along the bottom of the gray sun is a thick black line with graceful curves. This dark swath of blackness represents the night that comes as the sun disappears from the horizon. On the other side, a light, domed figure represents the day, which comes with the rising of the sun in the morning. The sun’s role in the passage of time, from past to present to future, is skillfully examined in Future, which is becomes examination of the qualities inherent to the passage of time.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Going Away - Art

In Going Away, a muted green landscape lit by a vibrant sun presents a picturesque image, while the painting’s title suggests the fleeting nature of this beautiful landscape. The beauty of the landscape in this piece is immediately apparent. The muted greens give this a peaceful, bucolic appearance, and the bright yellow sun that illuminates the landscape adds an element of warmth and light, imbuing the landscape with a sense of a living ecosystem.
Yet the painting’s title indicates that this beautiful image will not last forever. The effects of global warming and pollution have great potential to destroy nature and the life that exists within it. The green landscape can just as easily be replaced by a barren desert, and the life-giving sun may very well become a dangerous, burning bringer of destruction upon the landscape. The potential for environmental loss is elegantly captured in this beautiful, aptly titled piece.


©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Graves - Art

In Graves, a soothing pastel color scheme presents a unique look at death and its impact on humanity. Grief following a death is a natural element of the human experience. Upon losing a loved one, all people go through a mourning period that is painful and sad. Yet, as this painting illustrates, this painful feeling does not last forever. In the wake of pain and grief can come great calm and serenity, as time heals the wounded and grieving by slowly wearing away pain and sorrow.
The pastel color scheme used in this piece reflects the peace and calm that comes with time. These pale, soothing colors seem themselves faded by time, as if the elements have eroded away all vibrancy. In the same way, time wears away at grief, reducing it to a calm recognition of the certainty of death without fear or pain. Graves provides an interesting perspective on the relationships between death, grief, and time.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Musical Spells - Art

In Musical Spells, the power of music to influence and control human emotion is explored in a densely shaded, monochromatic piece. A musical note, as one would find on a page of sheet music, is an important figure in this painting. The mood of the painting itself is dark, and the painting is filled with shadow and darkness up to its very edges. The painting shows the impact that music can have on the human mood and psyche. Music as the power to change one’s mood, and this strong power is shown by the dense color saturation that dominates this piece.
The painting’s simple lines belie the painting’s strong emotional power. Just like the music that is its subject, this piece draws the viewer under its spell. The painting’s effect on one’s mood is immediate, drawing one in and imposing a dark, moody feeling upon first viewing. This is the nature of art, whether it is a painting or music. The emotional impact of the piece is directly related to its success. And Musical Spells is an emotionally piece that carries a great deal of emotional power, and it also depicts in a vivid way the significant ways that music can control human emotional states, much in the same way that art can.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

My Pen Doesn’t Work - Art

My Pen Doesn’t Work is a tongue-in-cheek, humorous piece with exciting, erratic lines and shapes. The painting’s title suggests a clever joke – namely, that the artist has run out of ink in creating this piece. The result of the lack of ink is shown by the lack of work on one side of the painting. While one side of the canvas is quite full of lines, their wavy movement reflecting energy and excitement, the other side has only a few spare lines. This humorous play on typical painting methodology is a refreshing and startling perspective for this piece.
This piece is a study of abrupt endings and sudden changes. The pen’s running out of ink can be seen as a metaphor for any number of things. For example, the ink running out is similar to time running out, pointing out to the painting’s viewer his own imminent mortality. Just as life’s essence can run out, so can natural resources. The pen runs out of ink before it fills the canvas, and so may humans run out of valuable natural resources before mankind has finished its run on this planet. My Pen Doesn’t Work is a clever piece that brings the reader into an awareness of the limited nature of many of life’s most important things.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Nautical Sunburst - Art

In Nautical Sunburst, a central bloom dominates the painting, its blossom straining upward with obvious force. The title and the wavy line that stretches across the painting suggest that this bloom exists at sea, rising up from the water toward the sky. Also suggested is the idea that this bloom is in fact a sunburst, or rather that it is not a flower in the typical sense, but more likely a heated explosion. The red color of the sunburst, which calls to mind heat and flames, also corroborates this understanding of the sunburst as an explosion with a great deal of power, energy, and heat.
The nature of this sunburst, its occurrence in the middle of the sea and its obvious heat and power, suggests an explosion. This sunburst is likely the result of the bombing of a ship or other man-made explosion on the water. This painting becomes a depiction of war and its effects. The power of human weapons to release energy and heat is captured in Nautical Sunburst, a striking image of nautical warfare. This piece is simple, yet it is quite effective and leaves the viewer with a strong impression of the explosive sunburst and the powerful upward movement of explosive energy and fire being released into the sky.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Ten suggestions

Never Stop and Wonder - Art

In Never Stop and Wonder, the erratic and unpredictable nature of the universe is captured in a few unstable, volatile lines. The painting’s title admonishes the viewer not to stop and wonder about the things seen in the world at large. Like the erratic, jumpy lines of the painting, life cannot be explained or understood fully, and so there is no point in stopping to wonder about the strange, sometimes frightening things that can be seen in one’s environment.
The painting’s lines are jagged and unpredictable, moving across the painting in no discernible pattern. This jumble of lines reflects the energy and chaos of the universe, and, though there is an immediate desire in the viewer to impose some kind of order on these unruly lines and shapes, it is not possible to do so. Just as one cannot impose order on the universe, the wild, uncontrolled lines of this piece cannot be forced into any prescribed shape or form.
Never Stop and Wonder is a vivid abstract piece that is almost frantic in its strange and indomitable lines. All the strangeness and fearsome finality of the universe is captured in this piece. The painting’s lines seem to defy human control, just as the universe also cannot be fully comprehended or controlled by mankind.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Prudent silence

Heart Sake - Art

In Heart Sake, the shape of a human heart is abstracted, providing a study of one of the most important components of the human body. The shape of the heart is apparent upon first viewing this painting. The shape of the figure is not a traditional symbolic heart, but rather a naturalistic representation of the form of an actual, living heart. A red color was chosen to represent the blood being pumped through this important living organ.
Yet the heart does not appear to be entirely healthy. A gray cloud seems to surround the heart, bordering it on all sides. This gray color represents disease or malformation that affects the functioning of the heart. These dangers threaten to cut off the blood supply to the heart, as the gray cloud is extended around the entire heart, surrounding it with potential danger.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Holding Us Together - Art

Holding Us Together is a beautiful and moving painting that portrays a pair of interlocked hands in a naturalistic style. Though slightly distorted, the outline and shape of the interlaced hands is quite clear. The hands are clutching each other quite closely, giving a strong impression of human connection. As the title suggests, the hands are a point of connection, a point at which two people bring themselves closer together. Physical contact is an important human need, and this painting evokes the strong pull of this need and the feelings of comfort and security that can be had through human contact.
This piece is drawn in charcoal tones, giving focus to the shape of the hands and their position within the frame. The hands are central in the frame, giving them an important focus, and the criss-crossed fingers of the hands are drawn carefully and realistically. The beauty of this piece is quite striking, and Holding Us Together leaves the viewer with a greater appreciation of the importance of human physical contact and friendship.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Life Delivered - Art

Life Delivered is a monochromatic, minimalist piece that invokes the miraculous nature of life. The image portrayed in this painting is unusual, yet vaguely familiar. The central structure is lined with two steps that appear to connect. This image presents a picture of a young, developing life receiving sustaining substances through the connecting stems. Life is nurtured and prepared for its delivery into the world, its needs provided for during this crucial time.
The regenerative qualities of life have made development and birth a popular subject in art from many different periods. Like death, birth is a universal feature of life. All life must begin and end, and these two most significant milestones have bee captured by artists working in many media and styles. The emergence of life is a profound occurrence, and Life Delivered is part of a long tradition of artistic portrayal of birth.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Hear Me - Art

In Hear Me, abstract forms in a dark, monochromatic color scheme give this painting a sense of auditory experience, and the piece becomes both a visual and auditory experience for the viewer. The dark shapes that are the central focus of this painting waft across a bare, white background, seemingly floating without gravity or restriction. These waves represent sound waves emerging from a source and wafting out across the atmosphere.
These waves of sound appear aimless and directionless. They waft out into the world without any steering force of their own. Herein lies the meaning of the painting and its title. Without a hearer, these sounds are meaningless and will fade into the air without having any effect on the world around them. If they are heard, however, the sounds produce meaning, which gives them more substance than the ethereal waves that they appear to be in this painting.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Inner Hurricane - Art

In Inner Hurricane, a swirling image in a monochromatic color scheme invokes all the danger and intensity of a hurricane. One of the most dangerous weather phenomena on the planet, an impending hurricane is a source of human anxiety in many regions of the world. A powerful, swirling wind that brings heavy rain and destruction, this force of nature can be seen as a metaphor for equally powerful and destructive forces in the human mind. Just as weather conditions bring about a dangerous storm, so can emotional conditions create the potential for a dangerous and intense storm inside a person’s mind.
The swirling image portrayed in this piece evokes a movement and energy that is intense and captivating. The darkness of the broad strokes in this piece creates a sense of menace and anxiety, and the coiling configuration of the lines suggests a roiling mass of moving force. The internal struggle depicted in this piece is violent and powerful, indicating a basic internal struggle between opposing forces. Inner Hurricane provides an image of the difficulty and strain that is the result of internal strife.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Historipre - Art

Historipre is a dark piece that depicts an amorphous, abstract shape in a monochromatic color scheme. The figure presented in this piece is wispy and cloud-like, as though one’s fingers might slip easily through its substance. Hazy circles and lines combine to form a beautiful and striking abstract image. The blurred edges of the lines and shapes in this piece give the impression of dissipation, of something fading away slowly over time.
The deterioration of the objects in this painting suggests the passage of time. Time moves slowly over everything in the universe, slowly changing and breaking down objects by a number of physical processes. This painting reveals the way that history unfolds, constantly bringing about the destruction of old buildings, artifacts, and other objects by a slow and persistent deterioration. Historipre examines this slow deterioration and its effects on the world.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Mothers - Art

Mothers is a moving piece featuring several simply drawn human figures. A study in motherhood, this piece captures the shape and lines of the female form. A group of women, representing maternal power and femininity, move across the painting in a line. The central figure in the painting has a tribal appearance, as though the figure is presiding over some sort of mystic spiritual ritual. This religious rite is likely a ritual of fertility, common in many cultures.
The blurry edges of the female forms depicted in this painting suggest vigorous movement. The women are not simply trudging or marching across the frame of the painting. Rather, they are moving jubilantly and with energy, filled with joy at performing this significant cultural ritual. Mothers gives a strongly positive portrayal of motherhood, focusing on its joys and excitement. Also implied by the ritualistic nature of this piece is the connection between mothers of different times in human history. An ever-present aspect of the human condition, motherhood and the power of childbirth is a strong link between modern women and women of centuries past.


©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Part Substance - Art

Part Substance is an abstract painting with beautiful, vibrant colors. The color scheme of this piece includes the contrasting colors of blue and yellow. The cool qualities of the blue color in this piece juxtaposed against the warm energy of yellow are quite striking. This color scheme is quite appealing, bringing out the vibrant qualities of both shades by this interesting pairing of colors. Color scheme is an important aspect of abstract pieces such as this one, and the choice of these two colors is quite effective, bringing out the qualities of both through a skillful pairing.
The painting’s meaning is implied in its title. The blue swaths of color represent a tangible substance, something that can be seen or touched. These blue streaks create an image of matter in the universe, such as water or rock, cool and fully formed, and completely stable in its mass. The yellow color in the painting represents light and energy, the other significant reality in the universe. The title indicates the close connection between energy and matter, one having the capacity to change into the other at any moment. The painting itself levitates between matter and energy, depicting something just on the verge of changing.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

New Universe - Art

In New Universe, a bright swirl of colors embodies the energy and motion of the birth of a universe. Immediately calling to mind the scientific theory of the Big Bang, this painting shows an expanding, ever-growing universe deriving from a central point. The lines of the painting spiral outward, a visual representation of the constantly expanding state of our universe. Just as everything in the universe originated from a single, explosive moment, the painting’s colors and lines generate from a central location from which the painting’s energy seems to emerge.
The colors of the universe embody the many elements and materials that were part of the universe’s explosive expansion. A wide range of cool and warm colors can be found in this piece, from a vibrant red shade to a cool, muted green. This all-encompassing color scheme represents the fact that everything in the universe originated in the Big Bang, from icy comets hurtling through space to blazing stars made of constantly burning gas. The full range of the universe came from this one instant, and New Universe captures the amazing phenomenon of the birth of a universe through evocative lines of movement and a striking mix of colors.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

One Note - Art

One Note is a piece that depicts the beauty of a single note of music. Often, the most compelling and beautiful moments in a piece of moment is the singing or playing of a single, beautifully executed sustained note. The sustained note depicted in this piece arcs across the canvas, simulating the nuances of a note sustained by the human voice. A singer might crescendo across the duration of the note, its beautiful sound swelling and growing in intensity as the note is sustained.
It is often said that the visual arts mirror the qualities and characteristics of music. This painting is an artistic representation of a beautiful, sustained note. Just as these singular moments in a piece of music convey deep emotion by the very solitariness and isolated beauty of a sustained solo note, so does the lone image of an arching, swelling figure in this piece convey more emotion than any lushly painted, densely full painting could manage to get across.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Medieval Dreams - Art

Medieval Dreams is a visually compelling piece with a strong sense of movement. This piece gives the impression of a great flurry of activity, such as one would see in a medieval town square or country fair. This stream of bustling life reveals to the painting’s viewer what life may have been like for people living during the medieval period. Though the medieval period was a time of slow technological and ideological advancement, since the Industrial Revolution, people have looked back on the medieval period with nostalgia. The medieval period has the reputation of being a simpler, calmer time during which people did not have to worry about the dangers of industrial growth, pollution, and growing levels of stress and danger.

Yet this piece gives a different view of the medieval period. Rather than a lackadaisical, slow-moving way of life, the painting depicts medieval life as an active, busy experience. This painting calls up the noise and excitement of the marketplace, as goods are exchanged between excited, talkative medieval people. Though the painting does not depict any concrete objects suggestive of the time period, the natural earthy colors of the piece suggest a medieval subject. No artificial, man-made colors appear, for medieval people built their homes, horse carts, and tools from natural materials that were available at the time. This beautiful piece captures the essential nature of life in the Middle Ages, focusing primarily on it the excitement and activity of the marketplace.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Raised Threat - Art

Raised Threat is a dark piece with a foreboding figure featured in the center of the painting. The dark gray column that rises from the bottom of the painting depicts the rising threat alluded to in the painting’s title. The column has a definite feeling of upward movement, as if the threat has not yet reached its peak, but rather continues to rise at an alarming rate. The dark, monochromatic color scheme gives this figure a forbidding impression, and it seems to dominate the painting entirely, looming over everything with a menacing power.
The shape of the column is also important to note. Its fast upward movement, and general shape vaguely resemble a mushroom cloud that results from a nuclear explosion. Perhaps the threat mentioned in the title is a nuclear threat that continues to rise as the world’s politics become more and more embroiled in conflict and controversy. The threat of a nuclear explosion is quite real and very dangerous, for such an explosion could destroy life as mankind currently understands it. Raised Threat is an intriguing piece that brings up important ideas that are particularly relevant to the current state of the modern world.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Dragon - Art

Dragon is a mysterious piece depicting the abstract form of a dragon, a mythical creature that has been an important part of human mythology since the dawn of mankind. The dragon is a significant symbol in many cultures. The dragon has positive connotations in many Asian cultures, while Europeans have long associated dragons with danger and evil. The dragon in this painting is shown in a dark, gray color, which gives it a threatening air. A glowing red eye adds to the sense of menace in this dragon’s evocative portrait.
Dragons have appeared in myths and stories again and again, causing one to wonder how this idea could have emerged in so many different cultures in so many different locations. In fact, ancient people discovered dinosaur fossils, and, assuming that these massive reptilian creatures had died only recently, developed the concept of a living, breathing dragon. And so the image of the dragon became a part of mankind’s imagination forever.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Collage of more than 800 works

This would make a nice quilt.

Earth Tomb - Art

Earth Tomb is an explosive piece that evokes an apocalyptic destruction of our planet by an all-consuming fire. In this painting, the planet is reduced to a cloud of gray smoke, portrayed as a gray region in the center of the painting, the borders marked by curving, thick black lines. Along the explosion’s edge, vibrant red “hot spots” appear like miniature explosions that continue to occur after the initial explosion that marked the transformation of the planet into a large cloud of smoke.
The destruction of the planet by nuclear bombs has been a concern for decades, since the first nuclear bomb was tested. The destructive power of an atomic bomb has captivated mankind, producing an equal measure of fear and awe at man’s power to destroy. The dangers of these weapons have been well documented, yet these dangerous bombs continue to proliferate from nation to nation. Earth Tomb examines the dangers that our planet faces, illustrating the potential consequences of nuclear proliferation.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Rebuilding - Art

In Rebuilding, a variety of shape and color elements contribute to an intricate look at the way that different entities can work together to rebuild in the face of a crisis or disaster. A number of diverse elements come into play in this piece. For example, both warm and cool colors are featured in his vibrant piece, from blue to red to yellow and everything in between. These colors work together to add vitality and life to this piece, revealing the way that diverse elements can work together as a group.
In addition, a number of different shapes are used to create the image in this painting. From gentle curves to sharp angles, these shapes fit together to create a visually compelling and complex image. The whole of the image in the painting is greater than the sum of its individual parts. These parts are not necessarily striking on their own, but the unique configuration presented in the painting creates an intriguing image, revealing that working as a group allows for greater success than working alone.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Ravaged Earth - Art

In Ravaged Earth, a beautiful pale green color accented by a contrasting shade of deep purple is featured prominently in the painting. The purple circle burrows quietly and steadily through the pale green mist of color, leaving a furrow in its path. The slow and steady progress of the purple circle is ravaging the landscape, despite its small size and seemingly placid journey across the painting. The colors of this piece are beautiful, and it gives a very calm impression, which is intriguing, considering the violent implications of the painting’s title.

This painting seems to be describing a different way that something can be ravaged. Damage can be done in many ways. It is not only by catastrophic disaster that destruction can occur, because damage can also be the result of a slow and steady wearing away. This is the way that the purple ball has affected its landscape. Through slow and steady progress across the painting, the purple ball has weathered the landscape of the painting, much in the same way that wind and water shape our own natural landscape by weathering.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Rebirth - Art

In Rebirth, a strange, unknown creature seems to morph into another form, something completely different than its original body. The tail of the creature seems to be splitting, perhaps into legs or tentacles for propulsion of the organism. The rebirth, or transition, seems to be ongoing, as if the viewer has caught the creature right in the moment of change, frozen in time in this amorphous, changing state. Halfway between its old identity and the new existence it is working to assume, the creature is a fascinating study in the nature of change.
Change is a common theme in all of the arts. Many paintings and poems have been created to illustrate the change from one form to another. Perhaps this emphasis on change is so popular because change is a part of all life. Organisms pass through different life stages, changing, often dramatically, with each one. Change happens frequently in the modern world, as culture changes rapidly because of new communications technology. Rebirth, and its accompanying changes, is an important topic that is treated in a very unique way in the painting Rebirth.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Development - Art

Development is a painting that is predominantly characterized by its colors. Four swatches of densely saturated color are set against a cool green background. Blue, orange, purple, and red shades are set against each other, their vibrancy standing out against the pale green of the background. Another interesting feature of this painting is the way that the colors bleed into their background, particularly the blue shade.
The painting’s title suggests that this painting may depict an aerial view of some manmade development. The color blocks that are the focus of this painting represent individually subdivided lots in the development. The ecologically destructive nature of these developments is shown in the bleeding of the colors in to the surrounding background. The cool green color of the background indicates that this segment of the painting represents the natural world, green being a color typically associated with nature. Nature is inevitably affected by mankind’s construction and expansion, a scenario skillfully depicted in Development.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Peacocked - Art

In Peacocked, a beautiful, exotic bird is captured in close-up, the painting focusing on the beautiful plumage of this elegant creature. The peacock’s tail is studied in great detail in this piece, though the artist has chosen a quite unusual color scheme for a peacock’s tail. Though a typical male peacock’s plumage consists largely of cool colors, such as green and blue, this peacock has a warm, rosy background. This unusual choice of color gives the peacock a new aspect, allowing the painting’s viewer to see the peacock in an entirely new light.
By changing one aspect of a familiar sight, an artist can force the viewer to pay more attention to surroundings. This peacock is strikingly different, and seeing this difference forces the viewer to think about what a typical peacock looks like, perhaps remembering more details than he or she might have thought possible. This slight change in the portrayal of the peacock’s tail gives Peacocked an exciting effect, making this a unique and provocative piece.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Phoenix - Art

A new take on an ancient myth, Phoenix depicts the famous bird emerging from the ashes after its death. The phoenix itself is not studied closely, but rather from afar, as if the painting’s viewer is standing off in the distance and watching the phoenix rise into the air. The phoenix’s path is noted by a long arc, a trail left behind by the blazing, quickly moving bird on its glorious rise. This triumphant rise ends in a burst of released energy, as represented by the emerging lines that emanate from the risen creature at the top of the journey’s arc.
However, it is uncertain what this phoenix really represents in this painting. The phoenix’s identity is open to interpretation, with potential meanings ranging from the birth of a star, a manmade explosion from a bomb, or even an airplane taking flight. The image of a soaring object is quite compelling, and many different forms of flight come to mind upon viewing this piece. Phoenix is a simple, yet effective study on the subject of flight from the far-off perspective of an interested observer.


©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Pre Flight - Art

Pre Flight is a vibrant piece that depicts the energy potential of a flock of birds preparing for flight. The blue figures spread across the painting represent birds, their wings spread as though preparing for takeoff. These birds are abstract in form, their wings being their predominant feature. The heads and bodies of the birds are indistinct, but the instruments of their flight are enlarged and quite prominent. In this way, the form of the birds highlights the theme of flight in this painting.
The birds are clearly on the ground preparing for flight, as opposed to mid-flight, because of the colorful background against which they sit. The background is a patchwork of vibrant colors, not a uniform color, as the sky would be. In this way, farms, plots of land, buildings, and parking lots are shown to be the location of the birds, though this background is not depicted realistically as one would see this on the ground, but rather as a series of blocks, the way the birds view the ground from the sky. The painting takes the viewer into the birds’ perspective, allowing a new understanding of the phenomenon of birds taking flight.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

Guardian - Art

Guardian is an abstract, freeform piece in a monochromatic color scheme, and it provides a look at the nature of guardianship and protection. The lone figure in this painting stands solitary in an empty landscape. The solitary nature of this image suggests the lonely nature of the duties of guardianship. Often, those who are being protected are not appreciative. Though the guardian may be looking out for their bests interests, many times people resent this well-intended help, which can make the guardian himself unpopular and lonely.

The monochromatic color scheme of this painting also evokes this loneliness. The use of a single color invokes solitude, for no complementary or accompanying colors are used in this piece. Additionally, the darkness of this color scheme creates a depressive, melancholy mood. This sorrowful mood indicates the pain that can often accompany great responsibility such as guardianship.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved