Stephen Webb

I became an artist while failing to become a writer. In the end the sketch pad held more satisfaction than the writing desk, although the skills I learned in research and strategy have also helped me enormously, as has the ability to work for so long unselfcounsciously, to just draw and draw and draw.

Having relocated to San Sebastian, with my own studio space, I can unfold my ideas across the walls in colour, from grubs to astonishing butterflies.

Never took part in formal art education. What you really need to learn they cant teach. I did go to Univercity (Liverpool, Philosophy) and I did travel all over the world ( Japan, Africa, Austarlia, South East Asia).

My apprenticeship was served with ten years of drawing, pen and paper. This has allowed me to be very light-footed creatively, developing work rapidly without having to deal with the mechanics of large scale production, painting or studio.

Have tried to pursue abstraction from outside the narrow confines of western art. Ever since Pythagoras and his triangles, the geometric has drawn us into its chillingly vibrant embrace, peeling us clean. Abstract expressionism was a dirty little sex game, both trivial and delicious.

Islamic art is my greatest influence. One of the few religious arts still potent, their attempt to visually demonstrate the divine encounter generates such direct power that, even without the god bothering, the place it takes us to is a glorious destination, the perfect balance of clarity and complexity. This is the root of the effect I try to capture, adding a little jazz along the way.