David Webb – Artist Spotlight

August 2023 Sculpture Northwest Journal

I am honored to share my stone carving journey and some pieces I’ve created. Behind our house in Rockford, Illinois, were acres and acres of woods that I constantly explored as a child, absorbing the shapes of nature. My childhood bedroom had blackout curtains making the room pitch black. At night I stared up at the ceiling with my eyes open and imagined shapes and forms in colors of purple, blue, red, and orange. In my mind’s eye, I would stretch, twist, turn, and combine forms until I fell asleep. Now I see these forms dance within blocks of stone. Everything in nature – from flowers to bones – inspires my sculptures.

I enjoy the natural world, being outside, and working with my hands. I worked as a landscaper in high school and as a landscape foreman until my mid-twenties. During this time, I briefly studied landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where I enjoyed taking art and design classes. My partner Gene and I moved to California, and I continued as a landscape foreman and managed a topsoil company until getting a desk job and committing to my studies. We moved to Sacramento, and I attended the University of California, Davis. I majored in psychology but found time to register for a few sculpture classes – my favorite subject. I loved having access to the woodshop and critiquing sculptures in class. I also discovered that many of my art heroes were stone sculptors.

Soon after graduation, I attended a five-week stone sculpture extension class and learned the basics of hand chiseling, rasping, and finishing. I enjoyed the ping of the hammer against the chisel and wanted more stones to sculpt. I ordered stones from New York – unaware of other stone sources. I discovered pneumatic die grinders and burrs and learned everything I could about stone sculpting.

In 1998, I stumbled upon a brochure about a ten-day stone sculpture symposium in Mount Vernon, Washington, at Camp Brotherhood sponsored by the NorthWest Stone Sculptors Association (NWSSA). I had to go; the experience was magical and life-changing as an artist. I discovered a fantastic group of creative people who freely shared their knowledge and carving techniques which I absorbed like a sponge. I have been going to Stone Camp ever since to learn, get recharged, shop for tools and stones, see old friends, and make new ones.

I prefer using a direct carving process to create my sculpture. In my mind’s eye, I imagine a biomorphic abstract object dancing, and I place the object within a stone. The dance continues inside the rock throughout the carving process as the sculpture emerges and evolves. I remove most of the stone by pitching, an electric 12-inch cut-off saw, wet pneumatic cutting and grinding, and pneumatic chiseling. I like pushing the limits of the stone, the hypnotic chase of the line, and becoming mesmerized by the interplay of negative and positive space. The dancing object begins to slow down, and I take time filing and sanding by hand until I am satisfied, and all the lines come together.

I need to create – an urge that must be satisfied, an insatiable itch. Other art forms are immediate and satisfying, but nothing compares to the immersive, therapeutic, meditative, or, more accurately, the intoxicating effect of stone carving. Other than sitting on a cushion, there is no better way to meditate. The feeling during moments the mind is completely silent while you watch your hands create is difficult to explain to those who haven’t experienced it.

I sculpt to please myself, and occasionally I make fascinating art. My sculptures do not represent or symbolize anything, and I find other interpretations more interesting than mine. I value the opinions of my creative friends but do not care much about what other people think about the art I create, which is very liberating. The sculpture Weapon of Peace #1 (marble on granite) is part of a series on what a primitive stone weapon might look like but used for art, not war. Viewing New Zealand Maori hand-carved weapons of war inspired this series. The piece titled The Kiss (marble on granite) is vaguely about fertility – the egg’s descent down the fallopian tube, the womb, a four-cell zygote. Or it could be two space aliens fighting – again, open to interpretation. The Peace Bowls (alabaster, calcite, porphyritic basalt) are part of a series of asymmetric vessels that symbolize the need for balance, unity, equanimity, and peace in the world.

NWSSA is a unique group of creative people I am happy to be a part of, where I found lifelong friends. I am grateful for NWSSA, the instructors, the board, journal staff, students, volunteers, and everyone who creates symposiums and other opportunities for stone sculptors. I am thankful for everyone generously sharing their skills, techniques, journey, and passion for sculpting stone. The black granite bases are from Bronzestone – thank you for the high-quality bases. Stone sources include Art City Studios and Neolithic Stone – both highly recommended.