David Webb
I am a printmaker and photographer, a biologist whose outlook as an artist is strongly influenced by my scientific background. I retired in 1995 from a career in genetics education, with an academic focus on population biology and the ecology of organisms in space and time. When I turned my attention to art, I did not lose my interest in living things, and most of my art is grounded in an appreciation of nature and man’s place in relation to other living beings. I hope my art will inspire the viewer to look more closely at the complexities of a world we are often too busy to look at. I do not have a single working style, and produce works across a wide spectrum of media and styles. They are united by a clarity of vision, precision of technique, and attention to detail.
My works on paper are of several kinds: 1) botanical prints of grasses from my collections of whole plants from Texas and the West in sizes from 42″ x 15″ to 22″ x 10″, 2) 4″ x 5″ block print replicas of classic postage stamps from Asia and Europe with authentic collage additions; 3) large scale prints (48″ x 24″) of creatures (ant, fly, spider, cockroach), 4) collagraph etchings hand-crafted from plexiglass and modeling paste, 5) letterpress items involving hand-set lead type, 6) photographs of Historical Houston architectural subjects, reprinted glass negatives from a century ago using various alternative processes, and miscellaneous other photographic imagery.
I have trained at the Glassell School, having been print shop assistant as well as darkroom technician there for over 15 years, and at the Printing Museum for about 10 years where I am currently vice-president of the Houston Printers Guild. All my materials are archival and presented with full provenance sheets. My sales are strong and I think I would sell well at First Saturday. At Glassell Student Sales, Winter Street Holiday Market and a few other smaller venues, I have sold: Stamp Replicas and other block prints (858); plant prints (170); collagraph etchings (54); other intaglio images (112).
