“As much as art is about creating an object, it’s also about learning about yourself. My art has always been this tool for which I decipher the world, and my place in it, or who I am and how I learn and what I see. It’s the medium through which I decipher everything.”

Artist Tom Jean Webb grew up in England but knew from an early age he wanted to live in America. His mother and grandfather helped to inspire his creativity and if not for a chance visit to a contemporary art gallery as an adult, he would not have realized that what he wanted to say with his own art was valid and possible. After many trips and back and forth from the United States to England he finally committed to fulfill his dream and made the US his home. 

The work he creates is heavily inspired by the colorful and rocky desert landscapes of the southwest and are explorations of space and his own personal reality. As he consistently strives to create his distinctive artwork he prioritizes being open and present, staying playful, having fun, and letting go of control and preconceived ideas.














Together From Afar I & II, 2020  Acrylic on Canvas  75 x 53 in




See Tom Jean's work in person at 

Ivester Contemporary

916 Springdale Rd

Bldg 2, Suite 107

Austin, TX 78702

(737) 209-0379




This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Intro music generously provided by Stan Killian

Support this podcast. Links:Tom Jean WebbTom Jean Webb | InstagramTom Jean Webb | Ivester ContemporaryAn Englishman Goes West: Tom Jean Webb at Ivester Contemporary | Glasstire

Episode 101: Tom Jean Webb - Being Here

The goal of the podcast is to facilitate connections with and to learn from the successes, struggles, life experience, and wisdom of the people featured, most of whom live and create in Austin, Texas. The honest conversational flow of these weekly long form interviews lends itself to some really great insights and information that is available to anyone who wants to listen. Join us to explore the origins, stories, lessons, lives and work of those in our community who are at the forefront of creative expression. The podcast is hosted by photographer, art enthusiast and collector, Scott David Gordon.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

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Educational Technology

Self-Improvement

A quick interview with Jacqueline Overby & Courtney Peterson of MotherShip Studios, who are spearheading the inaugural San Marcos Studio Tour! We talk about the inspiration for the tour, the many mentors and examples that made it possible, the importance of group artist studio settings, what to expect, all the details, and more. 

Text courtesy of SMST website.

MotherShip Studios presents the inaugural San Marcos Studio Tour- anticipated to be the first of many years to come! This free, self-guided tour will feature over fifty artists all across San Marcos, Martindale, and surrounding areas. Artists will be showcasing their studio spaces and artwork during this weekend-long occasion, launching with a kick-off event held at MotherShip Studios, Friday, March 31st. As well, a group exhibition of all participants will be hosted at the MotherShip warehouse gallery featuring one artwork from each artist.

The San Marcos Studio Tour will highlight San Marcos area artists and their studios, while fostering connection and engagement in the arts and local communities. Allowing the public an insider’s look into the artistic process creates an exchange between fellow artists, community members, and art collectors. We will showcase the messy workspaces, the paint-splattered floors, the at-home and garage studios, the cluttered art supplies, the inspirational walls of reference photos, and the clay-ridden wheels. We will provide an opportunity for artists to show the raw spaces from which they create. These environments, though sometimes unpolished, are where the magic happens and creativity flourishes. 

Mothership Studios will provide a tour map with numbers for each artist and signs to display during the tour weekend. A catalog of the tour participants will be available for purchase at MotherShip Studios. In addition to the map of all tour stops, this catalog will provide details on each artist, including images of work, and short statements about the artists. The kick-off event will feature our group exhibition, a live printing demo, music by local musicians, a raffle give away, and complimentary drinks sponsored by local breweries such as Middleton Brewing, Still Austin Whiskey, Austin Beer Works, and Thirsty Planet.

Please join us for an inspiring and interactive weekend of San Marcos arts and events!

When:

Friday, March 31st at 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Kick-off Event at MotherShip Studios/20027 San Marcos Hwy 80, San Marcos, TX, 78666

Saturday, April 1st 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Tour Open/Town of San Marcos and Martindale

Sunday, April 2nd at 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Tour Open/Towns of San Marcos and Martindale 






Courtney and Jacqueline hard at work!




This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Intro music generously provided by Stan Killian Links:MotherShip StudiosAlicia Philley, mid-career abstract painter and installation artist based in Austin, TXAustin Studio TourThe Museum of Human AchievementJacqueline Overby - Soft SculptureBask in local artistry with the inaugural San Marcos Studio Tour in April - CultureMap San Antonio

Episode 109: San Marcos Studio Tour by MotherShip Studios

“The more I know about me and the more I explore who I am and why I am, trying to be objective about that, I think that transfers into the work”

B Shawn Cox is a Texas artist who is best known for his iconographic figurative western cowboy paintings on fabric, realized in vivid colors and patterned layers. He also uses similar images in his digital lenticular work where your shifting perspective creates movement in each piece, with the use of juxtaposing portraits. Then there are also his meticulously constructed dimensional collages which transform 2D into 3D. 

Shawn has figured out how to combine these disparate bodies of work into cohesive looking and feeling exhibitions. This approach keeps things exciting for the viewer as you never know what you might see. The work is playful, adventurous, and exciting at first glance but can be delved into deeper for a full gamut and range of thoughts and ideas. Currently Shawn is exploring western societal and standardized mythologies, reflected and processed from a personal standpoint. He is looking at where he came from and where he is now, and the influences of the kinds of iconography that society celebrates in conscious and unconscious ways.

Growing up in West Texas with a desire to be creative, but with limited means, taught him to see more possibilities of use in everything around him and a somewhat contrarian approach to the rules of around what is possible. Even though his family was in ranching, he chose to leave and focus on academia, studying and practicing both architecture and law. And consistently through the decades in his spare time he took art classes and the commitment and momentum grew until he got the attention of galleries and collectors alike.

Shawn is really fun to talk with and is one of the nicest people I know. An inspiring thing about his art practice is what seems like an unwavering dedication to evolving the work and fearlessly trying new things. That keeps things fresh and fun. 









This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The podcast is sponsored by Ivester Contemporary and East Side Picture Framing

Intro music generously provided by Stan Killian Links:B Shawn Cox WebsiteThe Commerce Gallery - B Shawn CoxDavis Gallery | B Shawn CoxEVOKE Contemporary - B Shawn CoxFORT WORKS ART - B Shawn CoxICOSA - MembersROBERT MOORE - Idaho Landscape ArtistFelicia Forte ArtworkAustin Art School | Atelier DojoMonahans - Google MapsGlassell School of Art | The Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonWestward, Faux: B Shawn Cox at the Dougherty Art Center | GlasstireCaroline Frost, Author at Glasstire

Episode 108: B Shawn Cox

"We are fed with this idea that we have to be so much. And of course it’s not true because each of us has a specific talent or specific things we are good at. I finally feel at this place of my life that I’m enough. I’m tying to do my best with the little corner of what I know how to do. So my goal is to keep passing this message and hoping that it’s going to effect the life or the way of thinking of certain people."

Anne Mourier is a conceptual artist who was born in France and is now splitting her time between the east coast and Italy. We met many years ago in NYC and during my travels I made a point to visit her and sit down for an interview. Some of the themes she explores in her artworks are the feminine archetype, motherhood, quiet simplicity and beauty, home and the chores of domestic life, and maybe most importantly the environment and respect for life and nature. I’m so impressed with her wisdom, groundedness, her dedication to research and a commitment and openness to using any medium which might best communicate what she is trying to say with her work. 

She also has a series of separate performances called Taking Care were she prepared meals for people, washed and item of clothing, and washed their feet. Of the work she states “I strongly believe that “Taking Care” is important and may possibly be the only way to mend our broken society:  Taking Care of our planet, Taking Care of things instead of replacing them, Taking Care of each other…”

As she says so well on her website her goal is “A harmonious future, free of its dualistic and antagonistic visions; a holistic future that would acknowledge the fluidity of the masculine and the feminine principle living in harmony within each of us, in nature, in art, in everything we touch, smell, and see.”






Taking Care: The Feet - Photo by Maria Baranova









This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The podcast is sponsored by Ivester Contemporary and East Side Picture Framing

Intro music generously provided by Stan Killian

Support this podcast. Links:Anne MourierAnne Mourier (@annemourier) • Instagram

Episode 107: Anne Mourier - Mother-Nature

"I think it’s so important that we accept each other for our differences, and just come together like brothers and sisters.  We’re stronger as a unit. We’re stronger together. Again, community is so important."

Adrian Armstrong is a multitalented and multidisciplinary artist who creates powerful figurative portraits primarily by combining painting, collage, and circular strokes of a ballpoint pen, as well as working with printmaking and creating music. One of his goals to combine all of the mediums he works with into one cohesive experience. 

And as he states on his website “He aims to portray what it means to be an African American living in modern America” We had a wide-ranging conversation about his life, starting with growing up in Nebraska and the importance of his family, to moving to Austin and creating a new community here to participate in and help to support and grow. 

I’m inspired by Adrian’s work ethic and dedication to creating great work, pushing himself to be better, while also helping to support others as much as he can.









This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Intro music generously provided by Stan Killian

Support this podcast. Links:Adrian ArmstrongIn Vivid Pastels, Adrian Armstrong Explores the Complexity of BlacknessArt Galleries at Black Studies - UT

Episode 106: Adrian Armstrong - Stronger Together

“I feel like by becoming an artist it’s helped me to become who I am. And it’s helped me to accept my body. Not that I didn’t love my body, but going to figure drawing and drawing every type of persons body was such a powerful thing for me. To realize that every body really truly is beautiful.”  

Painter Sara Jane Parsons specialty is realistic portraits of people, landscapes, still lifes, and figure studies, all rendered beautifully in graphite or watercolor, although she did recently start learning how to work with oil paints. The incredible thing is that she creates all of her work while holding the paintbrushes and pencils in her mouth. 

At the age of twenty, a spinal cord injury left her paralyzed from the neck down, but that did not stop her from getting a law degree, working jobs combining legal and social work to help hundreds of people, traveling broadly, and pursuing anything that interests her and cultivating a life that is joyful and creative. 

She is a proud member of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists, a great organization that helps artists with disabilities support themselves through creating artworks that are placed on products sold far and wide. Sara Jane is such a sweet, driven, and passionate artist, and it was a joy to talk and spend some time with her and be inspired by her story, her resilience, and her dedication to being an artist.











"Helen", Watercolor, 13.5" x 18"  By the courtesy of the

Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Worldwide




This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The podcast is sponsored by Ivester Contemporary and East Side Picture Framing

Intro music generously provided by Stan Killian

Support this podcast. Links:Sara Jane ParsonsMouth & Foot Painting Artists – MFPA USABWCA, Boundary Waters, Canoe, Quetico

Episode 101: Tom Jean Webb - Being Here

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