The painting below is a tribute to my beautifully complex cousin and dear friend Webster Atwell. He left this earth almost a month ago. With his death, a part of my heart has been painfully extracted and will forever be missing. His absence is palpable to me…everyday. I pray that he is relieved of that which plagued him while in his earthly body. I have no doubt he is….relieved. I also hope that his precious cat Bobbitt, and my father-his uncle, greeted him upon his arrival in whatever dimension he now finds himself embraced.
I painted this last night. It is my memory’s representation and recollection of what the front side of Vail Valley/Vail Mountain in Colorado looked like from Webbie’s hot tub deck. It is what he saw each and every day upon awakening. It is what I was blessed to see, for a brief time, when I lived in Vail with Web before relocating to San Francisco. Web was an artist in his own right as well as a lover of art and ‘the’ arts. Just a month ago he was talking to me about his plans to start sculpting again. He wanted to send me some large canvases on which to paint. He wanted to teach me how to make my own frames and stretch my own canvases. He sent me pictures of what were his favorite pieces of art in his home. Sadly, I will never benefit from the wisdom he possessed in regard to the aforementioned. The history of the canvas he was so eager to send me will be forever lost and unknown to me. He took those, and many other details, with him when he left.
Thank you Webbie…the two of us went through difficult times, many difficult times over the years….but when all was said and done, we had forgiven, forgotten, moved on, moved forward, and we both knew that we loved one another unconditionally…unconditionally.
Thank you for the memories sweet Webbie. You will forever remain a permanent part of the person I am today….good, bad, and ugly…we were friends….and that is how we shall remain forever even if we no longer occupy the same physical plane.
Cheers cousin!
Faires Fine Art 