CREATING THE COLOUR OF MUSIC

(taken from the Catalogue "Ronald William Webb, Paintings to the music of Kathleen Ferrier)

With colour and texture at the forefront of his paintings, Webb now evolved his art to encompass his other great love, music.

In 2005 his painting "What is Life" was his first piece directly inspired by music, that of world famous British contralto Kathleen Ferrier. When in 2007 he was offered another exhibition for Sa Nostra in Menorca, he decided to paint abstract impressions of what the music of particular composers he loved meant to him. This highly successful exhibition entitled "The Composers" included canvases reflecting the work of Schubert, Mozart, Bach, Rodrigo, Vaughan Williams, De Falla, Hildegard of Bingen, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Handel and Tomas Luis De Victoria.

Explaining the mystical process of how he translates music into colour Webb says
"I listen to a piece of music that inspires me and an instinctive process starts where strong colours and images come through and I develop these. The colour and movement of the music is so important."

"I have in front of me a blank canvas and I never know what the finished painting is going to be! If the music is very vibrant then the painting must be vibrant and have a lot of movement in it. If the music is very tranquil and quiet then the painting will be the mirror image of that." He concludes "I very much create on the canvas without a lot of forethought. Happy accidents happen. I squeeze many colours that are inspired by the music and play with them on the palette - this is what gives life to these happy accidents. I paint in a way that is layering. The first layer may only be a small piece of the painting and streaks of colour come through as I paint."

Focusing on the captivating voice of Kathleen Ferrier, he has produced a compelling series of twenty-two new paintings entitled "Paintings to the music of Kathleen Ferrier". The exhibition was sponsored and organised by the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, with support from the Kathleen Ferrier society.
Expressing the importance this new exhibition holds for him Webb says "Kathleen died far too young but will always live on through her music. I have been very lucky and have managed to survive and control my multiple sclerosis as well as forge a career as a painter. This new exhibition is my homage to the remarkable human being Kathleen was. I hope I can do her and her incredible talent justice."

THE COLOUR SEAS - by Juan Elorduy

THE ART OF MUSIC - by Barnaby Edwards