We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Phil Webster. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Phil below.

Hi Phil, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I have been fascinated with shape, pattern, form, and geometry since at least junior high school. Early on I thought maybe I wanted to be an architect, but when I took an architectural drawing class in high school, I realized that I couldn’t care less about building codes and structural engineering, I just wanted to play with the shapes.

This quickly evolved into a lifelong hobby of drawing patterns and building shapes. But it remained a hobby, albeit a passionate one, until well into my forties.

Then, in 2012, my wife and I took a trip to India that changed everything for me. For the first part of the trip we were part of a larger group of about 30 that went on a mantra and meditation retreat at an ashram in a tiny village in southern India. During those four weeks we practiced many hours a day and visited some of the ancient temples in the part of the country. During meditation, the message came to me loud and clear: it was time for this thing that I had been holding off to one side to come front and center in my life.

After the retreat, my wife and I continued traveling for several more weeks across northern India. In Northwestern India, I encountered in person for the first time some of the masterpieces of Islamic geometric design – buildings where almost every surface is covered in intricate geometric patterns. I came home from that trip bound and determined to give all of my attention to my art and try to make a living through it.

After about a year and a half, life took another turn and we moved across the country to pursue dual job opportunities that were too good to pass up. Once again I put my art on the back burner, but I was miserable the whole time, knowing in my heart that I had left the path I was being called to. After a few years, when that project was complete, I returned to pursuing my art full time and haven’t looked back.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I create contemporary art and décor that helps people create a sense of calm and order in their homes. In a world that seems to be getting ever more busy, chaotic, and stressful, it is more important than ever for us all to be able to reclaim a sense of peace and equanimity. One of the best ways to do this is to create what I call a “home oasis”. At a minimum, this is a room (or at the very least, a nook!) filled with art, photos, décor, etc. that immediately set you at ease. My goal is to create art and décor that will inspire this feeling in my collectors and find a place in their special spaces. Ideally, over time, you can expand your oasis to include your entire home.

I came to this business through a lifelong love affair with geometry and pattern. Starting as early as junior high I had a compulsion to draw repetitive patterns, and to play around with two- and three-dimensional shapes that have a lot of symmetry. Over time this grew first into a passionate hobby, and eventually into a full time professional pursuit. These days my creations include wall art, sculptures, and lamps.

I believe we all share an innate appreciation for symmetry and pattern, and that simply spending time with beautiful shapes and patterns can induce a sense of calm in just about anybody. I certainly experience this when I am in the act of creating my pieces. The fact that symmetric patterns and shapes appear in cultures throughout the world, and across centuries, demonstrates their universal appeal. I feel an artistic kinship with the often anonymous artisans behind Islamic design, and Celtic knots, and Indian kolams, and Tibetan mandalas.

What makes my work unique is the way in which I combine these ancient design traditions with modern mathematical concepts like fractals and polyhedra, and with technologies like computer modeling, 3D printing, and laser cutting. These tools allow me to create art those ancient colleagues could barely imagine. I revel in blending the very old and the very new to create something completely novel. I am thrilled to bring new things into the world that can help my collectors find that sense of peace that they crave.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Like many creatives, I’ve had to work hard to unlearn the story of the “starving artist”. It was this notion – that it’s impossible to make a living doing something creative – that kept me from pursuing my art full time for decades.

In a way it’s funny that I would have bought into that story, because both of my parents (and both of my grandfathers) were professional musicians. However, they all worked in the field of classical music, where many of the employment opportunities are actually pretty secure, full time jobs. My parents played in a symphony orchestra, and both of my grandfathers were full time music teachers at music schools. But I was also aware of the many musicians who struggled to get by playing side gigs and teaching independently. And I guess for some reason I didn’t equate music with visual art.

Slowly over the years, I started to rewrite that script for myself, focusing on the many people who ARE out there making a living making art or pursuing other creative endeavors. It’s still something I have to actively work on, but these days I’m quite optimistic about the possibility of establishing a “second career” as an artist.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

This may sound redundant or too simplistic, but for me the most rewarding part of being an artist is simply the ability to engage in the act of creation on a daily basis. The impulse to make new things is tightly woven into my DNA, I guess, because even before I decided to pursue visual art professionally I was ALWAYS creating something. Over the years I’ve pursued my own musical path as an arranger, composer, director, and baritone / vocal percussionist in numerous small a cappella groups. I’ve also spent a crazy amount of time solving and creating word puzzles, have tried my hand at embroidery and knitting, and have learned the basics of woodworking and stained and fused glass.

For me, there is nothing as rewarding as when a new idea comes to me and I sink into the flow of creation. I guess I’d say that for me the act of creation is its own reward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.philwebsterdesign.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philwebsterdesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philwebsterdesign

Image Credits
Phil Webster, Randall Bohl