Terry: an appreciation
TERRY WEBSTER August 11th. 1941 – October 4th. 2024
Terry Webster was an artist; the real thing. He was my friend, and I had known him for 66yrs and one month. A part of me thought that he would always be there whenever I rang the door bell at 3 Willes Road and I would always be ready to squeeze past his large frame and then into the kitchen room where there would be coffee and biscuits and talk of models made or in progress or ideas that needed some manufacturing thought. Then there was always football; the progress of Liverpool FC or West Brom. and of course Leamington FC. We spent a couple of years following the Brakes to some inaccessible parts of the West Midlands—Cradley Heath comes to mind but there were others. I thought that this would continue forever, as you do in the denial of a logic that would surely prove it to be an illusion.
I met Terry at the Birmingham College of Art and Crafts in September 1958 when we both enrolled onto the first year foundation course. There were about 60 or so admissions, I knew none of them and I’m fairly sure that all were new to him. We divided into two groups of about 30 students in each group and began the long haul of learning to paint and draw. Terry was a tall slender youth of 17yrs. with close cropped hair. He also displayed an acute sense of humour. For a short period we both did some work in the basement Sculpture Department run by John Bridgeman. I remember him making a rhinoceros from Plaster of Paris and scrim.
He decided to study illustration for his diploma although he often said that, with hindsight, Sculpture should have been his choice. After leaving the College of Art he taught art in secondary schools both in Birmingham and Leamington before marrying Kathy Williams and obtaining part-time (later to become full-time) work on the foundation art course at the Solihull College of Technology. The facilities available at the college enabled Terry to develop his interest in sculpture which he was then able to further pursue when he moved his family to a large house in Leamington where he set up a studio.
During this period his subject matter consisted variously of animal forms, but he also had a fascination with the seaside comic postcard, particularly those made by Tempest and McGill. It was also during this time that Terry formed two working relationships with Dutch companies who produced commercial sculpture aimed at the giftware trade. He was invited to design sets of small animal objects to be made in hard plaster for sale in European outlets. The work enabled him to leave teaching. The animal models that he was asked to make were required to have an anthropomorphic character that would generate an instant empathy with the general public. This factor was completely suited to the Terry mindset and was to remain as a feature of his future work. The working space afforded by his new home, made the production of quite large sculptures an inviting option. ‘’Croc-Man’’ was created and bought by the London Toy Museum, ‘’Pig-Man’’ was purchased by the Herbert Art Gallery and an eight foot high dragon was made for the annual ‘’Followers of Rupert’’ convention in Warwick. Then there was ‘’Tiger Man’’ based on the John Heartfield photomontage and is a stunning 3D recreation of this famous image. These works were generally made in a synthetic resin and using similar casting methods to the giftware pieces, although worked through and painted to a high degree of finish.
When Terry’s involvement with the commercial giftware trade finally ended and he and Kathy moved into a smaller house in Willes Rd. Leamington, he turned to the use of papier-mâché, built up in layers, to make his sculpture. His work then became slightly smaller in size but developed an intensity of subject matter and chromatic finish that sought to combine all of the ideas and making skills that he had developed over the years. These works display the full extent of Terry’s imagination and those who own one of these pieces can count themselves fortunate. At the same time as he was making these sculptures, he began to draw, almost incessantly, in sketchbooks onto coffee shop napkins or any available blank sheet of paper. It was as if all the characters that had accumulated in his head but not succeeded in making their way into three dimensions, were suddenly and manically forcing themselves into existence. Footballers, vicars, nurses, all varieties of animals and fish and some creatures of indeterminate origin that you would not care to run into on a night out in Leamington Spa, were somehow ‘’magicked’’ into existence.
He was a regular exhibitor in the Leamington Open Art exhibition, winning the People's Prize on two occasions. Initially prompted by the Lockdown, a small number of us, including Terry, started a drawing group in a room adjacent to his kitchen in 3 Willes Road. Terry was a gregarious man and very much enjoyed the company of others and the combination of drawing within a social situation was perfect for him.
I have purposely limited this appreciation to the creative development of the artist. I am very lucky to have known such a talented, funny, generous man who has enriched the lives of the many people who knew him and who, like me, will miss him very much.
John Hunt, October 2024
Terry Webster was an artist; the real thing. He was my friend, and I had known him for 66yrs and one month. A part of me thought that he would always be there whenever I rang the door bell at 3 Willes Road and I would always be ready to squeeze past his large frame and then into the kitchen room where there would be coffee and biscuits and talk of models made or in progress or ideas that needed some manufacturing thought. Then there was always football; the progress of Liverpool FC or West Brom. and of course Leamington FC. We spent a couple of years following the Brakes to some inaccessible parts of the West Midlands—Cradley Heath comes to mind but there were others. I thought that this would continue forever, as you do in the denial of a logic that would surely prove it to be an illusion.
I met Terry at the Birmingham College of Art and Crafts in September 1958 when we both enrolled onto the first year foundation course. There were about 60 or so admissions, I knew none of them and I’m fairly sure that all were new to him. We divided into two groups of about 30 students in each group and began the long haul of learning to paint and draw. Terry was a tall slender youth of 17yrs. with close cropped hair. He also displayed an acute sense of humour. For a short period we both did some work in the basement Sculpture Department run by John Bridgeman. I remember him making a rhinoceros from Plaster of Paris and scrim.
He decided to study illustration for his diploma although he often said that, with hindsight, Sculpture should have been his choice. After leaving the College of Art he taught art in secondary schools both in Birmingham and Leamington before marrying Kathy Williams and obtaining part-time (later to become full-time) work on the foundation art course at the Solihull College of Technology. The facilities available at the college enabled Terry to develop his interest in sculpture which he was then able to further pursue when he moved his family to a large house in Leamington where he set up a studio.
During this period his subject matter consisted variously of animal forms, but he also had a fascination with the seaside comic postcard, particularly those made by Tempest and McGill. It was also during this time that Terry formed two working relationships with Dutch companies who produced commercial sculpture aimed at the giftware trade. He was invited to design sets of small animal objects to be made in hard plaster for sale in European outlets. The work enabled him to leave teaching. The animal models that he was asked to make were required to have an anthropomorphic character that would generate an instant empathy with the general public. This factor was completely suited to the Terry mindset and was to remain as a feature of his future work. The working space afforded by his new home, made the production of quite large sculptures an inviting option. ‘’Croc-Man’’ was created and bought by the London Toy Museum, ‘’Pig-Man’’ was purchased by the Herbert Art Gallery and an eight foot high dragon was made for the annual ‘’Followers of Rupert’’ convention in Warwick. Then there was ‘’Tiger Man’’ based on the John Heartfield photomontage and is a stunning 3D recreation of this famous image. These works were generally made in a synthetic resin and using similar casting methods to the giftware pieces, although worked through and painted to a high degree of finish.
When Terry’s involvement with the commercial giftware trade finally ended and he and Kathy moved into a smaller house in Willes Rd. Leamington, he turned to the use of papier-mâché, built up in layers, to make his sculpture. His work then became slightly smaller in size but developed an intensity of subject matter and chromatic finish that sought to combine all of the ideas and making skills that he had developed over the years. These works display the full extent of Terry’s imagination and those who own one of these pieces can count themselves fortunate. At the same time as he was making these sculptures, he began to draw, almost incessantly, in sketchbooks onto coffee shop napkins or any available blank sheet of paper. It was as if all the characters that had accumulated in his head but not succeeded in making their way into three dimensions, were suddenly and manically forcing themselves into existence. Footballers, vicars, nurses, all varieties of animals and fish and some creatures of indeterminate origin that you would not care to run into on a night out in Leamington Spa, were somehow ‘’magicked’’ into existence.
He was a regular exhibitor in the Leamington Open Art exhibition, winning the People's Prize on two occasions. Initially prompted by the Lockdown, a small number of us, including Terry, started a drawing group in a room adjacent to his kitchen in 3 Willes Road. Terry was a gregarious man and very much enjoyed the company of others and the combination of drawing within a social situation was perfect for him.
I have purposely limited this appreciation to the creative development of the artist. I am very lucky to have known such a talented, funny, generous man who has enriched the lives of the many people who knew him and who, like me, will miss him very much.
John Hunt, October 2024
