By Lee Davis
Kevin Webster has an impressive record of serving his country and his city.
Webster served in the U.S. Marines and the Army and saw action in the second Iraq war. Now retired from the military, he works as a dispatcher for the Homewood Police Department.
“There’s a certain satisfaction in being a dispatcher,” Webster said. “It’s a good feeling to dispatch an officer on a call to help someone or to stop a criminal.”
There’s a lot of pressure involved too. It’s essential that a dispatcher give police officers all the information possible before going on a call.
“If their information isn’t right, the officer and others could be put in danger,” Webster said. “You have to get it right every time.”
Webster has found the perfect outlet for a stressful day in the dispatcher’s chair. He goes home and paints. The subjects can be as diverse as military battle scenes or common animals such as dogs or cows.
“I always wanted to be an artist,” Webster said. “My grandfather, who lived in Montana, was an artist and I would paint when I was with him.”
Paint and oil are truly in Webster’s blood. His great-grandfather was a friend of C.M. Russell, an early 20th century artist who specialized in the American West. “I think I was born to be a painter,” Webster said.
Despite his passion, Webster didn’t immediately choose a career in art. Upon graduation from Gardendale High School in 1983, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.
“I must have lost focus,” he said. But eventually Webster came back to art. After a four-year hitch in the Marines, he joined the Army and eventually began to paint as part of the Army Art Program, in which a large team of artists is assigned to capture the harsh realities of war.
“Gen. Omar Bradley thought art was an important way to show the horror of war and would portray it in a way that photographs couldn’t,” Webster said. “Gen. Bradley didn’t want anyone to get the idea that war was glamourous. An artist putting his interpretation of a war scene could have more impact than a photograph. Often people will stop and reflect more on a painting. With a photograph, they tend to look at it and move on.”
True to Bradley’s vision, Webster’s style is impressionistic.
Among his works is a portrait of the Battle of Najaf, one of the first major battles of the Iraq War in 2003, under Gen. David Petraeus. Another, “No Mountain Too High,” honors the 101st Airborne Division and hangs in the division’s headquarters in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Some of his work also hangs in the Pentagon and other military installations.
“There’s so much emotion in military art,” Webster said. “You have to capture the dirt, grit and bloodshed associated with any battle. It’s not a good battle scene if you don’t convey the worst in what man has to offer.”
Webster’s work has drawn the attention of prominent people throughout the state and the nation.
“Anytime you sell a piece to a serious collector, there’s a feeling of accomplishment,” he said.
His collections are on display at the Arceneaux Gallery in the Soho area of Homewood, near City Hall and the police station. “After work at (police) headquarters, I walk over to Arceneaux,” he said. “They are great people who love and appreciate art.”
Although he derives income from both police dispatching and painting, the skill sets are very different.
“With dispatching, you have to multi-task and act on reflex and instinct,” Webster explained. “With art there’s far more time for introspection and thought.”
In sharp contrast to battle scenes, Webster finds a special peace in painting animals.
“Dogs and cows are my favorite,” he said. “The most important thing is to capture their noses and eyes. If you get that part right, the rest is just like combing hair.”
Webster said people get a particular joy from seeing their pet in art form. “It’s so fun to see people smile when they get that portrait of their dog,” he said.
If Webster has an area that he’d like to improve, it might be his mastery of landscapes. He’s studied the work of Edgar Payne, who specialized in landscapes of the American West, to gain inspiration.
“If I have an Achilles Heel, it’s landscapes,” Webster said. “You can always learn and get better.”
At age 51, Webster has a plan for his future. His goal is to retire in eight years and begin a unique project.
“I’m going to get in a trailer and spend a week in every state in the USA,” he said. “I want to paint a scene from all of them. It’ll be called ‘Collection of America.’”
The goal of the project is simple: “Whatever I paint, whether it’s a scene from a national park, a military base or wherever, I want people to realize that America is an incredibly beautiful country.”
And for a man who has painted scenes from the carnage of war to the innocence of a household pet, Kevin Webster may be uniquely qualified to convey that message through art.
