Ground smothered
Death cast under, only a slumber
White rebirth brightening green
Sun nearly home
Tell me more
What does this mean?
The black hole, nearly passed
21 Decembers
Day of rebirth
Moment of Glory
Meaning rediscovered
Our separation nearly done
Is this how Christ felt?
Tell me more
How else to describe it?
An understanding so personal
So deep
For me?
Yes
And for you
Reading today
Drew tears out of me
And laughter in between
Never so real
Never so true
Never so hopeful
Never so fulfilling
Remember that place?
Perfect peace and contentment
Perfect harmony against mothers breast
Protected and safe
We all had at least a moment
And now we chase it
Searching for that first high
We all look for that, today
Where is it?
Every mirage evaporates
Lies
Nothing compares
Not this art
Not my success
Not my version of reality
Nor my expression of it
There’s only One best reason
To be human
To experience
To thrill
To awe
To be
Named Jesus Christ
He is as He is
Nothing more
Nothing less
Escape from pain
From fear
Loathing
The abyss so naturally calling
The darkness so appealing
Awake crackheads, awake!
He is high and the price is
Free
Every week I try to spend at least one day sketching at the Chazen Museum. Here are the results.
My Own Personal Jesus
Maternity
Today I spent all day cutting up 50 foot dead trees
and a couple that were long dead
It was cold outside
with 10 or 12 of them
Dry to the core
ready to be burned
they were more than forms
they were hard and resisted being dismembered
fighting back with stinging slaps
It was cold outside
it felt good to be outside, even if it was cold
It felt like being a man, cutting up trees with other men
then using tractors to load them onto trailers
the scraps into a burn pile, still waiting to burn
I liked being with men, cutting up trees
it was like chainsaws
loud laughter
noise
smells
jokes
Like being in the world and alive
Then later
when the other men were gone
it was just
me
cleaning up debris against a setting sun
that hides behind gunmetal grey
with my rake and tractor
with a cold wind and snowflakes
that felt good
because I was working and hot
even though it was cold outside today
Today the indian is leaving
Ice and water will fall
Crushing yellow gold and red
Our deep slumber accented with moments
Smothering sound and light
Strange peace and warmth under cover
A trip with friends incandescent
We’ll all wake together and fly away
I used to write all the time. It was luscious and engrossing. Writing made the final connection between the hydrant in my head and the hose releasing pressure and anxiety. Lately I have been having great difficulty with my painting - wondering where I should go next, if anyplace at all. Maybe painting is finite for me, a train that took me someplace and now asking me to get off. I feel I am at some sort of crossroad, unsure of a direction. Friends can’t help me, spouse can’t help me, God can’t tell me. I have to choose my walk. I have to put one foot in front of the next. And so, with graphite and colored pencil, I begin again.
Adams County Woods
Chazen Museum Girl
On the Banks of Stohr's Park
In a ditch, outside Milton
Viroqua Shed
Across the Road
Wheat
Wind lashes tree, leaves scatter, whipped up and around the corner
Branches fighting back, shaking fists out loud
Winter wheat too soon pushing through dry soil, making spring illusions early
The sun, fearful of exposure, running for its life low and south
Sometimes remembering July and August
Just seconds away from the abyss
I hate Fall
Once there was a wonder
The truth yet discovered
What’s in a hill, over a trunk?
Name that mystery, strike out to that setting
Observe and rename with line and pig’s mane
Until now
Where am I
At the turn
Struggling with patience
Circling in the backness
Is this what I was born to?
What kind of bleak is the winter day sky
What kind of true is the breathing of air
What kind of scaring last night’s sandwich out of me
But at the same time, a sort of peace
Not sure what to make of it
But this feels good
Right now
Just
Writing
it
Down
Hi there! And welcome to The Todd Blog. Find news of all things related to the studio here!
As many people already know, over the summer, in between painting and all the other stuff that goes with it, (like marketing, etc.) we were able to get the house pretty much done. And since the studio is part of the house, that got done, too!
During construction, the entire studio was moved out to our machine shed. I mean everything was moved out there; all my paints, tables, brushes, easels, books, stereo, computers and more! Not the greatest place for keeping equipment and paintings clean due to all the dust that blows around. And of course, there is no air conditioning out there, making things very hot indeed.
It was great to be in a dedicated building, away from the distractions of the house. But my Epson printers did not like the humidity or heat. My R1800 has a permanent new squeaky belt now.
But on a positive note, it was really wonderful to be able to have a physical separation between work life and home life. Not to mention, I can have my music as loud as I wanted in the shed. It also gave me a place to think and be quiet. The birds were making lovely noise, the wind blew gently in the big garage door opening, and Charlie Brown (our Airedale) could run lie in the grass.
That’s life in a nutshell; the good and bad in everything.
Some things of note happened this year. Well, actually when I consider it, this has been a very good improvement in my lot as an artist. A few new commissions, some gallery sales, and some online sales. And my body of work this year has really grown dramatically in number and, dare I say so myself, quality. At least sales would indicate as much.
At the beginning of the year I sold a piece entitled Lounge to a gallerist I had never met before. He was one of the recipients of my monthly newsletters and happened to find a client for a piece I had in storage. Love those little surprise gifts!
Something else I have been working at for quite some time finally came to fruition. I am now a part of The Artful Home (previoiusly, The Guild) here in Madison, WI. The guild offers one-of-a-kind paintings and Giclees. In my first two months, I sold 3 Giclees (reproductions) and several weeks later during an online sale, 3 original paintings were also sold.
Milward Farrell Fine Art continues to do great work for the studio, selling one of my favorite large-scale paintings, Loud Cloud II, to a visitor to Madison who took it back for his office wall. Thanks, Brian!
I was thrilled to be able to participate in commissions for the American Family Children’s Hospital in 2007 with the sale of Go Fly a Kite and A Grand Company. These sales led to commissions for UW Hospitals and clinics including High Noon. Many thanks to Sarah’s continuing support for my work!
One other bit of nice news came with the sale of 3 Giclees for a new building project in Milwaukee, WI. Lounge, Woods and Animals, and They Sleep were all taken up to be photographed at Opacolor II in Madison. They specialize in large format Giclee printing and photography, to name a couple of services they offer. Woods and Animals was particularly challenging to photograph because of it’s scale, measuring 42 x 113 inches. So you can imagine how difficult even lighting would be to accomplish. And yet, they did so flawlessly. After shooting and outputting all three large Giclees (final sizes were 16 x 36 inches, approximately) the Giclees were handed off to Kim Keister at Concepts in Art in Janesville, WI and delivered to the client with high praise.
Looking back, I’ve been pretty lucky to have made some nice sales, nice contacts, and made a living doing what I love, making art! And I have wonderful support from my best friend/wife, and our friends. I’m one very blessed dude! :)
