ArtofTodd.com Blog

…I paint on my sketch pad while my son takes his swim class…staying fresh and all.  Figure practice makes BETTER (not trying to be perfect)!  Hope u enjoy.  Doin’ that funky art thing yo!

These are like my C grade oil pastels so I don’t get all sloppy while trying to drive home from swim lessons.  A or C grade, painting is painting, flow is flow yo!  Someone asked why is her hair the same shape as the hut in this painting.  I honestly have no idea why!  I do know I  just love fadin’ out when I am painting so stuff like this occurs.

One of the reasons I have my son in swimming is because Michael Phelps mentioned in Sports Illustrated magazine that drowning is the top cause of death for 5 – 14 year olds.  God bless him for making the spreading of this gospel one of his priorities.  

On the Music Tip & Random Thoughts…

Met with my boy Dan Z.  today for breakfast – discussed what he hears production wise with my music.  Collab should be interesting.  Now gotta’ spring the time to meet while doing the art show thang.

 A good friend was let go at work last Thursday.  The rich get richer and the rest of the sentence don’t have to be completed.  My boy G who’s in the Army now is struggling with life stuff.  I miss my Mom but still don’t know if her passing has… hit…me… just… yet.  But – Thank God for my Dad!   Feel like downloading that ol’ skool M.C. Hammer joint – ‘We Got to Pray’.  

Peace and blessings – Todd

p.s. – I’m off to read some Christy Merry poems…spiritual therapy before I pick up my ax to practice.

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Roots in Sea Cliff, (my favorite playing/eating  spot where I’m becoming like artist in residence) invited me to come and play at their open mic last night.  

The question someone posed to me beforehand was am I playing with folks at my level. First off – how does one define level?  Fame dependent?  How good one writes, sings or plays (totally subjective)?  In my mind, I play well though am hardly well known.  So what’s my level?

With this in mind, the next question became should I participate?  My answer – A  resounding YES!  And, for a variety of reasons which include:

1. I owe David and Roots BigTime for giving me space to be free and sing my story.  Roots has a great vibe, incredible staff & even BETTA’ food (yes – THIS IS A PLUG – VISIT!!! EAT!!! DRINK!!!)!  Kinda’ like a high brow Cheers…consistent.
2. U learn from everyone no matter their level.  Afterall, it’s not about the chops, it’s about expression…purity!
3. What better way to test drive my songs, voice & vibe than with a bunch of folks who don’t know me from Adam?
4. Root’s eclectic beer selection (thanks 4 the word eclectic Dan & 4 your fav beer recommendation G)!!
5. Commune with fellow musicians (hey – I don’t feel like I’m on The Island of Misfit Toys here).

So obviously, I peeped the open mic & it was totally a blessing for me to have participated.  

I was a little tired, a little rushed, and a lot fashion challenged (brown velvet jacket, grey Gap shirt,  green John Deere hat, blue jeans. WHAT!?).  But – playing out is what it’s all about.  Learning, growing, respecting the craft and  all its wonderful practitioners.  

So what’s my level?  The same as anyone who is on stage wherever I perform yo!

Stay real, stay humble, keep grindin’!

 I’m never 2 good & will never be good enuf.

Peace & blessings  - Todd

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Yo Adrian!  Played an acoustic vocal/guitar set at a real live Brooklyn house party hosted by my friend Christy Merry.  Receptive audience, chilled conversation, good live music, tasty red  licorice, and beautiful visual art.

Played about four songs and they were well received.  My new song Revolution especially went over well.

But, the HIGHLIGHT of the evening was checking out washtub bassist extraordinaire Peter Ford.  I’ve never witnessed washtub bass up-close-and-personal before.  And gotta say, it was fascinating.  Really now, dude playing one string on an amped up tub and makin’ music…! Yo, That’s CRAZY!  Like watchin’ a man eat a steak with one tooth!!

Peter backed up the talented musician/artist Rick Beerhorst (in from Michigan & I love his stuff).  2gether, they were just plain WICKED!  Me thinks I gotta’ get some washtub in my live act…hhmm…maybe call it Washtub Funk & Roll!

Christy blessed us with her always moving and spiritually based poetry (thanks 4 the welcome to your journey CM).  Rebecca Pronsky played some urban twang country-styled joints backed by the tasteful guitar renderings of Rich Bennett.  Michelle Han displayed her delicate and subtly complex artwork and Emily Anne Smith  was in the house too.  Look forward to hearing her stand up one day.

BIG THANKS to Christy (newly minted Queen Benefactress of the Arts- maybe Obama will holla’ her way) for sponsoring this gathering and sharing her spirit, home and licorice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like luv – art in its purest form is best experienced intimately…

Peace & Blessings – Todd

* all photos by Christy Merry

p.s. – the journey of an artist continues…selected for an art opening in May and invited to put on an acoustic music show in April.  and, working with a music producer…now gotta’ find a church home (thanks 4 the spiritual guidance CM)!

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“You can’t get any better than an original Courbet or Picasso” – Letitia Baldrige, social secretary to President John F. Kennedy

Says who Ms. Baldrige?? !! 

Desiree Rogers (White House secretary – Obama administration) is shaking things up by daring to modernize the White House art collection.  She’s bringing in more diversity including “more women artists, more African-American artists, more Hispanic artists, artists of American-Indian descent, Asian-American artists*.”

While wonderful, this presents a much broader question for Ms. Rogers.

Is great art considered a masterpiece only because it costs a lot of loot?  Is a tree falling in the middle of the forest with no one around – crushing everything in its wake – still considered a tree of consequence?

I’ve been to Hong Kong and seen the most inspiring art at a Kowloon museum.  I’ve seen the most amazingly spiritual art on the side of a road in Bali.  I’ve viewed unique African-American art in Harlem, vibrant Native American art in upstate New York and, funky Latino graffiti art murals in San Francisco’s Mission District.   No one has heard of these artists and perhaps no one ever will.  Some have moved to the U.S., some have not.  But – their art resonates, regardless of what people pay or who holds it in high regard?

So my point is, will Ms. Rogers diversify to the point of putting art on the White House walls that inspires, but doesn’t cost several hundred thousand dollars to own?  

Will she place an unknown, innocent child’s art on the White House walls?  Will she choose art depicting the Chinese revolution, or just the old standby Asian flower painting?  Will she place abstract art by African-American artists on the wall, or just the infamous and totally exhausted Black family ’round the kitchen table scene?  Will she maintain status quo – only placing art on the wall of individual artists priced into being known?  Artists known & revered by Ivy League chronies?  Or, will she dare step into uncharted territory?  Art for art’s sake yo!

I am in no way diminishing the great works – but there are great works all around us if we just open our eyes and let OUR eyes guide us.  

Art, like love, is in the eye of the beholder...not necessarily a thing by consensus…and no one can place a value on that!

Peace – Todd

ArtofTodd

Not a million bucks, but it moved me!

 
*Newsweek, March 9, 2009 - The Busiest Woman in Washington

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