My Artist Statement
by Michael Todd
There is a spiritual connection — ethereal in nature — woven into the very ordering of each portrait’s creation. Its delivery is mystical.
I did not choose this path so much as I was called to it.
My journey as a visual artist began with rudimentary drawings in my earliest years — raw, searching, imperfect. What I could not have known then was that those first humble marks were the beginning of something that would consume and define my life. Not a career. An evolution of the spirit.
Over the decades people from all walks of life have looked at my work and said the same thing —
“You are gifted.”
I receive those words gratefully. But I am always quick to offer a distinction that is very close to my heart:
“The true gift is not the talent. The true gift is being in receipt of the PASSION — because without passion I would not have endured the learning curve. Without passion the evolution never happens. Passion is what drives the artwork. Everything else follows from that.”
I was not simply born talented. I was given the burning, sustaining, enduring desire to pursue this with everything I have. That desire — that passion — is itself the divine gift. The talent followed the passion. The mastery followed the perseverance.
And I am deeply grateful for both.
What I Do
I work across an extraordinary range of mediums and genres — graphite portraiture, digital art, color pencil abstractions, Native American series, Digital Earthscapes, Double Exposure Collages and beyond. Over 500 works spanning a lifetime of creative devotion.
But at the sacred heart of everything lies the commissioned graphite portrait.
Graphite is the most intimate and unforgiving of mediums. There is nowhere to hide. Everything must be earned. I work from your photographs on Bristol extra-smooth professional drawing paper, investing 8 to 14 hours of profound engagement into every piece.
But the hours themselves are only part of the story.
Something happens during the creation of a portrait that I can only describe as metaphysical. I become the subject. The portrait begins to speak to me — telling me when to lighten, when to deepen, when to leave something alone. They are never truly finished. I simply know when to stop.
What My Clients Experience
My clients consistently reach for spiritual language when they describe receiving a finished portrait. One collector wrote:
“His work is Spiritual — touching all aspects of divine interpretation. What a blessing and honor it was to be enlightened by such an extraordinary man of faith and celestial inspiration.”
Others speak of magic. Of being truly seen. Of something captured that no photograph ever managed.
This is not something I engineered. It is something I was entrusted with.
My Faith
I am a man of deep Christian faith and I do not separate that faith from my art. I believe something greater moves through my hands in the creation of each portrait. That the subject is not merely rendered but in some sense — delivered.
The evolution from those earliest drawings to the work I produce today is not simply the story of an artist improving his craft. It is the story of a passion so fierce and so divinely placed that it refused to be extinguished — and in that refusal, produced something I pray continues to move and inspire all who encounter it.
An Invitation
Whether you are here to commission a portrait, explore my galleries, or simply to experience the work — I welcome you.
Every portrait I create is a deeply personal, heirloom-quality piece of art — something to be treasured, displayed with pride, and passed down through generations.
I would be honored to create yours.
754.707.9572 | artistmichaeltodd.com
— Michael Todd, Visual Artist, Ft. Myers, Florida