Visitors At The Gate ( Piece one of The World Rediscovered Collection )
4 feet wide by 3 feet tall - Acrylic on mounted wood panel

An all new collection started by Contemporary Artist Todd Lawson. Though still officially untitled the “Disney World Inspired Series” is a new direction for Todd’s paintings focusing more on detailed, large scale works. The series is a collection of visual scapes about a future rediscovery of Walt Disney World by a new culture.

It is meant to be a positive and alternative statement toward the staying power of this testament of Americana pop culture and magic…the mind wonders

During the painting of this first piece in the series Todd Lawson showed followers on his Facebook page an intimate step by step progression of the work from initial sketch to finished piece. It was the first time he allowed people to see up close how his paintings develop. The progress photos are viewable on his facebook fan page.

Limited Edition Prints expected to be available soon. Additionally a gallery showing is forecast for 2011 or 2012 depending on the speed of additional paintings in the series.

I have resigned my position of Senior Art Director from Dashboard. My last day will be March 31st. Details to come in this post in a little bit. For now I’m finishing out the month and helping launch two very cool Toyota sites and then relaxing a bit afterwords before continuing a new.

This was not an easy decision to make, on my part.  The past three years have been very rewarding and has had a huge impact on me as a person as well as my growth in my career. I have decided after much deliberation and conversation to take a recently offered opportunity to work with new people and new accounts at an agency in Toronto.

Dashboard is one of the strongest and most passionate teams I have ever had the pleasure of working with. And I am leaving on good terms. I wish them all the best.

(UPDATE - May 20th, 2010)

Now that it’s been a while since I left Dashboard I felt it was a good time to update on my status. I did in fact leave Dashboard to go to another agency as well as focus on Miner Thought. Both of which I am still doing. The new agency in question was GREY Canada - who are in the process of rebuilding their company with a much stronger attack structure to interactive and digital. Since mid April I have been working there as a Senior Art Director helping with their current clients and pitching new ones with a focus on digital. To learn more about my role you can read it in my CV.

Why did I leave Dashboard? So many reasons. But in the end it boiled down to time. I had been there for 3.4 years and in this industry that’s a lifetime. I had routinely said no to other agencies and head hunters alike over that time with a loyalty to my team and the culture at Dashboard - who I loved to work with. However change is good and I was feeling a bit burnt out and simply needed to give myself a refresher as well as work with new people and try new things. Going to GREY has given me the opportunity to work on more than simply interactive and I’m looking forward to not having to deal with inter-agency for a bit and being able to work on and control all sides of a given campaign. They are young, hungry and the momentum is gaining. It’s an exciting time for an agency who has fought the “old agency” typecast for a long time. In fact we aren’t really that big - small staff ready to grow and do great things - with a larger focus on interactive. I’m looking forward to it - and am even happier that I was able to leave Dashboard on very good terms.

Outside of GREY i am also still working on Miner Thought business - focusing on branding and design in all mediums for mid size, small and non-profit endeavors.

Since late 2009 I’ve been working on and off on my largest painting ever and documenting it step by step on my fan page for fans. Follow me and watch as the work progresses. Series idea: The series is a collection of visual scapes about the future rediscovery of Walt Disney World by a new culture…the mind wonders!

http://www.facebook.com/toddlawsonart

http://www.facebook.com/toddlawsonart

In other news i’ve been pretty busy this year (so far)…

Tag A Heart for Haiti Project
Over 4 days on facebook myself, group of artists and my company helped raise money for Haiti Relief asking people to tag themselves and their friends in a facebook photo album of artist created hearts. Over 500 actions were taken… Read More

Contest is over
Thanks to everyone who partook in the Munny Giveaway contest on my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/toddlawsonart/. The contest is close and the winner chosen!

My new work is the most ambitious and largest ever and is about a favourite topic of mine: Walt Disney World
See it’s progress on my Facebook page as I paint it! First time in 10 years I’ve unveiled how I work and paint. http://www.facebook.com/toddlawsonart

Miner Thought reopens for business
For the first time in 3 years I have restarted my design and branding business Miner Thought with a core focus on small business, branding and non-profit sectors. And we’ve been VERY busy: Learn more about MT

I have just agreed last minute to be a part of an group show at the beautiful IX Gallery in Toronto (Davies/Queen) on July 23rd, 7-10pm.

This will be my first art showing in Toronto and only my fourth showing in Canada. Come out and see four of my larger works originally from the Midnight Garden show as well as the other artists involved and say hello - I’ll be there and would love to meet you. Please make an effort to come out and see the work, support the show, support the gallery (it’s a fantastic new space) and if you like what you see you can purchase either original artwork - or a museum quality fine art print.

About the show:

July 23rd- August 29th
BIG: a group collective of larger scale works by Jack Butler, Erin Fitzsimmons, Kate Martin, Joshua Roy and as of this afternoon - ME!
Opening Reception: Thursday July 23rd, 7-10 PM

About IX Gallery:

IX Gallery and Event Space is a unique and exciting new venture in the Toronto art scene. Canada’s most innovative contemporary Artists are now gathering in a 3,000 square foot space at Queen and Broadview to offer Limited Editions of their finest works.

The original artworks of contemporary artists are displayed along side Limited Editions, and the gallery is a destination for art enthusiasts who wish to enhance their collections with authenticated Limited Editions of established Artists.

A Limited Edition can be commissioned from any original piece in the gallery. These museum quality editions, rivaling the original, are customized to fit your space. They are created in house by master Printmakers using the groundbreaking uberscan technology. These art works are then printed on premium paper and are signed, numbered and dated by the artist. Expert framing is also done on the premises, completing the presentation.

I will have prints valued at approximately 1/3 and 1/5 of the original piece retail price available for order at a limit of 10 per painting. ORDER THEM HERE

Learn more at IX Gallery’s Web Site
Contact the gallery for more information: 416-461-3233

ARTWORK RETURNED.

UPDATE: Case closed - after a confusing/fractured few months I have received all my paintings back from the gallery. Sigh of huge relief there. If you are an artist and looking to contact the galler: johnpaulbeaver(at)gmail(dot)com.

Hello everyone - unfortunately, due to bad business practices of Inspirosity Gallery in Beaver Pennsylvania and their owner John Paul (alias John Vranesevich) - 5 of my paintings totaling a value of $7,000 have not been returned. The Gallery closed this past May after being open for 8 months without telling the artists. Additionally Mr. Paul has been very hard to get a hold of and has been unable to come through on any promises with in emails stating all work would be shipped back on June 15th (it has not). Since those  emails - NO contact attempts have been returned. Additionally the gallery’s website and email has stopped working.

If YOU or ANYONE you know has purchased or sees the following 5 paintings I URGE you to call your local authorities and myself  IMMEDIATELY as I must now considered all the work to be stolen. (647-338-2350 | info(at)toddlawson(dot)com)

As for the owner John Paul I encourage all fellow artists to NOT do business with him if you are approached (as the multi-page contract that was signed has so far been completely ignored on the part of the now closed gallery).

UNRETURNED WORK:

I Am No House Wife

Powerlines 1

She Had Her Roots

Lollipop

Head In The Clouds

Dashboard has won 2 interactive media awards from 2008 work in this years Applied Arts Advertising & Design annual. They included the Vaseline Skin wheel (which I didn’t work on) and the H&R Block Social Life Simulator - which I worked way too many hours on with the talented team at dashboard and illustrator Ramon Perez for the first quarter of 2008.

Check it out on their site.

And learn More about the project here.

from applied arts:

Category: W/22 Weblog/Social Networking
Title: Calculatron & Social Life Simulator

The H&R Block Calculatron provides a tool for students to estimate their tax refund. The Social Life Simulator then gives users a chance to spend their refund or earn their way to glory through a number of virtual-income opportunities geared to the university-student lifestyle.