Tod Mrozinski: Artists Voice

Todd Mrozinski acquired his BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 1997 where he was the recipient of a Frederick Layton Scholarship and attended The New York Studio Program. He has a plethora of work mostly depicting things from everyday life and nature in his stylistic manner. My favorite series is his Shadow Paintings series as it had a lot of expression of warmth and wonder. The watercolor series and etchings make such lively vibrant landscapes that look as if the winter is just as alive as the spring and summer. Through looking at his work and writing, he has a keen eye for placing things within a space in an arctic manner that reads both light, placement, and mood all altogether work brings a lifelike glow to life upon whatever medium he uses. Which you can see in his review of “The Phillips Collection”  where he reviews the work of European masters and how they played with light, texture, and colors to create riveting moody paintings. He has an interesting way of thinking of landscapes and how the material works in relation to what he is viewing. For example “As I walked through the tall grasses of Fellenz Woods I thought about etching, about the quivering line that happens when a metal point glides through a black painted ground into a copper plate. In many ways, etched lines mimicked these hardy plants and grasses, flexible and flowing with a hint of stiff resistance. With each step the soft damp ground underfoot felt like thick German paper, soaked, blotted and prepared for printing. “ (https://awealthofnature.org/todd-mrozinski-artist-in-residence-at-fellenz-woods/ ) 
    In his article with Urban Miwlaukee, Tod describes the paintings within the show almost as if he would describe or view his own work. His descriptions are observant of the artist's technique and how it plays into the mood of his work. He would describe one piece as “The variety of brushstrokes seems to be responding to the conversation they are having; each woman is painted with mysterious features that emerge and dissolve depending on your distance from the piece.” (https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/02/18/visual-art-the-power-of-great-paintings/ )creating relation between the technique of strokes within the artist's hands being visual to the position and mood of the overall painting. I find his style of writing engaging and almost mystical, perfect for getting a viewer engaged in other wise classical works that not most find interest in. As someone that works at Milwaukee Art Museum most people find it beautiful but also quite boring and oftentimes don't come for our european collections, often they opt for Georgia Okeefe(she gets her own genre with how many people ask for her collection), expressionist, and modern works. I have always found that the European Galleries held work that was masterfully done and as a painter found great appreciation for it. The way Tod wrote this article has widened my appreciation and I'm sure at the time, did the same for many others.