Greetings!
Thanks for visiting our Shopify store! My name is Todd Breitling and I am a Photographer and Painter. I want to introduce myself and tell you a little about my background as an artist. My brief biography below will give you an idea of my styles and methods and how these leggings and other products have come to fruition from my photographs and paintings.
I received my degree in Communications from Lynchburg College in Virginia. After graduation I moved back to Pennsylvania where I began my art career in earnest. I took a job as a traveling portrait photographer and my travels often took me to Philadelphia where I discovered a whole new universe of city lights,textures and graffiti to explore and photograph. One day while walking back to my car in the rain I noticed oil leaking from a car engine and the resulting oil slick it produced on the black wet pavement. I was entranced by the intricate shapes and designs of the mixing colors. Seeking to find more of these unique, fleeting patterns and shapes became an obsession. After it rains, I can often be found in parking lots and streets, camera in hand, searching for more unique designs. I have titled this series of images "Oil on Pavement". All of the images I capture, no matter what the subject is, reveal a tremendous beauty to me and these fleeting moments do not last long so it is important to me to capture and share these moments with the world. I have numerous styles I shoot in from abstract to landscape and street photography to macro photography. I was awarded the Mid Atlantic Triple A Travel Photographer of the Year in 2015 for his image "Walker and Bike" shot in Stockholm,Sweden.
In addition to my various photography endeavors, I am also an accomplished painter. Most of my works are what have been termed "Organic Abstraction". These works are a study in lines and the space they reside in with regard to contrasting colors and the dimensions they create. My intention is to create a spontaneous visual journey for the eye. I am inspired to invoke the beauty and emotion of color in my work, acknowledging that the viewer's experience creates their own interpretation of the meaning. Using oil,acrylic,ink,enamel,wax, epoxy resin and mixed media in his paintings, my creative process is to explore emotional reactions to the combinations of colors and textures he layers on the canvas. I create detailed and intricate patterns within my paintings using a variety of painting knives and brushes. I also utilize nontraditional techniques of painting with unusual tools such as syringes,pins,qtips,toothbrushes and spatulas to create different textures,patterns and layers.
Instead of philosophical interpretation, I want the viewer's eye to be saturated with the freedom to roam the canvas. I liken the experience to listening to jazz, a free flowing expression, that allows the colors and textures to elicit an emotional response. The manifestation of each painting is spontaneous and I am never quite sure how the painting will turn out as I believe being free from preset visualization of the piece releases the creative flow. My spontaneous mixture of patterns and lines is a metaphor for life and how we are never sure what is coming next; a reminder to trust and enjoy the journey. I like to use dark backgrounds that create a feeling of being surrounded by darkness and the unknown where the colors lead the viewer into a new light of potential discovery. Many of my works also include mixed media such as shards of glass, pebbles,watches,wood,fabrics,coins,gravestone rubbings,tiles,flowers,molding paste and various found objects such as jewelry, metal and wire.
Combined with my unique style using oil,acrylics, resin,enamels and various oil mediums, not to mention fine art photography, I have created an original body of work. This wide range of influences serves to broaden my creative palette where I truly have no boundaries to limit my burgeoning portfolio.