Studio Teobi

Todd Brown is an exceptionally good teacher. His guidance will be of value both to beginning and experienced artists. When I took ‘The Art Of Not Knowing’ several years ago, I had never considered myself a painter. Six months later, I had a studio and was producing work on a regular basis. Seven years later, I am a full time artist. For me, Todd’s workshops have been life changing. This is art instruction PLUS. I cannot recommend too highly.

I just did my second all-​day painting workshop with Todd and I can’t exaggerate how wonderful the experience is. His studio is full of light, paintings in progress, and music; he is an intelligent, authentic, kind, fun, and interesting person; his teaching method combines the very best of structured instruction in use of materials with a sense of creative play, discovery, and exploration. He engages with his students in a way that meets them right where they are, and encourages them to take risks and see what happens. As a former visual artist coming back to painting after a 30-​year hiatus, I had some trepidation about getting started again because I don’t remember Thing One about materials or process. That trepidation disappeared within a few moments of my first workshop, because of Todd’s approach and how friendly and fun the other students were. I feel as though I am making the acquaintance of an old friend — the visual artist I left behind. I love that Todd teaches The Art of Not Knowing, because it totally removes any pressure we might feel about the end product, and allows us to learn from the medium and the process. I recommend Studio Teobi workshops without reservation, and I will be at every workshop I possibly can going forward. Thanks, Todd!

I just completed a fun day at Todd’s studio exploring «not knowing» with a large canvas. I am an experienced amateur and I delighted in the atmosphere and instruction that Todd provides. Your work on canvas is complimented and inspired by soulful music, interesting discussion and playful exercises designed to free the creative spirit. It seems to me that Todd’s teaching strikes the fine balance between guidance and freedom. The resulting paintings are pretty cool, but really it’s all about the journey.

I took «The Art of Not Knowing» painting class twice with Todd – once on my own, and once with the entire English department of the high school where I teach. Both times, Todd balanced structure/​instruction and freedom/​time to experiment incredibly well. This was one of those workshops that obviously has so much thought put into it that it ended up teaching me about so much more than just painting. I’ve thought a lot about the premise of this class so many time since the times I attended it. I’ve thought about the art of not knowing, of not planning, of not listening to the critical voices in our heads in all sorts of contexts – while I was teaching my students about how to approach their essays, in my friendships, in approaching any unfamiliar territory in general. There is such freedom in letting go of any «should“s, any agendas and just let be; Todd’s classes are wonderful reminders of how freeing it can be not to know what might come next. And Todd is such a great teacher that in all the freedom of exploration in front of your canvas, you never doubt that he has an intention and a vision for where the workshop is going. Incredible value for a class like this, too.