Badland Vista

Above: The badlands just south of our kitchen window.

After an amazing year of working and living in Seoul, we have returned to our Wyoming home. To me the sky always seems a bit bluer, and the light a bit richer after a long trip away.

Next stop... Ireland.

Image © 2015 Tod Polson

Indian Paintbrush and the SMK exhibit

-Recently I was asked to participate in an exhibition at the Statens Museum for Kunst, part of the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen. The show is called "Flowers and World Views"... For my subject I chose to paint the Wyoming state flower... the Indian Paintbrush. 

Please read more about the exhibit here

Above: I made several versions of the painting, inspired by the badlands near my house in Wyoming. The badlands are in fact an ancient seabed... and fossils of fish, turtles, and even crocodiles can be found way up in the mountains. Once I picked a bouquet of Indian Paintbrush flowers for my grandmother, not knowing they were endangered, and illegal to pick. Luckily she was kind enough not to turn me in to the authorities. I've not picked them since. -tod

The World of "John Deer"

Above: Caught somewhere between the worlds of  humans and animals... John Deer must learn to fit into his new world, dealing with cultural misunderstandings, and the call of nature, while avoiding being eaten.

I've been developing a number of T.V. show ideas of my own over the last few years. One of those deer to my heart is an idea based on my experiences growing up in a small mountain town in Wyoming. I call the project "John Deer".

Above: My town doesn't look like this EXACTLY... but it WAS settled primarily by Danish, Swedish, and English immigrants. After working in Denmark I realized that a lot of what I took for granted as "American" or "Wyoming" building styles were in fact Scandinavian.  Of course I have made a few minor embellishments here.

Above: Like my own home town, the community of Killdeer is rich in folklore, and characters from folklore:  Big Foot, Jackelope, the monster in the lake. But to John Deer... these aren't mere mythological creatures, they are friends. 

Drawing on the richness of my real, (and imagined) Wyoming roots. Spinning yarns, and telling tall tales has long been a tradition in my town.  I plan to incorporate this  style of storytelling into the world of John Deer.

Above: The main characters of the show

I've written quite a number of stories around these characters. I am still looking for a production partner, but am hoping to make a "John Deer" pilot episode in the near future.

Above: Uncle Bob quote: "The closer you are to danger, the closer you are to danger."