Mother Always Wins Sculpture

Todd Mihlbauer (aka; Tmiles) is a sculptor and painter based in Southern California, whose creative journey began in his childhood in Wisconsin. From a young age, he was constantly immersed in the world of hands-on creation, modifying everyday items and furniture to better suit his needs. This practical approach to design—combined with a deep love for puzzles—fueled his understanding of shapes, color patterns, and spatial relationships, laying the foundation for his future artistic endeavors. While his natural inclination was toward studying architecture, he ultimately fell in love with the freedom of creating art. After earning a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, he made the bold decision to move to Southern California. There, he continued to nurture his artistic passions while lending his creativity to the advertising world. Painting remained central to his artistic practice, and his work in abstract painting reflects a deep exploration of shapes, colors, and the interplay of form. In his early years in California, he discovered the joy of stone sculpting when he enrolled in a weekend introduction course at Otis College. His interest quickly turned into a full-fledged passion, and soon after, he attended the California Sculptor Symposium in Cambria. His pursuit of sculpture then led him to the Dellatolas Marble Sculpture Studio in Tinos, Greece, where he spent a brief moment honing his craft. Sculpting—often a noisy, dusty endeavor—was difficult to pursue in the densely populated landscape of Southern California, but in recent years, he found a new community of stone sculptors and secured a shared industrial space to continue his work. This return to sculpture has reignited his passion, and today, while he still paints, stone sculpting has become his primary means of artistic expression. He experiments with a variety of stones, including marble, alabaster, and onyx, seeking to merge his painting experience with his sculptural work. By applying the principles of color, light, and shadow to three-dimensional forms, he creates sculptures that reflect his ongoing exploration of the human experience. Nature and human behavior are central themes in his work, often focusing on power dynamics—whether between people or between humans and the natural world. Occasionally, he creates pieces inspired simply by nature's beauty, drawn from his love of hiking, camping, and travel.