The Aboriginal didgeridoo and native hues have set the pace for this evening?s exhibition at the Masterworks Foundation.

The Aborigine inspired works of Trevor Todd, a.k.a. Cosmic Consciousness, make up his first solo show, which features acrylic on canvas.

Mr. Todd first became aware of Aboriginal art and music when he first went to Australia to represent Bermuda as a triathlete.

?I have been a triathlete for about 20 years and I went to Australia the first time in 1997 and the Aboriginal (people) opened the ceremonies,? he said.

?They were playing and dancing in a ceremonial way and between the sounds and the dancing, I couldn?t take my eyes off of them.?

This led Mr. Todd, who always wanted to learn an instrument, on a musical path.

?But (initially) I didn?t know what I wanted to learn, so about three years later I saw Keith Caisey (local didgeridoo player) in the newspaper and he had been playing at Harbour Nights and I said, ?That?s what I want to learn.?

?He taught me and to take myself to higher learning, I had to take myself to Australia. Once you play it you get a cultural experience and it leads you to the Aboriginal people.

?The dialect in which they speak comes from the didge and also the symbols in their art is about telling stories.?

The yidaki or didgeridoo is something that has always been with them.

?You have elders that play and teach and you also have four and five-year-old guys carrying around pipes and playing,? he explained.

?I can only hope to be like them one day.?

The instrument is created by a natural process, one insect that we would call a pest and kill if they persisted.

?The aboriginal didgeridoo is made from termite hollowed eucalyptus stems,? said Mr. Todd.

Asked whether he attended a musical institute to learn the instrument from the people, he said: ?Basically just travelling I came across a few festivals and you get into their energy and they tell you to come with them and you just learn from them because they have so much to teach.

?They want everyone to learn about their culture. They were also interested in my culture and where I came from ? it was an exchange.

?They asked me about the Bermuda Triangle and I asked them about Dreamtime, which is something about their culture. I don?t know much about it, but the do speak about it.

?It?s a spiritual place, everyone has dreams, but some people write them down, while others don?t. But I do know it is about where their ancestors are.

?I saw a book on Aboriginal art and they said they got the Dreamtime, while Africans got the Awaken time, so they are ying and yang within themselves. I always wanted to do art, but I never got into it and it was either being afraid to start or whatever. I did art in school, but I played around with it.?

Mr. Todd said in order to play the digeridoo, the way to breath is best described as ujjayi breathing.

?It?s like yogic breathing and it took me about two weeks to learn that,? he said.

?And then you learn where to put the sounds. One guy who I was sitting next to was about 70 years old and he said he hasn?t stopped learning. I figure, if he?s 70 then at 41 I still have lots to learn.?

But what sparked his interest in Aboriginal art?

?Art is about symbols and they carry vibrations so if you can see this piece of art as a symbol, like a ying and yang sign for instance, then that is a vibration in itself,? he explained.

?So the art in itself is like music, because music is like a vibration.?

His inspiration comes from meditation.

?I get my inspiration from meditating,? he said, ?I get symbols and I just ran with that.

?Then I just put them down and every time you do it another thing will come from that and one thing leads to another.

?Most of them are simple mazes and in different regions they have different styles of art, but I like dots and lines. So I just came up with designs of mazes, where you can see yourself going through.

?It is just not dots, its about putting them into proper places because it means something.?

Most of the pieces are in earth tones and, he added: ?Some of the pieces are as big as doors and the reason for that is it (the art) doesn?t look good on anything smaller.?

Asked where does does his art take him, he stated: ?As an artist, it helps to free me and also allows me to reach other people, because I might see one thing in it while others might see something else.

?So basically, it brings other people into the art.

?Poetry, music, art and healing, but this time it is about art and the next time it will be about something else. This is a vehicle that I am building for creativity and this is an outlet.?

When he was inspired to pick up a brush ten months ago and begin painting he found a lot of help within the art community.

?I just started doing this art and I spoke to (artist) Manuel Palacio and he allowed me to use his studio,? he said, ?And also the encouragement from (artists) Bruce Stuart and Vernon Clarke.

?My cousin Robert Rogers and his uncle were due to have a show (at Masterworks) and they couldn?t do it. So I asked them how could I have a show and they told me who to speak to at Masterworks and that?s how it went.

?You might have one plan and the divine has another, so let go and let the divine take his course. It wasn?t no accident, it wasn?t planned by me ? it was the divine. And this is what I mean when I say you meditate and let go and it will take you to other places and that is what the art is all about ? taking you in and bringing you out.?