Irving Toddy is a Navajo Native American, and he lives with his wife and six children on the Navajo reservation in Window Rock, Arizona. Irving is the oldest son of Beatien Yazz, the internationally acclaimed Navajo painter. Irving graduated from Utah State University after attending the former Intermountain Inter-tribal School at Brigham City. While at Utah, he studied painting and illustration, and he continues to apply his illustrative skills in his fine art career.

Irving and several other Navajo painters have become known as the "Gallup Realists." Because his work is so realistic, it is greatly different from traditional Navajo painting. One of his favorite subjects is Canyon de Chelly, the sacred Navajo canyon located near his home. Toddy sells his paintings in several art galleries across the southwest United States.

Irving works primarily in oil and acrylic paint, but he is also skilled with watercolor and pen and ink. His work is collected by both private and institutional collectors. He was awarded the "Best In Show" prize at the 64th Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial in Gallup, New Mexico.

Dwyer & O’Grady first saw Irving’s painting at an art gallery in Gallup, New Mexico. Irving began illustrating children’s books with Lenore Keeshig-Tobias' Bird-Talk, (Harcourt), then he illustrated Eve Bunting's Cheyenne Again (Clarion) and Jill Rubalcaba's retelling of Uncegila's Seventh Spot (Clarion). His painting was used for the book jacket of Waterless Mountain, (Knopf), and he has provided numerous illustrations for Cricket magazine articles.

For information concerning school visits, presentation or the purchase of Irving’s original artwork, please contact us.