Toni was born in Sydney and moved to the Gold Coast after getting married. She had no formal training, but always loved drawing as a child, and dreamed of becoming a commercial artist but ended up working in a bank....! After moving to the Gold Coast, a friend bought a plant and flower shop and after training Toni ended up working as a florist for over 30 years....during which time she began painting.
She began originally in oils, then going on to acrylics, first painting for family and friends, then selling from a local coffee shop. After a serious health scare she wanted a new challenge and I decided to learn watercolors.....She found the process the total opposite to oils and acrylics, but absolutely loved the excitement and unpredictability of it and was totally absorbed in this new medium!
Over the years Toni has taken classes with various artists and done workshops to explore different techniques and styles. When her husband died quite suddenly, she stopped painting for about 18 months, but was motivated to get back to her art by trying out a box of pastels that had been left to her by a dear friend, who was a beautiful pastel artist. She found that pastels were a great medium for doing fur on animals, and started getting some commissions for animal portraits, and also using graphite, colour pencils and charcoal to achieve some of the effects she wanted. She also played around with mixed media, and started winning prizes at art shows again. She uses whatever medium suits the subject and loves variety, in medium, colour and subjects.....whether it's landscapes, seascapes, buildings, animal and human portraits, and flowers, she loves them all.
Toni lives on the Gold Coast, so a lot of her paintings represent various aspects of the places around her, the beaches, to the mountains, and the country in between. Light is what excites her, and she loves that her style is different to others, with many people saying they feel as if they can walk into her paintings! She treats every work as a challenge, to transfer what she sees in her head or with her eyes onto the canvas or paper.
One of her artworks was used to promote and advertise the St.Hilda’s Art Show in 2017, where she sold 3 artworks on opening night, and another of her works was used to advertise the inaugural Runaway Bay Rotary Art Show in March 2020. She does welcome commission work, so if there’s something you would like created just for you, she would love the opportunity to make that happen.....just message her!
Here are some of the more recent testimonials from some recent buyers, which gives her the confidence and the inspiration to keep creating and painting....,
From Stephanie, 2021, “Hi Toni, I am the lucky purchaser of this painting! I love it! My family spent many Christmas holidays on the Gold Coast in the 70s, travelling from a small town in Central Qld. We bush kids were dazzled by the bright lights, and the Coppertone ad and the Pink Poodle were our favourites! Your lovely painting is destined to be a 50th birthday present for my sister (if I can part with it!!) Thank you!
From Jane, 2020, “Been trying to think of the right words to try and express my love for this beautiful painting you did for me of the giraffes. I will treasure this artwork all my life! Can’t wait to have it hanging on my wall!”
From Deb, 2020, “He loves it! I cannot thank you enough Toni, and it will be treasured in our family forever! We love our boat and you have captured it beautifully!”
From Sally, 2020, “I’m so lucky to receive such a beautiful gift.....I love it so much! Needless to say, I cried when I opened it! You captured the spirits of my fur babies and you are so very talented....A very big thank you from the bottom of my heart!”
From Donna and Nigel, 2020, “we love our portrait of CC our fur baby!”
From Renee, 2020, “I just received this beautiful painting this morning. I’m so happy to have such a beautiful piece of my favourite place from my old home on the Gold Coast in my new home in Brisbane! Thank you Toni!”
From Malcolm and Diane, 2020, “Hi Toni, Diane and I loved this painting! Our friends are bringing it back to Melbourne for us, thank you!”
Thanks for visiting her gallery!