Toni Hartill Art: Pressing Matters Magazine, 20th Issue Print Challenge Winner!

"Pressing Matters" Celebrate 20 Winner

Back in August I entered my topsy-turvy, linocut image, "The Coach vs the Critic",

in the Pressing Matters Celebrate 20 print challenge competition

and I am thrilled that

it WON!!

Announcement with the release of Issue 20 on Instagram

@pressingmattersmag

"Pleased to announce the winner of our Issue 20 print challenge is @tonihartillart - we loved her print The Coach vs The Critic and felt that it celebrated both sides of the creative journey. Well done Toni - was great to hear all about the print and your process and share it with our readers."

Pressing Matters, Issue 20, Print Challenge Winner

The Prize!

First prize includes a double page spread (!) in Issue 20,

with a Q + A and a wee pic of myself.

(Blimey, I can not quite believe that that's my work in this beautiful magazine!)

"This issue also celebrates both the triumphs and struggles we all face in our creative journey and it’s something that our print challenge winner managed to sum up brilliantly in her submission."

If you haven't discovered it already,

Pressing Matters

is a gloriously beautiful printmaking magazine, published in the UK.

It is created by printmakers for printmakers, and celebrates printmaking in all it's many inky forms,

from all over the globe.

The Competition

To celebrate the release of their 20th issue in October 2022,

they held a competition, open to any printmaker world-wide,

to submit a positive, inspiring, single colour, handmade print.

Pressing Matters worked with GF Smith to select their favourite submission

as their winning artwork, plus a selection of entries

that caught their eye, to be showcased in the magazine.

#pressingmatterscelebrate20

#pressingmattersinsert20

Showcase Gallery Winners

Congratulations to all of the Showcase Winners!

What an inspiring, colourful collection!

To buy a single copy, wholesale, a digital copy or to subscribe:

https://www.pressingmattersmag.com/

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View SPREADS and an overview of

Pressing Matters, Issue 20

PLUS full details of how to

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CONTACT

etc.

Topsy-turvy and off on a Tangent

To read about the inspiration and motivation behind the creation of this image,

plus see the making-of process, visit my earlier blog post HERE.

In my earlier blog post I detail the why and how I decided on the topsy-turvy format,

and why I was inspired to create a work about the Inner Critic

that is constantly in my ear, as an artist,

and how I was inspired to "big up" my Inner Coach in retaliation.

Symbolism included in the Image

The topsy-turvy format of this print evolved with the idea

that the image could be hung either way up, depending on how you are feeling.

"The Coach vs the Critic", linocut, Toni Hartill

The Critic

The Critic is armed, with an eraser at the ready,

to delete any ideas before they can develop.

Lopped and dying trees shed any new growth,

and ideas blow away in the wind.

Birds of prey take flight, storm clouds weigh heavy and sheets of rain

fall on a dark forest, while barbed wire barricades the boundary.

New creations (a paper boat) are tossed in a turbulent sea.

The Critic's outfit is adorned with a highly toxic plant and the tall poppies,

that dared to grow, have been snapped and chopped to stumpy stems.

The Coach

The Coach, by contrast, is MUCH more chilled!

She has a sharpened pencil at the ready and ideas take flight

while the sun radiates warmth and nurtures new life.

The kōtare / sacred kingfisher knows what to do and when to act,

embracing the new and encourages you to follow your heart.

A school of fish swims upwards and onwards

reminding you to look ahead, not backwards.

Now, the poppies bloom and the native shrub, mahoe,

is said to help ignite passions and guide us towards our destinies.

A restless fantail flits in the updraft, always moving and curious,

above a calm sea and a distant horizon.

The Coach's outfit is embellished with the leaves of the kowhai,

said to symbolize personal growth.

I wish to thank

John Coe, Creative Director of Pressing Matters,

GF Smith

and to everyone involved in producing this beautiful magazine.

Pressing Matters magazine

Overview

Pressing Matters magazine is a publication full of inky inspiration, celebrating the best of modern printmaking from around the world. Made by printmakers for printmakers, we speak to artists about their creative processes and passion for print. Expect inky fingers, creative workspaces, sketchbooks and artworks – across all kinds of techniques and mediums.

Pressing Matters magazine - Issue 20

If there is a theme running through our anniversary edition, it’s most certainly a celebration of colour. Whether it’s through an experimental, abstract approach to image-making or by using colour to remember a place or a feeling, the tones and hues we use say a lot about us and how we see the world. It seems only right to embrace this riot of colour with open arms and create an issue full of vibrancy and brilliant ideas. Oh, and I’ve brought back some old favourites and added some new features to keep things interesting for us all.

This issue also celebrates both the triumphs and struggles we all face in our creative journey and it’s something that our print challenge winner managed to sum up brilliantly in her submission. There are artists looking back in order to look forward, creating new imagined worlds and using print to make sense of their own mental health and that of others. With more of the print community adding their voices to the mix, I hope we can share the thoughts and ideas of artists in their own words and share fascinating conversations that are happening in the world of printmaking.

I’m excited to reach the grand age of 20 (issues) and like anyone in their early twenties, I’m slightly giddy with excitement about what the future holds for the publication. I hope that energy has seeped into the pages of the magazine and you feel the warm glow of positivity when you open it up and immerse yourself in the world of these wonderful makers.

Issue Twenty featured artists/studios:

David Armes • Army Of Cats • John Coe • C. A. P. / Kong • Giuseppe D'Innella • Kate Gibb • Staffan Gnosspelius • Morvern Graham • Jemma Gunning • Tom Hammick • Issue 20 Print Challenge • Emily Ketteringham • Sumuyya Khader • Barry Kirk • Anita Klein • Lithography30 • NumberFourSoftTaco • Simon Trewin • Wolfgang Waha