Thursday, 5 December 2024

ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm creating an online Signature Course for Fibre Arts Take Two!





Well, I have quite an
ANNOUNCEMENT
to make!





I'm very excited to share with you that

earlier this year I was invited to create 

an online Signature Course for 

Fibre Arts Take Two 

and you can NOW REGISTER 

your interest online.






Visit: www.fibreartstaketwo.com






Explore Ways of Expressing 

Your Own Personal Stories 

Through Your Art



Waymarkers series by Toni Hartill



My course is called

Unconventional Artist's Books
with Toni Hartill



Artists of all levels and abilities are invited to 
step beyond your usual practice and unlock your 
creative expression through artist's books 
and three-dimensional structures.


Migration (mini) by Toni Hartill





Develop Your Ideas Into Meaningful Artworks

I LOVE the voyage of discovery as I set out on a new project 
and I can't wait to share my processes with you 
to create meaningful, personal works that push your practice 
in new and, hopefully, unexpected directions!






A concertina book exploration by Toni Hartill







Participants will develop key skills such as…

Finding their story and concept.

How to document the process through workbook journals.

Embracing mistakes as vital learning moments.



The course focuses on…

Breaking free from conventions.

Playful experimentation (rather than rigid methods)

Mark Making and creating layers to develop 

rich, textured surfaces.

How to work in a series to build depth and continuity 

while evolving naturally across multiple pieces.




Simple folded structure by Toni Hartill



My course aims to support you to break free from conventions.


Through playful experimentation with a variety 

of three-dimensional structures, 

from simple to more complex, you'll build confidence 

and skills to unleash your creative potential.




Cliffs - A Study of Mark Making by Toni Hartill



I'll guide you through the process of developing your own 

personal visual language through multi-layered mark making. 


I hope I will inspire your use of found and repurposed objects 

and materials to add a tactile and visual depth to your work.




"Treasured" by Toni Hartill





I'll also share with you my journey of discovering artist's books 

as a valid and viable art form and how it has allowed me to express 

my true and sometimes quirky, always personal and meaningful, 

creative self.



I'll take you through the creative process, right from generating 

new ideas, all the way through to how you might present and display 

a piece, or even a body of work, in an exhibition.






Toni Hartill






Why Enrol in a Fibre Arts Take Two 

Signature Course?


Unbound - Unconventional Artist’s Books includes:

 

Lifetime Access: 

Revisit the course content anytime to refresh your skills 

or find new inspiration. Learn at your own pace!


Student Community Group: 

Engage with like-minded artists and form connections 

that could last a lifetime.


Two Live Q&A Sessions: 

Get direct feedback and insights from Toni (ME!) herself.


8 Weeks of Tutor Support: 

I will be there to guide you, answer your questions, 

and help you overcome any artistic hurdles.


Showcase your artwork: 

your enrolment includes an invitation 

to participate in an online exhibition.






I'm currently still in the THICK of planning and preparations 
with filming scheduled for early 2025.

The course enrolments open later next year so stay tuned for updates by






Also:

or click button in top of right-hand column

@tonihartillart

tonihartillart



By registering your interest on the Fibre Arts Take Two website 

you will receive information about the course, 

a monthly e-newsletter, always full of inspirational news, 

plus updates for the weekly Friday Feature Artist interviews.




I had an amazing experience as a 

Friday Feature Artist 

in April 2022.



You can view my earlier blog post about my interview 

HERE.


Or view my interview and artist profile on the 

Fibre Arts Take Two website 

HERE.



I'm so excited to have this opportunity to develop this course 

to share with a whole NEW and GLOBAL audience!


I hope you'll enjoy following along as I work towards 

the launch of my course next year!




Thanks so much for visiting today!






Sunday, 11 August 2024

"The Expanded Field of Print", PCANZ selected exhibition



Image credit: Joanna Fieldes, Deborah Crowe, Jennifer Halli



The Expanded Field of Print 

20 August - 14 September, 2024


Norman King Square, Ernie Mays Street,
Northcote Central, Auckland.


Opening event: 
Saturday 17th August, 
1 - 3pm
with a floor talk by the selector, Steve Lovett.



This is a selected exhibition by members of
and is a wonderful opportunity to view contemporary printmaking 
by artists from all over Aotearoa.




Please note: 

(as mentioned in my earlier post)

ALSO opens on Sat 17th August, 2 - 4pm

I will endeavour to attend both openings 
but will definitely be at 

the Depot Artspace, Devonport 

to welcome visitors from 2 - 4pm.


Please join us at both events!


"The Expanded Field of Print consists of over 40 selected works by members from the Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand. The intent of the exhibition is to encourage printmakers to explore different ways of engaging with imagery, materials, processes and technologies. Works selected are contemporary and diverse ranging from floor based, wall mounted, and plinth to a variety of hanging installations.

The Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand is a national, non-profit organisation supporting and promoting printmaking across all regions of New Zealand. Members’ work encompasses the full spectrum of printmaking from traditional, contemporary through to the experimental."



I'm delighted to have had my artist book

Chorographia I

selected to be a part of this exhibition.


Update: I'm so delighted that
Chorographia I
SOLD to a collector
at the opening of
The Expanded Field of Print.



Description:
Wall hung cascade-style artist’s book
comprising multiple pages which are intended to be lifted
to reveal hidden layers and details.
Media:
Sumi-e paper, linocut, woodcut,
monoprint, collagraph, collage, stitching,
repurposed gilt frame moulding &
brass fittings.
Dimensions: L 775mm x W 198mm x D 35mm


"Chorographia I" Toni Hartill


My Chorographia series of works were created for my

solo exhibition WAYMARKERS, Nov-Dec, 2023.


You can view this series of works in an earlier post HERE.


Artist Statement:

Choros: place, Graphein: to write

The art of describing or mapping a region or district.

Topographic imagery and patterns as seen on and of the landscape, are layered in patchwork-like grids, evoking fields and weathered surfaces along the imagined route of my journey through rural Aotearoa, as I embarked on my Opunake artist residency.











Thanks for visiting!






Wednesday, 7 August 2024

Sponge City, Collaborative Print Installation

 

Image Credit: To Hold – Toni Mosley and Hard-Pressed Collective 


Sponge City


Depot Artspace
28 Clarence Street, 
Devonport Auckland


17 August – 28 September 2024


Exhibition Opening: Saturday 17 August, 2-4pm

Formalities will start at 2pm with a mihi whakatau.

ALL WELCOME!




If you follow me on social media you may have seen a series of posts of work in progress towards this collaborative print installation. There has been a massive amount of work happening by all members of the group as we prepare for installation week, NEXT WEEK!



Wall installation, work in progress, by Nicola Ov, Toni Hartill


Sponge City is a group exhibition addressing urban resilience against the adverse weather effects of climate change. Through the artform of printmaking, this collaborative exhibition - delivered in partnership with Restoring Takarunga Hauraki (RTH) - addresses the recent flooding that Tāmaki Makaurau has experienced and how this natural disaster impacted our communities.



Work in progress, Di Smallfield




This exhibition includes artwork by current members 
of  Hard-Pressed Collective including: 

Celia Walker, Toni Hartill, Toni Mosley, Ina Arraoui, 
Kheang Ov, Nicola Ov, Di Smallfield, Jude Gordon, 
Esther Hansen and Bridget Burnett.



Man-hole rubbings by Celia Walker, Ina Arraoui



Depot Artspace will also be hosting several FREE workshops 
and events throughout August and September 
in support of Sponge City, 
thanks to the support of  
Auckland Council's Creative Communities Scheme:

        • Sustainable Outcomes Presentation: Thursday 22 August, 6pm
        • Cyanotype Print Workshop: Saturday 24 August, 2-4pm
        • Paper Marbling Workshop: Friday 6 September, 12:30pm
        • Tetra Pak Printmaking Workshop: Saturday 14 September, 2-4pm


Printing al fresco, Celia Walker, Nicola Ov


For more information about the exhibition, 

the artists and the events please click the link below:


Work in progress by Bridget Burnett, Esther Hansen



About Hard-Pressed Collective

Hard-Pressed Collective is a group of printmakers from Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, New Zealand, with an interest in collaborative projects and ecology-driven installations. There is a shared aspect to printmaking unique to the medium, and this collective ethos, along with the ability to produce multiples, has enabled the group to extend their practice into large-scale assemblages. All have exhibited widely and many have been finalists in major national awards and selected exhibitions.




Previous installations by members of 
Hard-Pressed Collective:

Water, Fall

Franklin Arts Centre, Pukekohe
24 Feb - 6 April, 2024





Forest has the Blues ~ Murmurings

Franklin Arts Centre, Pukekohe
20 July - 24 August, 2019





Forest has the Blues

Depot Artspace, Devonport, Auckland
14 July - 25 July, 2018






Thanks for visiting!



Thursday, 1 August 2024

Coastal inspired collection, WAYMARKERS exhibition

 

Coastal inspired collection, WAYMARKERS exhibition, Toni Hartill


This collection of artist's books was exhibited as part of my solo exhibition 

WAYMARKERS ~ Into the Unknown.

Please visit my earlier post to view a tour of the full exhibition.


Coastal inspired collection, WAYMARKERS exhibition, Toni Hartill




Tin-can Dioramas

Inspired by a love of escaping to sea for solace and refreshment, 
these tiny worlds are created to engage a childlike imagination 
of escaping from the world to far-off favourite places.



Approaches to Auckland

Tin-can diorama.

Round tuna can, chart, hand printed papers.










Salt Spray II

Tin-can diorama.
Oval sardine can, linocut, woodcut, paint.

SOLD







Sea Air

Tin-can diorama.
Round tuna can, etching, collograph, monoprint.

SOLD








Trig

Acrylic hill with trig.

Found weathered acrylic shape, florist wire, card.


A familiar feature on many a headland, where we would scamper, barefoot, up a slippy-slidey mud track to the windswept tops and glorious panoramic views. Trig beacons are a marker of times, places and of people in my life including both of my parents and maternal grandfather, all surveyors, and scamperers in their time.












Depth in Metres

Original tin can structure.

Tuna cans, old charts, ink, ribbon.

This piece was created as a model to test ideas in preparation 
for making a larger work called Vitamin Sea
The structure was designed to challenge ideas around what an artist book could be. 
It also indulged my enjoyment of creating tiny dioramas.


SOLD
Purchased by Auckland Libraries, Angela Morton Room Special Collection.



















Vitamin Sea

Cover version

Linocut, solarplate, cutting.

This is a wall mounted version of the cover of my artist book Vitamin Sea ~ Fuel for Heart & Soul.

Inspired by a trip to the Cavalli Islands, off the Northland coast, I wanted to express how the restorative effects of going to sea are so revitalising it should be canned and marketed. The “book cover”, inspired by retro food tin designs, espouses the health benefits of the contents while a found verse perfectly sums up my own connection to the sea. Inside the actual artist book are a week’s supply of smaller cans, the “pages” or “chapters” of the “book”. Each one reveals a new vista and experience at sea, like a visual diary or a ship’s log. Each vista tells a story of a time and a place.

The structural inspiration for the original artist book reflects on the canned food rattling around the bilges of a boat, weathering over time until, when they are eventually eaten, they taste oh so good, strangely far better than they might if eaten in the comforts of home. Simply being at sea is nourishment enough.


SOLD












Migration ~ Mini & Maxi versions

Globe book structures.
In both examples, the globe can be manually rotated. 

Handmade and hand-printed papers, recycled plumbing and found fittings, wood off-cuts.

Inspired by a tiny exemplar of this structure while doing a workshop tutored by Beth Serjeant, I began experimenting with using a mould to make shapes out of handmade paper and consequently made a LOT of circles of various sizes. It then took a while for inspiration to strike, and for suitable parts to be found, to turn the blank, basic structure into a piece with a story or purpose. Once the idea hit, however, the piece evolved quickly and was a lot of fun to create, engaging my childlike pleasure of old-school toys.

**“When the structure is right for the text and images it falls into place and practically designs itself”

**quote from Woven and Interlocking Book Structures by Claire Van Vliet and Elizabeth Steiner.


Maxi Migration: NFS

Mini Migration: SOLD












Whangaroa

Continuous Turkish map-fold.

Old map, collage, watercolour, cotton ribbon, found box.

 

An old (imaginary) seafarer’s map folds away into its protective box.

Wanting to keep the main area of the map intact I created this Turkish map-fold structure from a single piece of paper rather than individually cut sections. This allows the structure to open lengthways rather than pivot around a central point. 


SOLD

Purchased by Auckland Libraries for the Angela Morton Room Special Collection.


















North Cape

Explosion book.

Old chart, collage, watercolour, found box.

 

This explosion book is made from a single piece of paper for the main structure rather than a series of individual overlapping squares which would have obscured areas of the map.

I like the idea that a bulky map could be magically folded into a pocket and vice versa, that something small and contained could be opened out to reveal something unexpected. 


SOLD

Purchased by Auckland Libraries for the Angela Morton Room Special Collection.





















Manawa themed pieces

My fascination for seed pods, especially the native mangrove, Manawa, was the starting point for this series of drypoint images created for an earlier body of work. I developed sketches I had made of seeds washed up on my local beach and was much amused by their characterful poses.

These images have also appeared in an earlier edition of artist books I created in 2019 called Field Notes, one of which now resides in the Auckland Museum special collection, and one in the Auckland Libraries’ Angela Morton Room special collection.



Manawa Seedlings, various

Drypoint, watercolour, Hahnemuhle paper. 

Some have foam-board packing, one has thread roots added, and one is cut out.










Manawa Journal

Concertina book.

Drypoint, watercolour, collagraph, book board, ribbon, stitching.

This simple concertina journal brings together the last of these prints in one final artist book, 
complete with the artist’s tools.














Remanent NFS

Repurposed board book.

Multiple printmaking processes, found ephemera, offcuts and scraps.

 

This book evolved out of a desire to repurpose some small, unframed artworks of varying shapes and sizes. Initial ideas began with the loose concept of a structure that would allow the pieces to appear as if forming a collection of treasured scraps and ephemera, jammed into, and spilling out of, a well-thumbed journal or logbook, belonging to an imagined hunter-gatherer. The title of the book emerged serendipitously as a scrap torn from an old dictionary presented itself, aptly describing the creation that had emerged.


Remanent was previously exhibited in my 
solo exhibition Artful Naratives


More images and details of the making process 
can be viewed in an earlier blog post HERE.