"Coastal Cruising" series - now at Art Bureau Gallery

 

 

 

"Landscapes & Signifiers" 

is an exhibition currently on at Art Bureau Gallery, 

228A Dominion Rd, Mt Eden. 

On til 19th September, 2019. 

Mon-Fri 10am - 4pm.

I was very honoured and delighted to be invited to contribute works to this exhibition 

by curator and artist Rebecca Tune.

Artists in the exhibition include: 

Richard Adams, Rodney Fumpston, Sean McCarthy, Jo Dalgety, John Horner, 

Geoff Tune, Mark Wooller, Justin Summerton and Toni Hartill.

 

 

"Coastal Cruising I" by Toni Hartill

Detail: "Coastal Cruising I" by Toni Hartill

 

 

My  "Coastal Crusing" series of works are part of a larger series inspired by my family’s connection to the Northland Coastline of New Zealand. My landscape work draws on my physical experience of being within a landscape to attempt to express my emotional, and physical relationship with the environment. 

 

These works were created in contemplation of time spent cruising the coast with my family, retracing the trails of my grandfather AH Pickmere who surveyed the Northland coastline and who’s lifelong work is published as the Pickmere Atlas.

Our copies of the atlas are well-thumbed and inscribed with records of our visits to the many islands, inlets, nooks and crannies - where the snorkeling was great, where we went ashore to hike over the hills for the best views, the good anchorages, the sandiest beaches and the best sea caves to explore. All the while, as our fingers trace the lines on the charts, we are constantly awed that "Grandpa" actually surveyed all of this himself, no fancy technology, no laser sights nor gps. His launch, a clinker dinghy, his trusty notebooks and a well worn pencil, his theodolite...and a commitment to chart his beloved coastline.

Arthur Hereward Pickmere, Opito Bay.

AHP notebooks

Each of the "Coastal Cruising" works are unique, one-off pieces made using a variety of printmaking processes. Each print would have passed through the press at least a dozen times to create the many layers of patterns, colours and textures.

 

 

 Details and the making of the works

 

 

 

Plaster collograph plate by Toni Hartill

"Coastal Cruising I" (detail) by Toni Hartill

Example of embossing detail - Coastal Cruising series

Example of embossing detail - Coastal Cruising series

Stencils and masks by Toni Hartill

Stencils and masks by Toni Hartill

Enquires and feedback welcome.

Visit Art Bureau to view until 19th Sept, 2019.

All works for sale.

Thanks for visiting!

Summer School 2016 - Dianne Fogwell

I was lucky enough to attend the PCANZ's (Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand) Dianne Fogwell Summer School in Auckland this month. Dianne is a master printmaker from Australia and she is known for her incredibly fine and detailed lino cuts of flora and fauna, and her work as an artists's book practitioner, among many other talents. Visit her website here.

The Summer School was held over 3 full days at St Cuthberts School. We were introduced more closely to her work, and we marveled at the intricate detail and the use of multiple layers and perforations. I particularly enjoy hearing about an artist's inspirations and motivations in the creation of their work and Dianne is very generous in sharing her experiences and knowledge. Over the three days we looked at Structure: of creating books and works in various formats; at creating the lino block, including cutting techniques and etching with caustic; and Printing, including hand printing and how to set up the press.

Detail: lino print by Dianne Fogwell

Detail: lino print by Dianne Fogwell

As an artist's book practitioner Dianne came with a plethora of exemplars to share. I was inspired by her recommendations to consider what your intent is when you make a work, how you wish it to be "read" by your audience, and therefore what structure you might use to communicate this idea. (It might sound obvious but something in that discussion flipped a little switch in my brain and I had ideas streaming in from all directions.) 

Mini "Flag" book by Toni Hartill

Old Korean exercise book exemplar - so tactile
and responsive to being held and manipulated.

Having the opportunity to see Dianne's lino blocks up close was eye-opening. It's made me think completely differently about lino (in my very short career as a lino cut artist!) 

Lino print and lino block by Dianne Fogwell

    No. 1 lesson: you don't need to cut deeply at all! How freeing is that! and having the chance to play with Dianne's Micro Machine to cut the lino meant I was pretty happy with my little lino block. I never thought I would be able to cut something so finely. A whole new world of possibility!

Trigger fish lino block and print by Toni Hartill

Then there was the caustic etching - somewhat scary but again new possibilities. This can be used to create freer, more painterly effects which I look forward to experimenting with further. A group of us are planning on having a "Caustic Party" so we can supervise each other's safety, feel the fear, and do it anyway. 

On the last day we learnt about inking and printing techniques and, most informatively, about setting up the press. Dianne would repeatedly tell us to set things up so we can simply focus on our work. So true. Nothing worse than having technical problems which get in the way of creating. (I took on-board her advice for using runners, chocks and a pusher, instead of a blanket, and I am very pleased with the results.)

Dianne Fogwell demonstrates inking up my caustic-etched plate.

The afternoons were spent working on our own ideas. It was great spending time with other printmakers, many of whom are so highly talented and skilled in their own right.

Following the workshop I have been following through with just some of many ideas generated on the course, mainly printing my caustic-etched lino block to create wee artist's books inspired by diatoms, a type of phytoplankton.

Diatom inspired artist books by Toni Hartill

One of Dianne's key messages I took from the course was to do with "connectedness":

"Connect your body to your tool, your tool to your mark, 

your mark to your intention, 

your intention to you, 

and how you live in the world."

A big thank you to
members of PCANZ responsible for making this summer school happen.

And to Dianne Fogwell
for her generous spirit and inspirational manner
in sharing her limitless knowledge. 

Barrel Store 2015 - Print group show and the year so far.

The Barrel Store is an historic venue available for hire at the Corbans Estate Arts Centre in Auckland. It's a raw and rustic venue which brings with it a fair few challenges but it is also a large space which allows us to spread out and show a decent amount of work. It's a great chance for our print group, Waitakere Printer's Ink, to exhibit together and celebrate our enjoyment of printmaking as a group.

My focus this year has been to learn, develop and resolve skills and ideas through doing. And lots of. Two areas of concentrated effort have been exploring monoprinting and lino printing, neither of which I had much experience. 

Any works not sold at the show are still available to purchase. Simply message me with your details and I can contact you directly to answer any questions regarding prices and availability.

Monoprint series by Toni Hartill

MONOYPES & MONOPRINTS

These images were all achieved through inking up sheets of acetate to create layers of texture, hand cut paper stencils for the imagery and using ghost prints to achieve fine, delicate line work. They were all created from building up multiple layers and working intuitively, responding to what happens with each new development. 

"Submerged" series I - IX
Monoprints
by Toni Hartill

Kelp series I - IV
Monoprints
by Toni Hartill

This is a more painterly approach to printmaking and quite different to the thorough planning undertaken in, for example, my dry point images or in my lino prints. As I am previously a painter who is learning to print, I enjoy the freedom this way of working allows and this in turn is influencing how I am thinking about my painting techniques.

"Deep Blue Kelp" series I - VI
Monoprints
by Toni Hartill

Assorted prints by Toni Hartill

To add to my monoprinting knowledge and to try to push my ideas and skills further I participated in a term of evening workshops at the Browne School of Art taught by Alexis Neal. This was just the boost I needed. It provided the motivation to continue to work on pieces between sessions, experimenting and trialing different ways of working. I ended the term with about 15 works that I was very pleased with and a whole new concept for a body of work (still work in progress).

"Flotsam I"
Monoprint
by Toni Hartill

"Flotsam II"
Monoprint
by Toni Hartill

"Bedrock I"
Monoprint
by Toni Hartill

 This pair of prints is printed on 300gsm Hahnmuhler paper. Building up many, many layers using collagraph plates for textures, cut stencils, and transparent medium, the paper took on a leather-like quality which is quite delicious!

"Bedrock II"
Monoprint
by Toni Hartill

LINO PRINTS

As seen in earlier posts this year I have been exploring possibilities with lino with a goal of working towards creating an edition of prints for a portfolio to be sent to Portland. In the process of developing my lino printing skills I have produced a series of images along the way as I tweak and hone my final image for the portfolio. These are my largest linoprints so far with the lino block being A4 in size, printed onto A3 paper. I was really trying to capture the sense of movement and tension as the ecklonia is pushed and pulled by the surging sea. 

"Ecklonia"
Linoprint
by Toni Hartill

"Ecklonia"
Linoprint
by Toni Hartill

It was interesting to see how the image could be viewed from a variety of orientations. In the "Nocturnal Ecklonia" image I tried to capture a sense of the colours as seen underwater with the end result being very lustrous.

"Nocturnal Ecklonia"
Linoprint
by Toni Hartill

"Nocturnal Ecklonia"
Linoprint
by Toni Hartill

"Reef"
Monotype, linoprint
by Toni Hartill

"Reef"
Monotype, linoprint
by Toni Hartill

"Cove" "Sway","Refugia", "Holdfast"
Linoprints
by Toni Hartill

MIXED MEDIA

 These works just seemed to grow of their own accord. I was interested in the matrix of the print and how it could be altered, extended, overlaid and added to, a concept I'm keen to explore further,

Paper Sea I
Monoprint, collage, stitching
by Toni Hartill

Paper Sea II
Monoprint, relief, collage, stitching
by Toni Hartill

Assorted prints by Toni Hartill

Included in the show was a display of some of my collagraph plates with the intention of hopefully further engaging visitors in some of the print processes used and to give an idea of how much effort is involved in producing some of the works. I am tempted to create these as artworks in their own right.

Display of collagraph plates by Toni Hartill.

Thanks for visiting. Any feedback is welcome.

Waitakere Printers Ink - coming show!

This will be our third show at the Barrel Store. 

Participating artists include:

Lisa Bate

Diane Charraz, 

Toni Hartill,

Alicia Poultney

Tracy Singer

Lorraine Vickery

A wide variety of styles and techniques of printmaking works will be on show including collagraph, linocut, drypoint, monotype & monoprint, screenprint...

This is an opportunity to buy direct from the artists at affordable prices.

"print2print" exhibition @ Studio One, April 2015

These are my two works exhibited in the print2print exhibition with members of the Auckland Branch of CPCANZ (Central Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand), organised by artist Ruby Oakley. We were required to submit two related works, 20cm x 20cm, inspired by the theme "light and dark." 

Submerged 1
monoprint
20cm x 20cm

Submerged 2
monoprint
20cm x 20cm

In my prints I was trying to capture the light as seen from underwater. A recently acquired underwater camera and the opportunity to go snorkeling over the summer holidays meant I had loads of inspiration begging to be acted on. These 2 works are part of a series of 9 monoprints.

Twenty three members took part in the exhibition and the results were a vibrant and interesting selection of works.

Being one of the volunteers to hang the exhibition it was a great chance to meet with other print council members. It was also a fab opportunity to learn from more experienced exhibition hangers and I learnt some invaluable practical tips. 

Great experience all round!

I also had 4 works (collographs) in the exhibition "Lasting Impressions" by members of Waitakere Printers Ink, in the adjoining room.