Toni McDowell
My work is inspired by where I live and what I see around me; Sydney's waterways and bush headlands, but also the built environment of the inner city. Natural light is essential to my art as it colours and transforms the world around us, affecting our mood moment by moment. While I enjoy painting and drawing en plein air, sketches made on site are often a source for intensive work in the studio. .
Painting for me is a balancing act, teetering between structure and chaos. I look for abstract elements and patterns in a process of discovery through layering and mark making.
Works may contain oil, acrylic, collage and etching. Different media help me to explore favourite themes in the search towards the initial image that I hold tentatively in my mind.
Sometimes the miraculous happens when everything falls into place.
During the past five years I have conducted a number of two-day workshops at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, exploring abstraction, en plain air and collage with students.
EXHIBITIONS
2023 Finalist Greenway Art Prize Tramway Depot Leichhardt
2022 Wild Things exhibition Corner Gallery Stanmore
2022 Urban 2022 exhibition M2 Gallery Surry Hills
2021 Abundance Corner Gallery Stanmore
2019 Urban exhibition Shop Gallery Glebe
2018 Finalist NSW Parliament House Plein Air prize
2018 Highly Commended Waverley Woollahra 9x5 Landscape prize
2017 Finalist Chippendale World Art Residency online exhibition
2016 Vivacious: Palm House Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
2016 BrandX open weekend - Kindof Gallery
2014 Winter Salon: Artsite Gallery Camperdown
2014 Selected finalist for En Plein Air Art Prize Parliament House
2013 Walking the Landscape: Artsite Gallery Camperdown
2013 Selected finalist for En Plein Air Art Prize Parliament House
2013 Imagined Landscapes: Gingko Gallery Glebe
2012 Beyond the Littoral: Parnella Gallery St Helens Tasmania
2012 Christmas Salon: Artsite Gallery Camperdown
2012 Great Unknown: Artsite Gallery Camperdown selected works from under-represented artists
2012 Hunter’s Hill Art Show
2011 Northbridge Art Prize Gallery 307 Northbridge
2010 Warringah art exhibition Artfocus Gallery and Studio Brookvale
2009 Gallery 41 Woolloomooloo group exhibitions
2009 Finalist Glover Prize for landscape painting Evandale Tasmania
2008 Viewpoints: Changeable Art North Sydney Community Centre
2008 Finalist Glover Prize for landscape painting Evandale Tasmania
2007 Journeys: Washhouse Gallery Rozelle
2006-7 Into Intaglio: Regard Gallery Darlington, group etching show
2006-8 Danks Street festival selected for artist’s stall
2006 Lorn Gallery launch: group show
2005 Three artists: Ginger Jar, Cammeray
2004 Dungog Days: two-person show, Dungog Gallery
2002 Central Highlands Art Prize Tasmania
AWARDS/HIGHLIGHTS
2010 Shoalhaven Open Art Prize Milton, Highly commended
2009 Shoalhaven Open Art Prize Milton – Runner up award
2008 City of Villages exhibition: Pine Street Gallery Chippendale (Displayed as illuminated city poster)
2006 City of Village exhibition: Pine Street Gallery Chippendale (Displayed as illuminated city poster)
