Yorkshire artist Toni Thornton, who is best known for her abstract art, signature colour palettes and unique work with texture, partnered with legendry Dragons Den Peter Jones CBE to auction artwork and raise funds for The Peter Jones Foundation at his yearly shooting day event.
Throughout the fundraising day, which took place last month within The Royal Berkshire Shooting School, Toni Thornton honoured guests to an up close and personal live paint, alongside an outdoor exhibition of bespoke artworks and catalogues.
Toni Thornton said about the day: “We were thrilled to participate in the annual charity shoot for The Peter Jones Foundation. We met some truly wonderful people and raised a fantastic amount for such a great cause.
She continued: “My personal background aligns with the foundations focus and it meant so much to be recognised and praised for our business and the work that we do at Toni Thornton Art. I found the day really inspiring and both myself and the team thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”
The Peter Jones Foundation was created to offer the support and opportunity to young people who don’t know or believe in their potential. Established in 2005 with the vision to encourage, educate and empower young people, the foundation has gone from strength-to-strength and now deliver world-
class enterprise education through the Foundation for Enterprise, and support some of the most disadvantaged young people to improve their lives through the Foundation for Children.
Shannon Toms from The Peter Jones Foundation Team also said about working with Toni Thornton Art; “We reached out to Toni to explore if she could support our charity event by donating a painting, and shortly after receiving more information on Toni’s background we knew that the best way to portray her story and showcase her art was by attending our event and live painting! Toni painted in front of our guests, Peter Jones CBE even had a go himself! Toni and her team were such a pleasure to work with from the initial email through to the day and beyond. We were so excited to partner with Toni Thornton Art and her team and felt that she is the exact role model we need to be showcasing to our beneficiaries. Her entrepreneurial spirit and authenticity shines through! We are really excited to explore new collaborations for the future with the team.”
To add even further reason for celebration, Toni Thornton Art is also marking 5 successful years of business. In that time Toni has worked on a number of successful collaborations with the likes of Lydia Millen and the Style Sisters, created a wealth of bespoke pieces for high profile clients such as
Perrie Edwards and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, launched countless new collections and branched out into textiles with her abstract cushion cover range which launched last year.
Several years ago, Toni, was working in a high school art department with dreams of going full time as an artist. The long, unsociable hours she would spend working on her art, outside of her 9-5, were what put in the foundations for her success.
Looking back at the early stages of her career, Toni credits a lot of her success to her strong sense of self belief.
She said, “ From the beginning I held the belief that I could really make something of my artwork, and my business, and that was what kept me so determined. I dedicated every aspect of my spare time, long evenings, weekends, and my whole heart and soul into the business, and I could do all that because I truly believed it would one day pay off – and it has!”
Whilst she held such strong self-belief right from the beginning, one thing that did cause Toni to waiver, and that she found difficult when establishing herself in the art industry, was discovering artwork in a similar realm to her signature style.
Looking back on her early career she said, “I wish I would have recognised, from the very beginning, that there is room for everybody within this industry. While it feels incredibly daunting if someone creates a piece of artwork in a similar realm to my signature style, knowing that I have potentially influenced another artist’s creative decisions is now a huge compliment to me.”
In the past year, Toni’s work and personal life has altered dramatically as she welcomed her baby boy to the world in August 2021. This, as is common for most new mums, shifted Toni’s perception and forced her to reevaluate her work-life balance.
Toni said, “Trying to juggle work, and being a mum, has been difficult at times. Having said that, being able to bring my son to work each day is a blessing, and it is unbelievably rewarding to show him our progress in what we have spent years of hard work building. It is this feeling that reminds me how lucky I am that each hour of hard work and dedication to the business is so worthwhile.”
“This year has proved that time is so precious. In previous years, I have dedicated every aspect of my spare time, long evenings, weekends, and my whole heart and soul into the business. This year has been different, while I have still poured the same dedication into my craft, becoming a mum has meant that my time in my studio is even more precious; each hour in the studio must be spent productively and in the areas I deem most fulfilling”
With Toni’s art being intrinsically linked to her emotions and feelings, the experience of becoming a mother has had quite the effect on her work.
She said, “Becoming a mum has allowed me to feel even deeper and more intensely. I find myself with a new way of understanding things, giving me a new sense of purpose and allowing my craft to be driven by these powerful feelings.”
As Toni prepares for the launch of her new collection this Autumn, fans of the abstract artist, and those who have followed her journey, will be interested to see just how much becoming a mother has affected her artistic process and how this is reflected in her new work.
