Toni Page – Pacific Northwest Artist
I stand in front of a blank wall and make peace with the emptiness. All the preparation and practice, the imagining and the worry all fade away. The here and the now is what is coursing though my head and into my hands. The stirring of paint, the less than precision pour, the perfect swirl, dip, dab, and drag of brush against wall. And we’re off.
Inspired by the natural world,
by cellular biology, flora, fauna,
& the cosmos
Not all paths to purpose are a straight line. Dedication to work in the pursuit of a more just and equitable world was the theme of Toni’s early career. She wanted to put to use her education in the inner workings of the geopolitical economy for the good of women and the marginalized. And she did. Toni holds a Masters of Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall University and BAs in both Economics and Political Science from the University of Connecticut. She has managed a portfolio of global health surveys and worked for refugee and women’s organizations. A passionate traveler with an appreciation for art, architecture, and the geopolitical economy, Toni is active in her community as an advocate for social justice, healthcare access, and sustainable development.
Though it was certainly an unconscious decision, she actively denied herself art all along the way in favor of what she thought was the path towards the work of social justice and the promotion of the general welfare. The geopolitical economy remains unaffected by her intentions. Is it, perhaps, that through art we can all be more impactful?
Previous do-gooder endeavors took up worthy time and reflect her formal education, but art was always there, in university electives filled with art history from Caravaggio to Duchamp, in survey courses in architecture from gothic to the brutal, and in her sitting for figure drawing students and academy painters… all of these intersections served to keep art close.
And then came the paint.
Toni paints what mesmerizes her, the beauty in the patterns of life and of the cosmos that speak to our own rhythms and imagination.
