Toni Hertzler
Biography
Phoenix based artist, Toni Hertzler, travelled the country with her parents who were both military. Travelling all over the US instilled in her a love for people and scenery. After settling in Phoenix she found there was no better place to combine her two loves and her artistic talent. In Phoenix, she attended art school and studied under the teachings of Jay Datus a prominent southwest muralist.
In art school, Toni employed all the traditional mediums available to create art but her love for realism inspired her gravitation towards graphite. Several years into her graphite work a fellow artist challenged her to incorporate color into her artistic stories. For 5 years Toni, has been honing her skills in the use of colored pencil with an occasional deviation into her first love, graphite. Colored pencil ideally suited her natural talent for artistic realism.
In 2015, the artists watercolors were featured in a calendar for the Springfield Illinois Right To Life. In 2016 the artist was juried into the Glendale Arts Council Juried Fine Arts Competition, and placed first with her graphite drawing of, White Winged Dove and received honorable mention for her graphite drawing of Living in Harmony. In 2017, the Artist was juried into the Mountain Oyster show with her colored pencil drawing entitled, Fiesta Moon. Also in 2017, the artists colored pencil drawing of, Barbaras Bouquet appeared in the May issue of Ann Kullbergs Color Magazine. In 2018 the artist obtained Signature Status with the CPCA, [Coloured Pencil Community of Australasia] a worldwide colored pencil community. In 2018 the artist was juried into the Glendale Arts Council Juried Fine Arts Competition, the artist took 2 honorable mentions for her graphite drawings of, When He Returns, and Morning Chores. In 2019, at the Glendale Arts Council Juried Fine Arts Competition, the artist took 2nd place and sold her graphite drawing entitled, Block Party with an honorable mention going for her pastel drawing entitled, Little Warrior. In 2020 Tonis work was included in the book, Draw Birds in Colored Pencil. In 2021 Toni was a featured artist in the December issue of Color magazine for her work entitled For the Love of Lisianthus.
With realism as her guide, Toni uses colored pencil and graphite to tell her stories about the southwest and the people past and present who have occupied that space.
