Toni Watts

My interest in illumination was the result of pure curiosity. I used to paint primarily in acrylic, but wondered, one day, when I was looking at an illuminated manuscript, what paint they used before colours were available in tubes online. That ‘how did they do that?’ moment led me down a rabbit hole of old recipes for making paint from minerals and plants…and from there it was a small step to wondering how they got the gold to stick on gilded designs that are still as gloriously shiny as they were hundreds of years ago.
As well as producing historically accurate facsimiles, I now mix and match techniques from the medieval era with modern products creating contemporary designs with added bling! Gilding is a capricious business, but I love helping students find a way of adding gold to a design that works for them, whatever their skill level and whatever part of the world they hail from.
I started my artistic life painting wildlife. I’ve contributed to several books on wildlife art, have won a number of awards and sold work worldwide. My paintings have been exhibited at the Mall Galleries (David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition), with the Royal Society of Miniature Painters and the Society of Women Artists.
I am one of the few remaining professional illuminators in the UK, a craft listed as ‘endangered’ on the Heritage Crafts Association Red List. As an illuminator I was Artist in Residence at Lincoln Cathedral in 2015 / 16 and continue to run workshops and do demonstrations as Cathedral Illuminator. I teach both nationally and internationally.
I can be inspired by almost anything – the light on a leaf, a beautiful piece of stone carving, another artist’s use of colour or line, a book written five hundred years ago, a reflection rippled by an evening breeze. That means I often have too many ideas to finish the work I start!
My other interests include wildlife, conservation and the countryside. We live in such a beautiful, fragile world.
As well as producing historically accurate facsimiles, I now mix and match techniques from the medieval era with modern products creating contemporary designs with added bling! Gilding is a capricious business, but I love helping students find a way of adding gold to a design that works for them, whatever their skill level and whatever part of the world they hail from.
I started my artistic life painting wildlife. I’ve contributed to several books on wildlife art, have won a number of awards and sold work worldwide. My paintings have been exhibited at the Mall Galleries (David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition), with the Royal Society of Miniature Painters and the Society of Women Artists.
I am one of the few remaining professional illuminators in the UK, a craft listed as ‘endangered’ on the Heritage Crafts Association Red List. As an illuminator I was Artist in Residence at Lincoln Cathedral in 2015 / 16 and continue to run workshops and do demonstrations as Cathedral Illuminator. I teach both nationally and internationally.
I can be inspired by almost anything – the light on a leaf, a beautiful piece of stone carving, another artist’s use of colour or line, a book written five hundred years ago, a reflection rippled by an evening breeze. That means I often have too many ideas to finish the work I start!
My other interests include wildlife, conservation and the countryside. We live in such a beautiful, fragile world.