Artist Spotlight - Tonia Gunstone
19 August 2025
Our Droves & Downs bursary recipients have been busy exploring the area and researching into their chosen subjects. We will be highlighting the artists over the next few weeks before sharing a look into what they have been working on.
Tonia Gunstone is an abstract artist who is interested in wilderness. Using paint she hopes to share how it feels to connect to a particular place, a sensation that is amplified in wide, open landscapes that provide a vital contact for our relationship with nature. Her work evolves organically, combining line and colour with distinctive mark-making that is underpinned with research into the subject matter that she is studying.
Tonia Gunstone shares “I am excited to engage with the CCNL on a more profound level, gaining a deeper insight into its landscapes, ultimately developing a new body of work alongside my fellow artists which we can share with local communities.”
The project will culminate in a group exhibition at Shaftesbury Arts Centre in November 2025 showcasing a diverse range of work exploring the multifaceted ecology and heritage of Cranborne Chase.
Droves and Downs is a Dorset Visual Arts project, part of the DVAtions programme. We would like to thank Dorset Council for their generous support with Culture and Community Funding.
Back