Jon Tootill

Jon Tootill was born in Hamilton in 1951. He attended the School of Graphic Art at Auckland Institute of Technology. He then worked periodically or freelance for advertising agencies from 1973, while painting. In 1988 he gave up his employment in advertising to paint full time. Tootills earlier works on paper and canvas employed loose brushwork to depict iconic sights around Auckland or atmospheric bushy landscapes. He has also explored themes such as conscientious objectors in World War !! and pollution in the Pacific. More recently his paintings of homesteads reflect the suburban New Zealand culture of the 1950's, with which many New Zealanders grew up. Gone is the loose brushwork in his new exhibitions each of which has focused on a new (historical) theme.