Toni Markette is a third generation artist. Although she was born in the Valley Forge district of Pennsylvania and went to school in West Virginia, Toni has spent the largest portion of her life in the deep south, living in Florida and Texas. Her love of bold colors is born of the big skies in both places. “I love color that grabs you by the eyeballs and swings you around.”
Toni is also an accomplished photographer, jewelry designer, poet and freelance writer.
Along with Toni’s work – you will find the work of her family on this site. Her father, the late Johnny Bailey of St. Petersburg, Florida, specialized in Salvadore Dali’s school of surrealistic painting. Toni’s mom, Anita Yglesias (a.k.a. Mail Penhaligan-Kirk) is a self-taught and award winning portrait artist and also works in what she calls Expressive Realism — many of her works tell a story. Toni’s husband Richard Markette (a.k.a. Rick) received his BA in Fine Arts & Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design. By day he is a mild mannered webmaster – but his fine art which appears here is strictly after hours fare. Their daughter Bethany loves watercolor and from her work, apparently watercolor loves her too.
Toni and Rick share their home with a 6 pound sprite of a Pomeranian named Zazoo and a cantankerous 18 year old Tabby cat named Achilles.
Contact Me at ArtMarkette@gmail.com
