Toni Lance

Roles: Special Guest

Toni Lance has lived on the island of St Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands since 1980. She has been photographing, painting and rehabilitating birds since before she came to the islands. Toni’s passion for birds was deeply ingrained from her father’s love of ducks and collection of carved birds. “My sisters and I spent many hours studying and drawing wildlife.” Toni grew up in Pasadena, California and then moved to Laguna Beach in her high school years. She received a photographic scholarship from the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts to attend college. After studying Wildlife Management and Photography at Humboldt State University, Toni transfered to Long Beach State to enroll in a Biomedical Illustration program. With her passion for wildlife and talent in photography and detailed illustration, Toni began creating life- like paintings of birds. After college she would paint from bird study skins checked out from the natural history museums. Toni taught herself the art of taxidermy and stuffed a few dead birds of her own to work from. She continued her interest in birds and took courses in falconry and became an avid bird watcher. In 1980 Toni moved to St Croix where she continued her bird art. As time went on Toni became enchanted with the colors, architecture and people of the Caribbean, painting and showing many scenes of that genre. But her heart remained with the birds. Having spent many years rehabilitating injured birds, Toni began again to focus her art work on her love. From 2003 though 2014 she has had a number of one woman shows consisting watercolors, oils and photography at the Walsh Metal Works Gallery on St. Croix. In 2012 Toni had a one woman photographic show at The Henle Studio in Christiansted. She continues to paint, photograph and run the St Croix Avian Sanctuary.