The Art World, Canada, and The Wilderness Committee Save the Carmanah Campaign lost a great friend when Toni Onley was killed in a plane accident near Maple Ridge, British Columbia. This renowned watercolour painter and recipient of The Order of Canada Medal often used his floatplane to access the back country to paint the remote natural wilderness. He was 75.

Toni was born in 1928 on the Isle of Man where he received his early art training and was influenced by the work of the great watercolorists. He moved to Ontario in 1948 and moved to British Columbia in 1955.

His paintings capture the essence of specific moments in time. He captures presence of objects against ominous skies to show their relationship to color, light, and shadow.

Public collections include: Tate Gallery, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, England, National Gallery of Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, Seattle Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

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