Lona has lived her entire life on the banks of the Snake River in Southern Idaho, where she spent the greater part of her life on, or under water. Her infrequent time spent on dry land from the time she was about five has also been filled with a passion for art, especially drawing and sculpture.

She majored in 3 dimensional art and studied with Leon Parson at BYU Idaho. However, it wasn’t until many years later that she applied that training in a most unexpected way when she began carving fish and birds. Made from a pine two by four, with a chisel, hammer and rasp, it just sort of evolved from her first attempt at a Rainbow Trout 20 years ago.

She is primarily self taught and because of her inquisitive nature, she has experimented with many different media to incorporate in the process of her woodcarvings.

Not only has she done most of her research and studies independently but has worked with ornithologists, falconers, and such artists as friend and mentor, Floyd Scholz who is universally recognized as the most famous raptor carver in the world. She has had the great honor of collaborating with Floyd on two major carving commissions.

Throughout her career, Lona has received many awards, both nationally and in the Ward World Championship.

She’s been carving professionally for 20 years now, and is represented in private collections as well as national museums and galleries throughout the U.S. and Canada, including The Kneeland Gallery of Sun Valley, Idaho; Horizon Gallery of Jackson, Wyoming; The Mountain Art Gathering in Keystone, Colorado; The National Hummingbird Society in Sedona, Arizona; the Bronx Zoo in New York; and The University of Tulsa Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Lona’s one of a kind sculptures are in great demand and her works routinely command prices of $1,500 to $20,000.

She has been given the ability to visually express her deep connection with, and love for the overlooked life within the natural world. Her greatest joy and feeling of accomplishment comes with capturing the pure magic of the simplest moments in nature and sharing this gentle love and excitement of all things wild.