Douglas Lawley

Douglas ("Doug") Lawley was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1906. He graduated from Mount Allison University and then McGill University in Montreal. As early as 1937, he had considered becoming an artist but teaching won out as his primary occupation. He taught for many years, specializing in Latin. Later in his career, Lawley became principal of Westmount High School.

Lawley pursued his interest in painting as a student of Agnes Lefort in Montreal, and Aldro Hibbard of the American National Academy.

Although we know of a body of harbor scenes with fishing boats painted in Nova Scotia, his preferred subjects were horses. While home in Montreal, he skillfully painted in and around Mount Royal, often focusing on the horse-drawn caleches. Sketching in the Charlevoix area, Lawley observed teams of horses being used to log the area. While back in his native Nova Scotia, Lawley was told of Sable Island, an island off the coast that was home to a colony of wild ponies. Even in Lawley's day, before oil companies took an interest in the area, Sable Island was still a sanctuary for the ponies, with access controlled by the Federal Department of Fisheries. Lawley visited the island several times and these ponies became some of his favourite subjects.  Paintings of these ponies were featured in Lawley's first solo exhibition held at the Dominion Gallery in 1962. Since that time interest and enthusiasm for paintings by Lawley has grown enormously.

Douglas Lawley's paintings are represented in numerous private and corporate collections throughout Canada.