Biographies > Doug Donley

Doug Donley was a prolific artist producing a huge body of work – drawing, painting and sculpture. He is most known for his drawing with coloured pencils depicting mythical creatures, such as the Snake and Waterglass series in the TAG collection. He was also a writer of prose and poetry. Donley was born in Montreal in 1957, grew up in Richmond from age 10 and moved as an adult to Sudbury. It was here that his art career developed and matured. He has exhibited at 101 Gallery in Ottawa, Sault Ste Marie and the Yukon. His work is in the permanent collections of several institutions including TAG, the Art Gallery of Sault Ste Marie, Cambrian College, Art Gallery of Sudbury and Ontario Northland. Tragically in 2005, Doug Donley died in a fatal accident felling a tree. A retrospective of his work was held at the Kennedy Gallery in North Bay and the Art Gallery of Sudbury has produced a box set that celebrates his life and work.

Donley himself described his fish drawings (see Resurrection in the TAG collection). "You see there is no easy answer for why fish, as there is no easy answer for why creativity has a place in our changing culture; there is no easy answer for why I use paper. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that few easy answers exist."