Jane Shaw Law

Jane Shaw Law

Doctor of Letters

Jane Shaw grew up on the eastern seaboard of the United States, surrounded by painters, including her mother. After a year at the Portland School of Fine Arts, she began her studies at Quebec?s Ecole des Beaux Arts, where she met her husband, Anthony Law. They were married in 1942, when he was in the navy, and she taught high school art classes in New Hampshire until he returned home from the war in 1945. The Laws moved to Halifax in 1951. Jane Shaw's artistic career has spanned many media, but watercolour is her favourite medium. She has painted still lifes, figure studies, street scenes, landscapes and seascapes, but the bulk of her output is flowers, and her garden has been a continuing source of inspiration. Jane Shaw?s association with Saint Mary's began when her husband was appointed the first Curator of the Art Gallery in 1968. Since then she has been a true friend of the University in many ways. She taught classes in watercolours in the 1970s, assisted her husband with scenery for the Drama Society, as well as with the redesign of the old Theatre Auditorium. She is a 17-year member of the Faculty Women?s Association, serving as its President for five years. Exhibitions of Jane Shaw?s work were held hat the University Art Gallery in 1970, 1977 and 1987, and her paintings are always a highlight of the annual Faculty, Alumni, Student, and Staff Art Exhibition. The catalogue for the 1987 exhibition states, ?Shaw has no ideologies, she simply paints what she loves. She loves personal things and she loves flowers.