Profile

Laurie McGaw is well known for her vibrant portraits of such renowned figures as jazz artists Oscar Peterson and Gene Di Novi and film director Norman Jewison. She is also known for her award-winning illustrated books: Polar the Titanic Bear, nominated for a Governor General’s Award, has sold over 680,000 copies in five languages. A New York Times review described her portraits for African Princess as “stunning”; she was honored for her work by the NAACP. Portraiture has been featured on four collector’s coins that she has designed for the Royal Canadian Mint, including the 2007 proof silver dollar and a $300 gold coin series celebrating the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. A graduate of The Ontario College of Art & Design, and a former instructor there, Laurie continues to teach: she conducts portrait painting workshops biannually and teaches master classes to small groups throughout the year. The focus of her work is portraiture. Whether in commissioned works, illustrations, or historical paintings, her love is painting people. Laurie McGaw’s work has been featured in books, magazines, and private and corporate collections for over 30 years. People are drawn to her work because of her ability to reveal the sitter’s inner qualities with warmth and respect. “Laurie McGaw’s portraits have a lively attention to detail that definitively captures the fine nuances of her subject’s personality.”—Signe Ball, Publisher, In the Hills Magazine.

Education

2011-present Studying sculpture on a weekly basis, with mentor Hanna Boos
1999 Workshop with acclaimed Canadian artist James Hill
1984 Studied with renowned portrait artist Daniel Greene, North Salem, NY
1983 Studied Art History in Florence and Rome; York University program, Toronto
1977 Graduated with honours, The Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University), Toronto
1970 Graduated from a 4-year commercial art program, Thistletown Collegiate Institute, Toronto

Work History

1978-present Portrait artist and Illustrator, specializing in portraiture, book illustration, and coin design; Toronto, Mulmur Township, Guelph
1977-1978 Illustrator, TDF Artists Ltd., Toronto, Canada’s largest advertising art studio at the time
1974-75 Layout artist and production coordinator, Chatelaine Magazine, Toronto
1972-74 Layout artist, The Canadian Magazine, Toronto
1970-72 Layout artist, McGaw-Jordan Ltd., Artists and Lithographers

Teaching

2017 Portrait painting workshop, Monesiglio, Piedmont, Italy (September)
2017 Portrait painting workshop, S.E.E.D. Educational Centre, Costa Rica (February)
2013 Mural painting with community youth, Norman Wells, NWT
2012 Portrait workshop, Norman Wells, NWT
2011 Historical mural, Float Plane Base, Norman Wells, NWT; portrait workshop
2010 Historical mural, Norman Wells, NWT
2005-present Teaching master classes in studio
1999-present Portrait painting workshops, twice yearly
1993 Artist in Residence, McMichael Canadian Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
1987-1993 The Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University), instructor

Exhibitions

2017 Insights, Juried art Exhibition, Wellington County Museum and Archives
2017 Guelph Studio Tour
2016 Guelph Studio Tour
2015 Guelph Studio Tour
2014 Insights, Juried Art Exhibition, Wellington County Museum and Archives
2014 Double Vision (CAPIC) Arta Gallery, The Distillery District, Toronto
2011 Insights, Juried Art Exhibition, Wellington County Museum and Archives
2009 Star Portraits, Waddington’s, Toronto; portrait of Elvis Stojko (Bravo! TV)
2008 Double Vision (CAPIC), Toronto Imageworks Gallery, Toronto
2008 Showcase 2008, Headwaters Arts Festival Annual Juried Show, SGI Centre, Caledon, ON
2007 Double Vision (CAPIC), Queen Street West gallery, Toronto
2005 Best of the Best, Headwaters Arts Festival Annual Juried Show, SGI Centre, Caledon, ON
2004 Portraits in Performance, solo exhibition, Theatre Orangeville, Orangeville, ON
2003 25-Year Retrospective, solo Exhibition, as part of the Headwaters Studio Tour
1992-2003 Headwaters Studio Tour participant
1996 Kyoto, Japan; exhibited 8 original paintings from Polar The Titanic Bear
1995 Solo Exhibition, Dufferin County Museum and Archives, Dufferin County, ON
1992 Fourteen Hands, group Exhibition, Shelburne Art Centre, Shelburne, ON
1993 Artist in Residence, McMichael Canadian Collection, Kleinburg, ON, created portrait of artist Doris McCarthy
1984 CAPIC Show, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto; exhibited Oscar Peterson portrait
1978-1990 Exhibited in various CAPIC shows; some travelled across the country

Portraits

John Mulvihill (Executive)
Dr. Elizabeth Stone (Past Dean)
Angela van Breemen (Soprano)
Dr. Sean Corner (Acting Assistant Dean)
Patrick and Barbara Keenan (Philanthropists)
Elvis Stojko (Skater)
Dudley Witney (Photographer)
Taylar Dobbie (Artist)
Bryce Bradley (Investor)
Oscar Peterson (Jazz pianist)
David Suzuki (Environmentalist)
Terry Fox (Cancer fundraiser)
Gene DiNovi (Jazz pianist)
David Nairn (Theatre director)
Dan Needles (Playwright)
Dermot O’Brien (Artist)
Major Alexander Sinclair (48th Highlanders of Canada)
Cheryl Shoji (Photo Editor)
Sandra Leah (School principal)
Andrea Bocelli (Tenor)
The Mathieson Daughters
Jim and Gracie Hankinson (Executive)
The Shaefler Children
Quincy Bradley (Child portrait)
Gillian Howard (Executive)
Claude Taylor (Executive)
Charles Rand (Posthumous Portrait)
Conrad Black and Barbara Amiel (Executive and writer)
Silken Laumann (Olympic rower)
Bruce Westwood (Literary agent)
Doris McCarthy (Artist)
Pat Sedgwick (Fundraiser)
Theresa Mizzi (Therapist)
Dr. Kenneth MacMillan
The MacPherson Sisters
Gordon Pape (Author)
Boris Brott (Conductor)
Peter Carey (Educator)

Thomas King (Author)
Betsy Millar (Mono Township)
Julian Holman (Artist)
Sylvia Bradley (Town councillor)
Carol Ann Douglas (Guelph)
Chris Ahlers (Artist)
Philip Orsino (Executive)
Quincy Bradley (Child portrait)
Tim Wilson (Film maker)
Gwynne Phillips and Briana Templeton (Writers, Actors)
Peter Gzowski (Broadcaster, author)
Norman Jewison (Film director)
John Parkyn (Educator)
Dave Young (Jazz bassist)
Mark DuBois (Tenor)
Tamara Lindeman (Musician)
Rory ‘Gus’ Sinclair (Social activist)
Genevieve, grand-daughter of Carl and Anne Laurier
Ian French (Executive)
Roy Frankel (Executive)
Neil Mathieson (Accountant)
‘Freddie’ Mathieson (Orangeville)
Michael Mahovlich (Photographer)
Mary Newberry (Editor)
Jacob Freedman (Child portrait)
D’Arcy McKeough (Executive)
The Cruickshank Children
Dr. Kyle Borland and Dr. Joan Borland
Christopher Needler (Executive)
Bill Lishman (Artist, environmentalist)
Walter Bean (Newspaper Executive)
Susan Butler (Educator)
Sharon, Lois and Bram (Entertainers)
Dini Petty (Broadcaster)
The Hon. Hugh Sedgwick (Judge)
The Poulton Children
The Board of Directors, Imperial Oil Ltd.
Katelyn Epners (Student)
Catherine, Joe and Angela Zeimet (Orangeville)
Robert Thomas Allen (Author)
Farley Mowat (Author)
Dr. Liana Cheney (Art historian)

Coin Designs

2017 Heart of Our Nation, pure silver coin
2017 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, pure silver coin
2016 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote, one dollar circulating coin
2015 In Flanders Fields, one ounce silver coin
2015 Lt. Col. John McCrae, fine silver coin
2015 400th Anniversary of Samuel de Champlain in Huronia, fine silver coin
2014 Henry Hudson, pure gold coin
2013 Alice Munro, fine silver coin celebrating the author’s Nobel Prize for Literature
2013 Royal Infant, three $20 fine silver coins
2013 Royal Infant Carriage, 25-cent Coin
2013 Royal Infant With Toys, fine silver coin
2013 Canada: An Allegory, bronze, silver, and gold coins
2012 The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, fine silver coin
2012 The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, fine silver coin with crystal
2012 The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, pure gold coin with diamond
2012 The Queen’s Portrait, fine silver ultra high relief coin
2012 The Queen’s Portrait, pure gold ultra high relief coin
2012 Georgina Pope, fine silver coin
2011 The Continuity of the Crown Series, three ultra high relief sterling silver coins
2011 HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton, fine silver coin
2010 Jacques Cartier, fine gold coin
2009 Martin Frobisher, fine silver coin
2007 Olympic Ideals, premium gold coin series celebrating the Vancouver 2010 Olympics
2004 Thayendanagea 1742-1807, proof silver dollar, and brilliant uncirculated dollar
2002 50th Anniversary of the Stratford Festival, fine silver coin

Illustrated Books

Escape in Time, MB Publishing, Maryland
African Princess, Hyperion/Jump at the Sun/Madison Press, Toronto
Joan Stade’s Story, Joan Stade, Chicago, Illinois
To Be A Princess, Scholastic/Madison Press, Toronto
Inside the Hindenburg, McArthur & Company/Madison Press, Toronto
Journey to Ellis Island, Hyperion/Madison Press, Toronto
Something to Remember Me By (A Little Something), The Communication Project, Stouffville, ON
The Popcorn Tree, Stoddart, Toronto
Christmas with Anne, McClelland & Stewart, Toronto
Discovering the Iceman, Scholastic/Madison Press, Toronto
The Illustrated Father Goose, Little, Brown/Madison Press, Toronto
Polar The Titanic Bear, Little, Brown/Madison Press, Toronto
The Secrets of Vesuvius, Random House/Madison Press, Toronto

Art Juries

2015 Headwaters Arts Festival Annual Juried Show
2005 Artflight, The Canadian Aviation Museum, Ottawa
2000 The Governor General’s Awards, Children’s Books, Ottawa
1985 The National Magazine Awards, Toronto

Speaking Engagements

2000-2016 Various presentations to the Dufferin Arts Council, Dufferin County, ON, and Guelph, ON Art Groups
2005 Packaging Your Imagination, Victoria College, University of Toronto
2000 Tour of the North: School presentations in Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Norman Wells; sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts

Interviews & Media Coverage

2017 Kitchener Waterloo Record, re: Heart of Our Nation coin, for the Royal Canadian Mint
2014 Guelph Mercury, re: Coin honouring Alice Munro’s Nobel Prize for literature
2013 Canadian Coin News, re: Diamond Jubilee Coin, for the Royal Canadian Mint
2007 The Globe and Mail, article about a commissioned portrait of Bryce Bradley
2007 In The Hills Magazine, feature profile
2007 Shelburne Free Press and Economist, article about logo design for the town
2004 New York Times, Sunday Book review (children’s books), African Princess
2003 Canadian Jewish News, article about Avram’s Gift
1996 The Toronto Star, feature article
1994 In The Hills Magazine, feature article
1992-2009 The Orangeville Banner, various articles
1992-2009 The Orangeville Citizen, various articles

Miscellaneous

2005 Portrait of Oscar Peterson, purchased and donated to the University of Toronto, Mississauga Campus
1999 Published portrait of Andrea Bocelli, personally presented to him in Verona, Italy

Radio & TV

2017 Interview for Rogers Cable TV, Guelph
2015 Interview for Rogers Cable TV, Guelph
2009 Appeared on Star Portraits, PTV Productions, episode one, aired on Bravo TV
2006 30-minute feature interview for Rogers Cable TV, Dufferin County
2002 CBC TV News, presented To Be A Princess to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
1997 96.3 FM Radio, interviewed by Catherine Belyea
1994 CBC radio, interviewed by Peter Gzowski, on Morningside
1992 Rogers Cable TV ads, portraits of Wayne Gretzky, David Bowie, and others
1986 CBC TV, filmed episode of Street Legal, as courtroom artist
1978-1985 Commissioned to do courtroom drawings for the Toronto Star
and the Globe and Mail (portrait of Keith Richards, among others)

Associations

Presently listed in the Canadian Who’s Who
Current member of the Guelph Studio Tour
2000-2002 Member of the Portrait Society of America
2001 Chair, Headwaters Studio Tour; member for 10 years
2000-2009 Member of the Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association
1996-2005 Member of Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP)
1992-2009 Member and Founding Member of the Dufferin Arts Council
1978-present Member and Founding Member of (originally) the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communications (CAPIC); now the Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators

Awards

2017 Coin of the Year Award, for Most Historically Significant Coin, for the $20 Silver
100th Anniversary of In Flanders Fields, poem by Lt. Col. John McCrae
2012 Coin Award (Russia), for The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, pure gold coin with diamond
2007 Artist of the Year, Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association
2005 NAACP Award, USA, for African Princess
2004 Artist of the Year, Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association
2004 New York Times Children’s Book List, for African Princess
2004 Publisher’s Weekly, selection, Publisher’s Marketing Association, for Avram’s Gift
2003 Sydney Taylor Notable Book Award for Avram’s Gift
2002 Certificate of Recognition, The Dufferin Arts Council, founding member
1999 Red Cedar Award for Discovering the Iceman
1999 Applied Arts Magazine, Awards Annual Selection, for Journey to Ellis Island
1998 National Jewish Book Awards, Children’s Picture Book Award nominee,

for Journey to Ellis Island

1998 Benjamin Franklin Award, Best Children’s Picture Book, for Something to Remember Me By
1998 Joan Fassler Book Award (STRMB)
1998 Parent’s Choice Recommended, selection (STRMB)
1998 Canadian Children’s Book Centre, “Our Choice” (STRMB)
1998 Selected as “Outstanding” by the Parent Council (STRMB)
1998 American Bookseller “Pick of the Lists” (STRMB)
1997 Mr. Christie’s Book Award for Discovering the Iceman
1997 Information Book Award, Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada (Iceman)
1995 Silver Birch Award for Polar The Titanic Bear
1994 Governor General’s Award finalist for Polar The Titanic Bear
1994 Canadian Children’s Book Award, Ontario Library Association Children’s Services Guild,

for Polar The Titanic Bear

1990 CAPIC Annual Exhibition, Bronze Award, for The Morningside Papers, portrait of Peter Gzowski
1985 Civilian Citation, presented by the Board of Commissioners of Police, City of Toronto,
for assisting the homicide division with portraits of suspects and victims