David Goatley
Canada
David Goatley, PSS, SFCA
David was born in London, England. Discovering Rembrandt at the National Gallery, aged 15, made him determined to be a portrait painter. He studied at Camberwell School of Art – London’s pre-eminent undergraduate painting school at the time - at the height of abstract expressionism (tutors included Trevor Jones, Gary Wrag, Ewan Uglow & Patrick Herron) before beginning a 16-year career in advertising. He began as an illustrator, became a designer, then a copywriter – ending as a partner in a small London agency. He then returned to portraiture and painted with his mentor, noted UK portraitist, John Jonas (The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II and former Prime Minister David Cameron). He has been a professional artist for over 30 years - proud to be represented for 22 of those years by Portraits Inc.
David is a Signature Member of the Portrait Society of America and the Federation of Canadian Artists. He has completed over 425 portrait commissions to date across the USA and Canada as well as Central America, the UK, Africa, Israel and India. His subjects have included their Royal Highnesses the Duke of York (Prince Andrew) and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and Kate Middleton), their Highnesses the Maharaja of Jaipur and the Emir of Bauchi, Lord Lang the Baron of Moncton, the Right Hon. Kim Campbell, Canada’s 19th Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Gilbert Parent, Speaker of the House of Commons, two of Canada’s provincial Premiers and six Lt Governors, Supreme and Appellate Court Justices, a US District Court Judge, a Bishop, plus the Presidents and Principals of many academic institutions, leaders from the business world, the Law and the Arts. He has also been honoured to paint Chiefs and elders for several of Canada’s First Nations.
David’s work has often been used to build bridges of understanding between communities, to cement alliances and create bonds of friendship as well as to raise many thousands of dollars for charitable causes and build awareness of needs in communities around the world. His portrait of Leah Shabiru, a captive of Boko Haram, has become a symbol of the fight against repression and is seen on posters all over Nigeria. David has always believed that portraiture can play a vital part in recognizing our common humanity and building mutual understanding, as well as honouring our love and admiration of one another.
When he can fit in the time, David also paints the people and places he’s visited.
Today, he and his wife Sharon reside in Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
