Tom Alway was born in Massachusetts and grew up in rural New Hampshire, attending the University of New Hampshire and Edinburgh University, before coming to Canada to attend graduate school at York University in Toronto.  With a Masters of Arts degree in political science, he went on to make a career in theatre, as an actor (starting with the Stratford Festival in Ontario), then as a stage manager.  In 1985, he started working in film and television as a Set Decorator working in Toronto.  In 1997, he moved to Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, living there for eight years and working in film and television out of Halifax.  At the same time with the help of Peter Blais, a long time friend and partner, he established The Maritime Painted Saltbox Heritage Furniture and Fine Art Gallery.  Together they designed and created 19th Century heritage reproduction furniture and exhibited their art work in an 1840's historic cape, which they spent several years restoring.  It made for a unique gallery experience.

In 2005, Tom and Peter moved to Petite Riviere and opened their  gallery.  Living within the immediate vicinity of three beautiful beaches, provides inspiration for Tom's dramatic acrylic paintings.  He paints realistically, enjoying the shaping and sculpting of objects in colour and the play of light and shade on them with a slight surrealistic bent.  He paints to give a sense of what is in front of the canvas, drawing the viewer into the picture.

Tom was a requested artist in the New Faces Art Exhibit held at the Art Sales and Rental Gallery   in Halifax in February of 2001,   and in Streetscapes in October of  2001.  In March of 2002, he was asked to exhibit two new works for the Society's Corporate Reception.   He continues to consign his work to the gallery and had two new works on exhibit in the  2006 Annual Group Show, Radiance: Capturing Light. A new piece of work has been accepted into the 2007 Group Show entitled "Reflections" exhibiting from November 1 to 18, 2007. Tom's  furniture and fine art work is  on display at The Maritime Painted Saltbox Gallery in Petite Riviere.  His paintings hang in private and corporate collections in Canada , Australia, and the United States.  Tom is a member of Studio Rally and a member of the Lunenburg Art Gallery .