About Tom Alway

The Maritime

Painted Saltbox Gallery

Maestro for brochure

 

About  The  Artist

Tom  Alway

Tom Alway

Tom Alway

TOM ALWAY was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, and grew up  in the small town of Warner, New Hampshire. Living the bucolic life on a semi-farm, he was an active member of the local 4-H club and used its resources and mentoring  assists to  develop skills in, for  example, animal fitting and showmanship, public speaking, and leadership . After graduating from Simonds Free High School he was accepted  into the University of New Hampshire, majoring first in chemistry in the College of  Technology and then switching to Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts, from which he received his BA.

308376 4-H logo

Tom Alway with his first 4-H project,

a Jersey heifer named Daffy

(Reveller Tamarack Daffodil)

Just after receiving his degree, Tom  was accepted into the British Summer Studies Program at the University of Edinburgh and enrolled in a course on 18th Century Political Philosphy. Following this academic stint in Scotland, he came to Canada to attend graduate school at York University in Toronto, enrolling in the first master's program offered in Political Science at the university, and from which he received his MA.

Throughout his academic career, Tom had been drawn to the theatre, actively participating in student productions.

An audition with the Stratford Festival prior to his graduation from York University, led to an invitation to join the Stratford acting company at the Avon Theatre in a production of Hadrian VII starring Hume Cronyn, followed by a year-long US National Tour.

The Playbill for Hadrian VII , featuring Hume Cronyn

Colonial Theatre in Boston, on the National Tour

 

Tom returned to the Stratford Festival to appear in An  Italian Straw Hat and There’s One In Every Marriage which later transferred to Broadway at the Royale Theatre, produced by the legendary David Merrick.

In the next few years, Tom performed at theatres across Canada, including the National Arts Centre in Ottawa as well as theatres in Toronto (Young Peoples Theatre, Theatre Plus  and the St. Lawrence Centre) and in Vancouver (The Arts Club).

broadway

The Playbill and Cast List for the

Broadway Production of There's One In Every Marriage

Tom Alway in the Irish Arts Theatre's production of Tinker's Wedding with Fran Hyland, Ken Pogue and Ita D'Arcy, directed by Siobhan McKenna

Tom also spent some time in New York to try his luck and in order to support himself landed a job with the Shubert Theatre Organization (owner of some of the most famous Broadway Theatres), and vicariously appeared on many of these Broadway stages in his role as night watchman for the Schuberts.  He also substituted as a stage doorman and was asked to take over the most prestigious stage door of the season, the Plymouth Theatre, where Richard Burton was doing Equus.

Here's Tom Alway at the stage door of the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway holding the door for Richard Burton who was performing in Equus (picture from the Daily News)

In addition to acting,Tom found work as a stage manager and company manager working at Theatre New Brunswick and culminating with a Canadian tour of the Moscow based Borodin String Quartet produced by Overture Concerts of Vancouver.

By the mid ‘80’s, and ready for new challenges, Tom joined the  film and television industry as a Set Decorator, both in Toronto and later in Halifax. Some of his credits include Moonlight And Valentino with Whoopi Goldberg, To Die For with Nicole Kidman and Bailey’s Mistake with Joan Plowright and Linda Hamilton, Fly Away Home with Anna Paquin. For additional listings of his Set Decoration credits click here.

Tom Alway worked as Assistant Decorator on Moonlight & Valentino

Tom Alway (first row, right end), Assistant Set Decorator, on his first Kevin Sullivan Film,  Looking for Miracles

Gregg Spottiswood & Zachary Bennet featured in Looking for Miracles

Tom Alway was the Set Decorator for Pilot's Wife

Tom Alway was the Assistant Set Decorator on Fly Away Home

Tom Alway worked as Assistant Set Decorator on the Hostage starring Carol Burnett and Carrie Hamilton (third row on the right peeping out)

Tom Alway worked as Assistant Decorator on Canadian Bacon starring John Candy

In 1997, Tom moved to Nova Scotia, home of his maternal grandmother and in partnership with artist Peter Blais, established the Maritime Painted Saltbox Gallery in a heritage property in Mahone Bay.

The property in Mahone Bay where Tom Alway and Peter Blais

established the Maritime Painted Saltbox.

Tom began to paint in earnest developing his technique

as a visual artist, creating bold acrylics on canvas. His

first public showing came in 2001 at the Art Sales And

Rental Gallery at the Art Gallery Of Nova Scotia in

Halifax. (Now the Teichert Gallery) That exhibit at the

New Faces Show led to subsequent invitations for two

Featured Artist shows at the Gallery: Panes and Sills

(2009, publishing a book with the same title, click on

the badge above the book image  to review the book) and Sea Debris (2012).

Click on the badge below to take you to Blurb to preview Panes & Sills

See my published books
Panes & Sills Paintings by Tom Alway

Drawing inspiration from the landscape around him, Tom paints realistically, exploring the play of light and shadow. Sometimes with a surrealistic bent, he paints to give a sense of what is in front of the canvas, drawing the viewer into the picture. Windows and foundations have become signature motifs and the addition of modeling paste has added new texture and a new dimension to the work. Recently Tom has begun to paint what he refers to as ‘Fun Art”. Visit Tom's galleries to view his work.

Creature Comforts, by Tom Alway

Ebbing, by Tom Alway

Washed up Old Buoys Celebrating, by Tom Always (Tom's contribution to the Canadian Sesquicentennial)

Reflecting Another Time, by Tom Alway

In 2005, Tom and Peter relocated to Petite Riviere, Lunenburg County, NS, and reopened their gallery in a converted barn by the Petite River.

Building on their reputation established in Mahone Bay, the Painted Saltbox Gallery was soon designated as a gem by Lunenburg Region, while Nova Scotia Tourism recognized the Gallery as A must-see destination on the South Shore.In 2018, the Painted Saltbox Gallery is celebrating 20 years as an artist-owned gallery, showing exclusively the work of artist/owners, Tom Alway and Peter Blais.

The Maritime Painted Saltbox Fine Art Gallery in Petite Riviere, Nova Scotia

The Maritime Painted Saltbox

All Rights Reserved 1998-2024

The Maritime Painted Saltbox Fine Art Gallery

265 Petite Riviere Road, Petite Riviere, Nova Scotia B4V8W9 

www.painted saltbox.com 

info@paintedsaltbox.com

(902) 693-1544   or toll free: 1-877 624-4513