| Dr. Flather was a colleague of Lawren Harris and worked together with him for several years on the executive of the Federation of Canadian Artists , of which Dr. Flather was an original and founding member. From 1938, Flather exhibited many times with the B.C.Federation of Artists (of which he was Secretary through the 1940's and 1950's) in Vancouver. Flather's work was exhibited at The Art Gallery of Toronto in March, 1950. Donald Flather was a very modest man and did not devote much time or effort to showing his art, rather he preferred to circulate it amongst friends and family. After growing up in the Shuswap Lake region, Flather came to Vancouver in his twenties, at which time he began to paint more extensively. Flather graduated from U.B.C. with his B.A. and M.A.. He took teacher training and began teaching at Templeton, and taught at Britannia and King George High Schools. At King George he was Vice Principal, where he organized the Vancouver Night School for several years at King Edward Campus. Dr. Flather's Ph.D. in Education was conferred at the University of Washington in 1950. He and his lovely wife Grace raised a family of three boys, Elwood, Barrie and Verne- all of whom went on to become medical doctors. Dr. Flather's works show a wonderful synergy of his roles as teacher, botanist, biologist, scientist and painter. One of his greatest wishes was that others be able to view and enjoy through his paintings the world as he saw it- a world filled with beauty. His paintings are now widely held in collections in Canada, Asia, Indonesia, the USA and Britain. |