Biography

Joseph William Dawley was born in Nashville, Arkansas in 1936 and was raised in Dallas, Texas. He received his B.A. from SMU where some of his art hangs today. He married Gloria Gobble in 1961 and they promptly moved to NJ where Joe worked for the Newark Evening News retouching photos and sidelining as a political cartoonist. He even had a gig drawing some of the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" comic books (remember comic books?). In the late 1960's Joe created a daily comic strip which was syndicated and distributed nationwide as "The Chief". 

But all along Joe led a double-life, cartoonist by day, serious painter by night. He spent a bit of time studying at the Art Students League in NYC and he maintained a separate small apartment in their Elizabeth, NJ complex that he used as his studio. In 1968 he decided it was time to devote all his time to painting. His love was the traditional renaissance style, particularly the works and style of Rembrandt. He mastered that Old Masters style and won numerous awards over the next few years. He was very honored to be commissioned to paint the official portrait of Mother Seton for her canonization in 1975.
 

It was at this time Joe developed a tremor in his right hand making it harder for him to paint. Eventually, at the age of 39, he was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease. 
 

The summer of 1982, Dawley underwent brain surgery to eliminate the tremor, hoping to give himself more years to continue his art career. After a long recovery period, Dawley found his fine motor control he needed to paint as he once had was all but gone. At that point, Gloria (fondly referred to as Gigi) stepped in and encouraged him to try a different style - impressionism.

Very reluctant at first, Joe soon embraced a style where he had a freedom of colors and strokes. Over the years his tremor returned as the disease progressed, but he was able to cope and adjust as his impressionistic paintings became acclaimed. 

By 2001 the disease had taken much of his body and mind, and he moved to live out the remainder of his life at Praxis, a home in Easton, PA that specializes in Parkinsons dementia. Even there, when he no longer recognized many of us, and had numerous hallucinations, his desire to paint was so strong that an activity director, Kevin Schulte, set up a studio area for Joe and assisted him in continuing to paint for several years longer. 

We lost Joe on September 15, 2008, but his legacy lives on. When Joe passed, he left behind his wife, two grown married daughters (Cynthia and Catherine), and two grandchildren (Jake and Katie Gallagher). I am Cynthia, the eldest daughter and the administrator of this website. My dad unwittingly passed the art genes to me (and I unwittingly accepted) and, for me, for us, this entire journey has been bittersweet. I was only eleven when he was diagnosed with Parkinsons and had no idea how it would change my life forever. We all knew Joe as a different person - my younger sister doesn't remember a healthy father, and my children only knew him as a very sick, practically bedridden grandfather. He spent any and all "good" times he had painting - he was driven. It was a time in the world where medical insurance was different and he needed to earn enough to continue paying for his high costs and care. By the time I was grown and my artistic abilities started blossoming, my dad was declining rapidly: we were two ships passing in the night.

His art, his paintings, do live on. I have learned much and have access to many bits and pieces of his art world of long ago. I work in the very studio that was his and am inspired constantly. We are all defined differently by each person that knew us, which aspect of our life was known, but Joe also left us these paintings, paintings that have brought joy and stories to so many that have had the luxury of owning a Joseph Dawley. 

Go to the "ACCOLADES" page for specific dates, etc.