Nanton artist supports wetland efforts

ARTWORK SELECTED FOR DU CANADA’S NATIONAL COLLECTION

Shannon Lawlor of Nanton joins some of Canada’s most prestigious nature artists featured in Ducks Unlimited Canada’s (DUC) 2018 National Art Portfolio. By donating her artwork to DUC, Lawlor is helping raise important funds for wetland conservation.

Lawlor’s painting, “Amigo,” is one of 11 pieces selected from hundreds of submissions from artists across the country.

“The National Art Portfolio is a unique program that not only promotes our country’s outstanding nature artists, but the growing need to conserve the natural areas that inspire their work,” says Michaela Bell, DUC’s national manager of retail operations.

Paintings selected for DUC’s National Art Portfolio are made into high-quality prints for use in DUC’s fundraising initiatives. Money raised supports DUC’s wetland conservation work, scientific research and education programs. Wetlands are some of the most important ecosystems on the planet. They naturally clean water, prevent floods and droughts, and help mitigate the effects of climate change by holding large amounts of carbon.

“DUC has a strong relationship with Canadian artists like Shannon Lawlor,” says Bell. “I’m confident her painting will be very successful in helping us raise the money we need to continue our wetland conservation work.”

The roots of Lawlor’s art can be traced back to her childhood, where as a young girl she was never far from a horse or pencil. She has carried her sketchbook from the prairie of her youth to the finest Arabian breeding farms in Poland.

“Beautiful horses can sometimes humble me to the point of tears,” she says. In her painting Amigo, she says she strived to create movement through the horse’s mane and foretop to help bring life to the deep qualities she saw in the animal.

Artwork by Lawlor and other top Canadian nature artists are being sold at DUC community fundraising events, on art auction easels in businesses across the country and online at