Early career

Forshaw Day opened a studio on Bedford Row in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He painted pictures and taught painting at the Technological Institute in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from 1862 to 1879. He prepared sets for Garrison theatre productions in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1876, Day supplied a panorama, "From Paris to London," for a professional theatre company. ^[2]

He worked as a draftsman at the H.M. Naval Yard from 1862 to 1879 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. ^[3] In 1863, a solo exhibition of his landscapes of Nova Scotia was held in Halifax.^[4] He held regular exhibitions in Halifax for 20 years, and also sent his pictures to exhibit in London and Paris.^[4]

He moved to Kingston, Ontario, where he taught freehand drawing and painting at the Royal Military College of Canada from 1879 to 1897. A number of his paintings are now in the college collection. Day painted in England, Ireland, Switzerland. In Canada, Day painted in the Maritimes, Ontario, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.

Critical success

Forshaw Day worked in the late 19th century. Day was elected a member of the Ontario Society of Artists on August 14, 1879.^[5] In 1880, he was one of the founding members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts^[6] and his work was included in their group exhibitions.

Final years

In 1901, members of the Royal Military College of Canada Club raised the Forshaw Day Painting Fund in aid of Prof. Forshaw Day, R.C.A., "in consideration of the friendly relations that always existed between him and the Cadets in attendance at the College, and in view of the fact that his circumstances were such as to appeal to the feelings of all those who had met him at Kingston." A number of his paintings were bought by club members, and an oil painting was donated to the college. He died in Kingston, Ontario, in 1903.