Dr. Phil Lavely (Doc) is an artist, educator, hunter and conservationist. His original oils and limited-edition prints have become very popular for their creative and realistic depiction of wildlife in their natural habitat.
His art has natural strength, and his realistic style is recognized as his own. The realness of his scenes is derived only after years of studying the habits and habitats of the wildlife he illustrates so skillfully. That which he notes with a scientific eye he transfers artistically on canvas.

Doc chooses the medium of oil for his paintings because they give the bold and rich character so necessary for his subjects; and yet, he applies a masterful touch at softening his colors and giving them a feeling of realness. He pays close attention to detail and shows special concern for the essence of the subjects’ habitat.

Doc’s formal art training was initiated in the School of Architecture. The selection of his art subjects and landscapes emanates from his background in the field of Natural Resources Management and his many years of studying the face of nature and her creatures. This background coupled with his love for seashores, fields, forests, mountain lakes, and cypress swamps is reflected in detail on the canvases he produces.

During his tenure as professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin many of his waterfowl limited-edition prints were used to support Ducks Unlimited through their annual fund-raising events along the prolific Mississippi Flyway and used to support the expansion of dedicated waterfowl habitat in Canada and several of our Northern States.

Over the years Doc Lavely has exhibited originals and sold selected limited-edition prints in countless juried arts and crafts fairs across the South from Kentucky to Florida to Louisiana including the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, S.C. and the Southern Wildlife Festival in Decatur, AL. where he met his very talented wife, Nancy, an artist is her own right as well as a certified master kitchen and bath designer through the Nation Kitchen and Bath Association. They met during the 1989 show where Nancy was displaying her exquisite duck and shore bird carvings. She also taught art in primary and secondary education levels in Tennessee for ten years. His art was exhibited at the World’s Trade Show in Knoxville, TN. and a special original oil painting of the tallest water falls East of the Mississippi River hangs prominently over the fireplace in the Great Room at Fall Creek Falls on the Cumberland Plateau near Crossville, TN.

The “Conservationist Magazine” published by the Tennessee Department of Conservation often featured Doc Lavely’s art as a way to enlist new members and sold his limited-edition prints in many of their State Parks.

Today Doc and Nancy live and enjoy life on the East side of Mobile Bay in Alabama close to the beautiful Gulf Sea Coast. Although retired from his professorship, Doc still paints and sells his work through selected art galleries.