Douglas Hector Haynes was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, as he says, "on the very edge of that small city, being raised to both admire the beautiful, wide-open spaces, but also seeing a hint of terror in them."

He studied at Alberta's Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (now the Alberta College of Art and Design) with Marion Nicoll, Ronald Spickett, and Illingworth Kerr, from 1954-1958, and the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, Netherlands in 1960-1961. Haynes first became known for prints and painted constructions using burlap, string and other materials (1963–69).

Clement Greenberg wrote approvingly of Haynes' art in 1963: "In Douglas Haynes' touched-up prints I was even more surprised to see the lay-out of A...