Four small etchings by Watts were featured in the first Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) exhibition in March 1880.
An important figure in the Ottawa arts community, he served as the first curator of the National Gallery of Canada.
[2] Watts also directed the RCA Diploma Program, which included acquisitions for the Academy's collection as well as exhibition design between 1882 and 1897.
[2] As a creative, Watts was not limited to etching and took up watercolor, oil painting, and even architecture, designing a number of homes in the capital region.
[2] After his death in 1917, Watts gifted his etching press and tools to Fosbery, who became a celebrated etcher and teacher in his own right.