The White Raven: A Painting About a West Coast Encounter

Have you ever seen a white raven? I had seen plenty of ravens before. They are such a familiar presence on the West Coast, their dark silhouettes appearing in the forest, along the shoreline, or high above the trees. But I had never seen one quite like this.

White ravens are not albino. They are leucistic, a rare genetic condition that causes a partial loss of pigmentation. Unlike albinism, leucism does not necessarily affect the colour of the eyes, which can remain blue or dark. In every other respect, these birds are ravens: highly intelligent, social and remarkably adaptable.

I encountered one named Opal at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre in Errington, BC. Seeing her was one of those unexpected encounters that makes you stop, look twice and remember exactly where you were. A white raven is startling against the landscape. We are so accustomed to seeing ravens as black shapes moving through the West Coast forest that the sight of one with brilliant white feathers feels almost otherworldly. I knew I wanted to paint Opal, but I didn’t want to create a literal portrait of a bird in a specific location. Instead, I wanted to place her within the West Coast landscape I know so well: layered forests, distant mountains, water and drifting mist.

Having just returned from a trip to Tofino, that landscape was still fresh in my mind, both from the experience of being there and from the photographs stored on my iPhone. I began pulling those impressions together, allowing the landscape to become less about a particular place and more about a particular feeling.

The raven moves across the painting with one enormous wing lifted, almost suspended between forest and sky. Her white feathers become a flash of light against deep greens and blues, creating a moment of contrast and surprise. For me, this painting is really about seeing something familiar in an entirely new way. There is something wonderful about finding the extraordinary within the ordinary. The West Coast is full of these moments if we are paying attention: a sudden break in the fog, light moving across the water, the silhouette of an eagle, or wildlife appearing where you least expect it.

A White Raven Painting

Trickster in White is part of my ongoing series of paintings about the West Coast, where I am exploring beaches, forests, mountains and the wildlife that inhabits this landscape. From sea lions and ravens to orcas and eagles, I am interested in transforming these encounters into paintings that feel more like visual stories than literal representations of place.

My West Coast palette is becoming increasingly distinctive: ultramarine blue, Phthalo green, Green Gold, Payne’s Grey and fluorescent yellow. I use these colours to heighten the landscape, simplify its forms and capture something of the atmosphere and energy of being here. Perhaps that is what painting is ultimately about for me: taking a moment that caught my attention and holding onto it long enough to see it differently.

And sometimes, it takes a white raven to make you look twice.