Artist Biography

Judy White is a coastal artist based in British Columbia’s Pacific Northwest, painting colourful, whimsical seascapes from the cozy cabin of her floating studio — a sailboat she now calls home. Her acrylic works are bright, expressive, and a little bit bent — reality softened by imagination and a lifetime of seeing the coast through curious, creative eyes. Somewhere between impressionism, realism, and abstraction, her style is hard to pin down — and that’s just the way she likes it.

Judy was born in England and grew up in some of the wildest corners of Western Canada — from the Yukon to the mountains to the edge of Desolation Sound. Her family eventually settled in Refuge Cove, a tiny, boat-access-only community where she spent her days traveling to school by boat, working in her parents’ general store, and filling notebooks with sketches. With no roads, no television, and no shortage of rainy days, creativity came naturally. Her mother — a trained artist — remains her mentor and artistic partner to this day.

Although Judy once built a portfolio to apply to art school, a well-meaning career counselor steered her in the opposite direction. She dabbled in business administration, raised her children, and poured her creativity into local theatre, community events, and a co-op gallery she helped run with her mother in an old church. The art never really stopped — it just waited patiently.

As an adult, Judy returned to the British Columbia coast following a divorce and spent time working on a charter boat, deepening her love for the region’s breathtaking beauty. Seeing the coast again with fresh eyes — especially places like Desolation Sound — rekindled a sense of awe and inspiration. This renewed connection inspired her to eventually make a bold life change: selling nearly everything she owned, buying the sailboat she’d always dreamed of, and committing to painting full-time.

Her first public showing, at a local music festival on Cortes Island called Love Fest, was a revelation. “I’d been hiding,” she says. “I wasn’t sure if people would connect with what I was doing. But they did — and it gave me the push to keep going.” Since then, she’s shown work at local markets and continues to grow a quiet, sea-salted art practice, one painting at a time.

In summer, Judy paints between provisioning runs, taking her dog to shore, and managing life aboard her boat, which is usually moored in Gorge Harbour. She occasionally takes day trips or short overnight journeys, gathering inspiration along the way. Winter brings slower days and longer hours to paint — a bit of hibernation, a bit of magic. Her work is a love letter to the places she once took for granted — full of colour, memory, and a sense of playful wonder.