Painter Luke Raffin added an award to his collection in January when his painting Morning Mist was chosen to be featured in Ducks Unlimited Canada’s 2018 National Arts Portfolio. Earlier in his career, Raffin won Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year Canada Award and BC Wildlife Federation Artist of the Year and People’s Choice awards. He was born in northern Italy and immigrated to Canada and Powell River, with his family in 1967. Although his parents were not artists, they encouraged their son to study art. Raffin attended Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, but became dissatisfied with his studies and quit college to return to Powell River and a job in the mill. When local gallery owners asked him to show his work, all of the paintings sold within a few days. Raffin soon had many commissions and quit his mill job to focus on painting full time.
When did you get into art?
You wouldn't believe it. I was 13 and bought a paint-by-numbers book. I thought it was kind of exciting. Impressionism is kind of done this way, brushstroke beside brushstroke. I did a couple of those and got bored, so I turned it over and did my own picture; that’s how I started. Then, in grade 11, I took a home-study course from a school in Minneapolis that used to advertise in TV Guide and magazines. My parents decided they would pay for the course; it was $20 a month. Back then that was a lot of money for them, so I took the course and because I did the work I got better and better. When I went to college I was so advanced in drawing they put me in a fourth-year class in the first year.
What inspired wildlife being your main subject?
I used to paint mainly people when I was in college. Then I was introduced to egg tempera, which is a very old style of painting where you can get really fine details. After the mill, the owner of the gallery framed up some of the pieces I did in college. Only one was wildlife: a painting of a small chickadee. Everything sold but when he saw the chickadee he said, “You have to continue this way, with the birds.” And I listened to him.
What are you working on now?
I just received an invitation to be a member of the Artists for Conservation. It is a signature artist membership, worldwide in 30 different countries; 500 artists are involved and 60 are Canadian. They have shows, travel all over the world and part of the proceeds goes to conservation. They have different groups involved with saving elephants, chimpanzees and gorillas. I want to learn more about that. It is quite an honour. This is pretty well the top in my field, as high as you can go, so it’s pretty nice. I paint everyday, I love it, and the work that is coming out is superior to anything I did before. I’m really excited about reaching this point.
For more information, go to lukeraffin.com.
