Sketching Whales: A Journey of Art and Healing with Emily Carr by P. Jean Oliver
Graphic Novel
Written and Illustrated by P Jean Oliver
(currently sold out)
“My years in my little studio in the House of All Sorts, under Emily’s roof have been precious to
me. Having a safe, dedicated art space to work in has helped mature my growth as an artist,
and as a person. Every time I open that old wooden door with its solid skeleton key, I step into a
cheerful room of possibilities. I’ve been inspired by Emily’s presence here too, as if she’s just
stepped out of view around a corner. At times her fierce spirit speaks to me across time,
admonishing me to get to work! Her mentorship has been a gift to my work, and she has been a
muse since childhood. Her influence is such that when I once asked my landlord, and current
owner, Peter Willis, why did he open the room to an artist he barely knew, he said. ‘Because I
knew Emily would have liked it.’ I will always be grateful to the Willis family for so generously
making this possible.” – Jean Oliver, Victoria, BC, January 2026
Jean Oliver is a painter and writer with an art studio in Emily Carr’s “House of All Sorts” in
Victoria, BC. Jean was born and raised in Quebec, and came west in the 80’s, seeking the wild
trees and vistas that inspired her muse, Emily Carr. Her spirituality, like Emily’s, is found in a
deep connection with art and nature. Jean’s figurative-expressionism focuses on the
movement, mood, and vibrancy of land-or-sea-scape, be it wild, groomed, tilled or urban. Her
education, and professional background include decades in the commercial art biz, and
teaching art, English, and the humanities. She holds degrees in commercial art, creative writing,
and psychology. She calls herself a Fremily, a “friend of Emily”, and anyone else who loves our
Emily Carr.
Emily Carr wrote about her tenants in Hill House, the apartment building she designed and
owned, in her book, “The House of All Sorts”. It’s a poignant, at times hilarious autobiographical
account of her fifteen years as landlady, and owner. The building is also an integral piece of
Canadian identity that houses an important connection to the First Nation. On the attic ceiling
and walls are paintings by Carr of two (apparent) Kwaguilth Thunderbirds, each one edged by
Haida frogs. A National treasure the Willis family has helped save for posterity.
Discovering Emily by Jacqueline Pearce
Available as an ebook: https://www.orcabook.com/Discovering-Emily
Emily’s Dream by Jacqueline Pearce
Available as an ebook: https://www.orcabook.com/Emilys-Dream-P2711
Emily Carr’s Attic by Diane Carmel Léger and Michael Léger
Shades of Emily, A Novel ~ By Leslie Howard
Publication date September 22, 2026
• A narrative quest to uncover the identity of Emily Carr’s mysterious lover through the lens of a fictional family
• Distinctive storytelling style juxtaposes the past with the present in a wild and multigenerational love story
• Explores the use of genealogy, DNA and an enduring fascination with ancestral origins
• Engrossing new novel by the bestselling author of The Brideship Wife
The dark-hued painting that thirty-year-old lawyer Cassie Hastings has been commissioned to buy for millions at auction in New York City comes with a note taped to the back, containing a single line: “To my one true and everlasting love.” The identity of the intended recipient is a mystery, but both painting and message are unquestionably from the same source: the pioneering Canadian artist Emily Carr.
From here on in this engrossing new novel by bestselling author Leslie Howard, Cassie’s life—troubled by an insincere fiancé and a duplicitous colleague—becomes entwined in the experiences of the renowned artist, sending echoes back and forth over a gap of more than a century. As Cassie pursues the possibility that one of her own ancestors is the time-obscured recipient of Emily’s dedication, the tale forms a kind of double helix, with the two women alternating as narrator.
Displaying the attention to historical detail and psychological depth that drew widespread acclaim for her novels The Brideship Wife and The Celestial Wife, Howard conjures a vision of the pressures and heartbreak faced by generations of ambitious women, and the strength these challenges have summoned in them.