James’s Story

James: Finding Purpose on a Blank Canvas

As I stepped into James’ room, I felt as though I had wandered into a small art gallery.

Every wall was covered with paintings. Colourful canvases leaned against furniture, clay sculptures occupied shelves and tables, and every corner of the room held another piece of his imagination . It was impossible to know where to look first.

James greeted me with a warm smile before reaching over and handing me a chocolate.

Without a second thought, I unwrapped it and popped it into my mouth.

Except… it wasn’t chocolate at all.

It was a remarkably realistic piece of clay that James had sculpted by hand.

As he laughed at my confusion, I couldn’t help but laugh too. It was the perfect introduction to an artist whose creativity isn’t confined to paintbrushes and canvases. Alongside his paintings, James creates intricate clay sculptures that reveal his wit, craftsmanship and boundless imagination.

Looking around the room, it was clear that for James, art isn’t simply something he creates.

It’s the world he lives in. But it wasn’t always this way.

Born in England to a lower middle-class family, James joined the British Army at just 17, serving across Europe and Africa before immigrating to Canada in 1990. He settled in Victoria, where he worked hard, eventually owning a successful moving company and spending years pursuing his love of car and motorcycle racing.

Then life took an unexpected turn. A series of personal struggles led James to walk away from everything he owned. Carrying only a backpack, he spent months surviving alone in the wilderness outside Kelowna before eventually returning to Victoria. For a time, he lived unhoused, taking on odd jobs when he could and finding freedom in living outdoors.

“I went out there expecting I might never come back,” he recalls.

But he did. Back in Victoria, James spent time living in Beacon Hill Park before moving to a homeless encampment. When support workers began visiting the camp to help people access housing through Our Place Society, James wasn’t interested.

He valued his independence and wasn’t ready to leave the life he had settled into.

“I said no,” he laughs. “Six times.”

Each time they returned with the same offer, James turned them down.

It wasn’t until a close friend encouraged him to give it a chance that he finally agreed.

Today, James calls an Our Place supportive housing site home.

Reflecting on his journey, he’s grateful for the stability and support that allowed him to rebuild his life while continuing to pursue the thing he loves most would completely change the course of his life.

Art.

Ironically, James never considered himself an artist growing up.

“The only thing related to art I ever did was sign writing as a child,” he says.

He never attended art school. He never took painting lessons. He never imagined that one day his room would be overflowing with artwork.

His artistic journey began almost by accident.

A friend handed him a few inexpensive canvases and some leftover acrylic paint. James painted his first canvas. Not long afterwards, someone asked to buy it.

That unexpected sale sparked a passion that has now lasted more than twenty years. Today, James paints every single day.

His landscapes, surreal scenes and whimsical characters all begin the same way- with a blank canvas and no plan.

“I don’t paint what I see,” he explains. “Everything comes from here.”

He taps his head.

Rather than copying photographs or painting real places, James creates entirely from imagination. When asked how he would describe his work, he smiles.

“It’s more storybook art.”

The description couldn’t be more fitting.

His paintings feel like illustrations waiting for stories to be written. Dreamlike forests, winding bridges, mysterious figures and colourful worlds that exist nowhere except in his imagination.

What makes James’ work even more remarkable is that he has never relied on tutorials or formal instruction.

For him, the joy lies in discovery.

Each new texture, colour and technique is something he teaches himself through experimentation.

“When you figure out how to do something that nobody’s taught you,” he says, “I love it.”

Alongside painting, James also spends hours sculpting intricate clay creations. From tiny chocolates that fool unsuspecting visitors to whimsical characters full of personality, his sculptures carry the same sense of curiosity and playfulness found in his paintings.

Despite living with severe arthritis, which sometimes leaves his hands swollen and makes painting difficult, James continues creating for hours every day. Using mostly inexpensive dollar-store paints and materials, he proves that creativity isn’t measured by the cost of supplies but by the imagination behind them.

When I asked what art has given him, his answer came without hesitation.

“It gives me a reason to keep going.”

He isn’t talking about fame or recognition.

He’s talking about purpose.

“The biggest joy I get in life is through art.”

Before I left, I asked James if there was one message he’d like readers to take away from his story.

His answer had little to do with painting.

“You don’t know what you’re capable of,” he says. “You think you know who you are….but you don’t. Try different things. You never know what might change your life.”

Looking around his room one last time, surrounded by hundreds of paintings and sculptures born entirely from his imagination, it was hard not to believe him.

James’ journey reminds us that healing isn’t about forgetting where you’ve been. It’s about finding purpose in where you’re going. For him, that purpose began with a blank canvas. With every brushstroke, he wasn’t just creating art; he was rebuilding a life, discovering joy again, and proving that it’s never too late to begin a new chapter.