In this limited edition print,   Raven is depicted head tilted up and wings spread.   Held in his feet are a realistic pencil and paintbrush.  In his beak, as well as in the beak on the transforming head within his body, is the symbolic ovoid or circle representing the sun or “light of the world.”
     Raven is the most powerful and important mythological figure in Pacific Northwest Coast mythology.   He is, among other things, the supernatural transformer, trickster, shaman, teacher and master artist.   Here, Raven is shown within a circle representing contained power.   Raven’s strong, solid formline design is superimposed on a crosshatched background.
     Surrounding this circle is a narrow negative area which breaks the cover page into four areas.   This symbolically defines the four areas of Raven’s world: the sky world, the land world, the sea world and the underworld.  Raven is about to take flight and break free from the circle in another attempt to make changes and restructure the world.
     Raven’s mission in the Learning by Designing books is to help expand knowledge and understanding of the two-dimensional art of the First Nations people of the Pacific Northwest Coast.  In this print, which is also the cover design of the books, a young raven’s head is emerging from Raven’s body.   Raven is recreating himself in a new form for the artistic task of making visible the spiritual and mythological.
     Both ravens hold in their beaks a symbolic starburst design unit representing artistic knowledge, which is about to be shared with the world.   Thus, Raven’s goal, like that of all good teachers, is to introduce new ideas and develop new and better ways to teach while respecting and valuing traditional culture and teachings.
      For thirty years, Jim Gilbert was an active artist working mainly in the art form of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations.   He worked in most coastal Aboriginal art styles with artistic production ranging from original graphics, limited and open edition prints, carvings in wood, ivory, bone, and stone, to hand-engraved and sculptured jewellery pieces in silver and gold.
     Jim was raised in Brentwood Bay on Saanich Inlet.  His early fishing and hunting partners were First Nations people.   That, along with the influence of his father’s work in Northwest Coast First Nations art, ensured Jim’s affinity to the culture.   He was a versatile and award-winning artist in both traditional and contemporary styles.   Jim was trained under a traditional Kwagulth Art apprenticeship with the Hunt family of Victoria.   He worked with and for Master carver, Tony Hunt, and learned the basics from Master carver, Henry Hunt, and felt privileged to have danced at Henry’s funeral potlatch.   Over the years, Jim was commissioned by a number of First Nations people to produce carvings and silver jewellery to be used for ceremonial activities.
     In this two-volume publication, Learning by Designing Pacific Northwest Coast Native Indian Art, Volumes 1 and 2, companions for the previously published Learning by Doing Northwest Coast Native Indian Art, Jim shares his passion and respect for the art form and passes on his own training, understanding, skill, and experience with traditional art apprenticeship methods.   His experience teaching First Nations art in Victoria schools gave him an understanding of effective methods of passing on artistic knowledge and skills.
     Jim used his artistic skills to create over fifteen hundred original illustrations for both volumes of Learning by Designing.   His qualifications as a biologist, teacher, artist and author made him uniquely suited to be involved in the production of these extensive working guides and reference books.
     Jim’s continuing desire was to pass on his knowledge and appreciation for the art.  In his own words,   “It is important to me to pass on what I have learned and to make others aware of the value of the finest and most sophisticated art form ever developed by an aboriginal people.”