Happy first day of spring, everyone. We may still have snow in the Toronto area, and it is cold, too, but I can feel hope in the air , can't you? Sending some tulips your way! Cheers! (or is that cheer up?)
Williams Mill Visual Arts Centre
Polar Bears in Orangeville
No danger though, the seven polar bears in question are the 8" x 8" polar bear portrait oil paintings I completed earlier this year. This is their first excursion out of my Williams Mill studio, and you can see them at the Dragonfly Arts on Broadway Gallery in Orangeville, Ontario. Joan Hope, the very personable gallery owner, and a great lover of original art, and supporter of Canadian art & Canadian artists, saw them online and asked that I bring them in. Done!
These Ursus maritimus portrait oil paintings, inspired by Inukshuk, the Toronto Zoo's male polar bear, are studies for future larger artworks. Thus I have priced them similarly to my little portrait painting series (here) . They are 8" x 8" gallery mount canvases, framed in black floater frames, and are easily shipped.
If you would like to see these polar bear portraits in person or would like more information. Here is Dragonfly Arts contact information: 189 Broadway, Orangeville, ON L9W 1K2 (519) 941-5249 · dragonflyarts.ca
Here's the google map http://goo.gl/maps/fwP4
Well, I realize not quite like the remarkable story of the British Columbia man who can swim with the polar bears, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7rZTZBOrqQ&noredirect=1 but I hope you enjoy perusing these works online, or at Dragonfly Arts.
P.S. Orangeville has a delightful main street, Broadway, with Dragonfly Arts, home design shops, Orangeville Theatre, an art supply store and a myriad of restaurants for every taste. Plenty of free parking, too. I can't tell you how great it is to find parking almost in front of the gallery so I can unload my work with ease!
And for a great story about encounters with a polar besr listen to cbc radios The Wild Side with Grant Lawrence. It's great. http://www.cbc.ca/thewildside/
For some great reading about polar bears in Canadian north, and the effect of changes in snow on reproduction, read this related article
- Changing climate threatens to disrupt the denning habits of polar bears (vancouversun.com)
New Portrait Oil Painting: Polar Bear 6
The sixth in the series of little polar bear portrait oil paintings now dries on my easel. The Toronto Zoo's male polar bear "Inukshuk" is once again the model, and as in the fifth portrait, he is lit by the moonlight. Two more of these little portraits are blocked in and waiting completion. Yup. Those big blank canvases are calling for attention now.
Related articles
- New Portrait Painting: Polar Bear 5 (christinemontagueart.wordpress.com)
Big Show, Small Works & Chipmunks
As one of the professional visual artists at the Williams Mill Visual Arts Centre, I take part in the annual Christmas Big Show, Small Works show & sale, Nov. 9 - Dec. 24., in the Williams Mill Gallery.
Every year I create a themed small painting series specifically for this show. The first year, the koi paintings on 3"x5" wood blocks were popular. Last Christmas, I sold abstract landscapes in cold wax and oil paint on wood panels. This year, my muses are the chipmunks of the Williams Mill gardens. An aspect of this series that remains consistent with my usual work? Even though the wood panels are small (8" x 10") the chipmunks painted on them are larger than life!
Please scroll down for the invitation below. I hope you can attend this holiday art show, perfect for shopping for unique one-of-a-kind fine art gifts & collectibles. As well as my paintings, there will be other watercolour, acrylic & oil paintings, jewelry, blown glass, ceramics, fibre art & more in the Williams Mill Gallery. Be sure to drop by my studio in the Stone Building behind the gallery. Gallery hours: Wed. - Sun. 12 - 5 p.m. My studio hours: Fridays, Saturdays 12-5 p.m. Saturday Nov. 19th 1-4 p.m. Opening Celebration with light refreshments
- Invitation to new exhibition. Big Show, Small Art. Williams Mill Gallery Art Show. 2011
Crossing Into Night. New P.E.I. Painting
Here is the latest large (60" x 30") oil painting. New looser, contemporary style, but it conveys everything I wanted it to. Can you feel the uplift? My son, crossing a tidal pool in the red sand shore of Prince Edward Island, is doing his best to walk on water and not step on the myriad of life found in its depth. Past this tidal pool, home and night awaits. The reflection symbolizes this beautifully.
Finished Big Cat Painting Today
I didn't want to leave the studio today until I finished this painting - I was so anxious to see it completed. Although I adore painting in oils, drawing was my first love, and so, it was exciting for me to both draw (oil sticks) & paint (oils) in this art work. This piece also combines my love of portraits, my love of animals and my love of black (I am only painting in black until they invent something darker). Equally as fulfilling was my use, for the first time, of silver oil paint as my "white" - although its reflective values proved a little trickier to photograph. My iphone camera, couldn't quite do the trick.
Do you know that many artists give a lot of thought to the placement & appearance of their signature on their paintings? Well, I am one of those artists. This new work called for a different look to my signature. Traditionally, on my carefully rendered, realistic paintings, I carefully print my full name in block lettering. I don't like my signature to distract from the work, and even will use more than one colour to print it so that the signature flows with the work. This painting called for something more expressive. Artist Carmen Hickson of www.theredpigstudio.com lent me a nifty colour pushing brush* ( a rubber chisel tip instead of bristles). It was perfect for carving out a cursive signature with values that suited the painting.
By the way, "Big Cat Painting" is not the official title of the painting...
* I don't know the official name of these rubber tipped brushes, and tried unsuccessfully to google them for this post. My son, who used to work at Curry's Art Supplies, informed me they weren't big sellers, but I sure found it terrific to use. Do you know what this type of brush is called? I did however find this new neat little cleaning gadget while trying to find the rubber brush name https://www.currys.com/catalogpc.htm?Category=A021B006823&Source=Search. I could have used this when washing piles of black oil paint out of about 8 brushes this evening :D