Polar Bear King Moves On. Here's Today's Very Special Offer

Everyday from Dec 1- 25th, a new polar bear painting is offered at a special value! (valid until Dec 31, 2020)

Polar Bear King Moves On

Behind this regal polar bear a metallic gold sun radiates. The halo-like gold sun symbolizes his powerful and royal position as top predator in the arctic.

The Polar Bear King Moves On (Detail). To see the full 10” x 8” panel, please scroll down.

The gold metallic paint also represents the wealth we have in the nature around us. And like the polar bear, gold is beautiful to most who behold it. 

The gold also represents the sun, and global warming. The polar bear moves on, ahead of the situation for now. 

The edges of this acrylic painting on wood panel have been painted in gold. 

Because graphite is used in this work, the painting has been varnished to seal in the line work. The painting is wired and ready for hanging. 

10” x 8” x .75 " graphite, white, black & metallic gold acrylic paint on wood panel. 

The edges of this wood panel are painted gold. Wired and ready to hang.

Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020

Reg. $260 CAD. NOW $130 CAD incl. shipping to Canada + USA

Please contact me

The Polar Bear King Moves On ©Christine Montague Metallic acrylic paint & graphite on panel. Varnished.

Here's Today's Featured Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar Painting

Everyday from Dec 1- 25th, a new polar bear painting is offered at a special value! (valid until Dec 31, 2020)

GOLD Dec. 18th Bear

Gold represents the royalty of this magnificent marine animal. The metallic gold acrylic paint on much of the artwork continues around the edges.

6” x 4” x 1.5 " acrylic paint on wood panel. 

Artist signature on the front, unique work completion number on the back. Certificate of Authenticity is supplied.

Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020

Reg. $195 CAD. NOW $130 CAD incl. shipping to Canada + USA

Please contact me

Gold ©Christine Montague ChristineMontague.com Original painting does not have text. Please scroll down.

Here's the Newest Bear in the Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar Special

December 13th Polar Bear. Today’s Special Offer -

Earth Bear 1

This polar bear painting celebrates polar bears and the connection we all have to the earth. This little bear looks quite amused and quite cute with a flower growing on its head, but, I think it would be better is tulips can’t grow in this polar bear’s environment. 

Earth Bear 1 with photoshopped text. ©Christine Montague oil painting ChristineMontague.com

Oil painting on 4” x 4" x 1.5 " wood panel. 

The background colour carries around the edges. Artist initials on the front, artist signature &  unique work completion number on the back. Certificate of Authenticity is supplied.

Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020.

$130 CAD incl. shipping in North America  Reg, $195 CAD .

Please contact me

Earth Bear in its natural form. . ©Christine Montague

Why is a Polar Bear like a Marshmallow? See Dec. 9 Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar

A marshmallow is a concoction that is both, sweet, solid and soft. I think this perfectly describes a polar bear cub, don’t you? It takes a cold heart to not acknowledge a polar bear cub  is pretty darn adorable. Those solid little paws, fluffy, dense fur, bright little coal eyes and nose. Let’s not forget, its intelligence and strength, needed to survive the many challenges ahead. 

.

This little bear is is on a metallic silvery  mauve  background, keeping the colours cool, and yet warm, re[presenting its youth and innocence, too. 

.

The silvery mauve carries around to the edges edges of this acrylic painting on 4" x 4" x 1.5 " wood panel. The background is textured. The painting is signed by me, comes with a unique work completion number and a Certificate of Authenticity.

.

Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020

.

$130 CAD ($100 USD) incl. shipping in North America  Reg, $195 CAD ($150 USD)

.Please contact me here

Polar Bear Advent Calendar Specials!

Every Day from Dec 1st - Dec 25th, 2020 A New Polar Bear Painting is Added to this Special Event!

Meet the December 1st “Golden Bear” polar bear painting, Ice Bear!

Ice Bear 4” x 4” x 1.5” acrylic painting on wood panel. ©Christine Montague

About Ice Bear -

Inspired by the magnificent polar bear, this ice bear is in created with silver and purple metallic paints, and textured medium giving the illusion of ice. Acrylic medium gives this bear a shiny, raised nose. The sides are painted in metallic purple.

Please note: what reads as "grey" in the photograph is actually metallic silver.
.
4" x 4" x 1.5" acrylic painting on wood panel. Varnished. Perfect to sit on a shelf or table. To hang on a wall nail two small finishing nails ( or even a couple of pushpins for it to "sit" on.) 
.
$130 CAD ($100 USD) includes postage in North America. (Reg $195 CAD or $150 USD) . Today's special until Dec. 31st, 2020.
.
Please contact me to to make this polar bear yours!

Into the Sunset - A New Polar Bear Series

In this new series of polar bear portrait oil paintings on canvas, a beautiful polar bear is portrayed against the setting sun, and the arctic sea.

It is spring. The polar bear’s solitary journey in search of seals, a mate, and shelter on the sea ice is coming to an end for another year.

The darkness of the arctic winter day vanishes along with the sea ice. Sunshine returns and so do the glorious big sky sunsets.

As the day draws to an end, the sun’s glory is reflected off the open water, the remaining ice, and the polar bear's translucent fur - sea, ice and polar bear connected by its light, colour and warmth.

We can reflect, too. What will we lose under the threat of climate change? A setting sun offers hope with a new day ahead, but "into the sunset" can also signify the end. 

This is the first polar bear painting in the new series . Let me know what you think.

New! Into the Sunset 1. 24” x 24” x 1.50” oil painting on canvas. ©Christine Montague 2019 ChristineMontague.com

Cape Dorset Walkabout

Follow the Yellow (make that ochre) Dirt Roads

I visited the Canadian Arctic for the first time in May, 2014. After a day in Iqaluit (Nunavut's capital) I flew to Cape Dorset (pop. approx 1300) at the southern tip of Baffin Island. 

Although the landscape surrounding Cape Dorset is stunning, it was the ochre ribbon-like roads looping through the hamlet, and the constant activity on them, that intrigued me most.  Most people walk or drive ATVs (skidoos in winter) to socialize, shop and work. There are few larger vehicles, but the school bus seems always on the go, as are the trucks that deliver fresh water and empty the septic tanks. Thus my first steps out on the town (well, hamlet) were a delightful contrast to my city experience, where the roads are hectic and the sidewalks empty.

The hope and promise of Cape Dorset is represented in it's wonderful children. Photo: ©Christine Montague www.christinemontague.com

Next to my hotel (Dorset Suites), and across from Tellik Inlet, is the world-renowned Kinngait Arts Studio, the oldest printing studio in Canada.  The distinctive red-roofed, green and yellow buildings (seen below), have been around since 1957. This summer (2017) work has begun on the new cultural centre and studios. To see larger images please click on the photos below. 

Panoramic view of Kinngait Arts and kellit bay, Cape Dorset. Photo: ©Christine Montague 2014

Below:Tellik Inlet by Kinngait Arts. Turn right to go to the two grocery and supply stores, and the RCMP station. Turn left to find the Wildlife Office, the municipal pier, and the gazebo on the hill.

Christine-Montague-tellik-inlet-1

The gazebo, seen from most vantage points of the hamlet, is an unusual landmark for such a northern community, but, hey, I loved it. A sheltered bit of architecture, where I could start each day and take in the glorious landscape. In the picture below, you can spot the gazebo above the Wildlife Office (the building on the left ). Click on the picture below to see a larger image

Wildlife Dept.building. Cape Dorset. Photo:Christine Montague

Huge. and I mean, huge, polar bear skin dries on stretcher. Photo: ©Christine Montague 2014

The polar bear hide seen above was huge. I mean hair-raising, goose bump inspiring big. I wish I had thought to put my hand or iPhone by a paw for reference.

Meanwhile, on the same day I happily arrived in Cape Dorset,  a polar bear attacked two Arctic Bay hunters as they slept in their tent.  They survived, but only after a fight for their lives. For a dramatic account of the attack, and some equally dramatic polar bear facts, read http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_polar_bear_attack_survivors_thankful_to_be_alive/

I love polar bears, and my polar bear paintings are portraiture tributes to these great mammals whose future is of concern. But up north? One can never forget these beautiful, intelligent, powerful kings of the arctic are dangerous.

Big Bear Passing (48" by 36" polar bear oil painting by Christine Montague )

Big Bear Walking. polar bear painting ©Christine Montague

So, up the hill to the gazebo.

Up to the gazebo. Cape Dorset. Photo: ©Christine Montague 

Gazebo. Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Photo: ©Christine Montague

Looking down at pier on Tellik Inlet from gazebo. Photo: ©Christine Montague 

Kinngait mountain as seen from the gazebo. Photo: ©Christine Montague 

 Below. Snowmobilers travel on frozen Tellik Inlet to get to open water beyond.

Inuit hunters head out on the land. As seen from the gazebo in Cape Dorset. Photo: ©Christine Montague www.christinemontague.com

Christine-Montague-cape-dorset-gazebo-view_edited-1

I was forewarned to expect roads thick with mud, but they were dry and solid. Later in summer, when the roads become too dry, passing ATVs and the odd car send up clouds of pervasive dust. But for now, as it was the first week of sunny, cheery weather, children, especially boys, were out on their bikes, pedalling uphill with admirable ease.

Bicyclist in Cape Dorset. Photo: ©Christine Montague

To be continued...

Note: I use a Sony A7r with 35mm Zeiss lens.  iPhone 5s was my back up. 

A Canadian Feast For the Soul - An Arctic Visit to Iqaluit & Cape Dorset

I had the sudden good fortune to travel to Canada's arctic in 2014.  From the Greater Toronto Area (GTA),  I flew first to Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital city on Baffin Island, and after a day's visit, was off to Cape Dorset, a hamlet just over an hour's flight away on Dorset Island. My learning curve about Inuit art and culture, the arctic landscape and environment, and how to travel in the north was steep (as was food and travel expenses), but oh, what a wonderful, worthwhile feast for the eyes and mind.

©Christine-Montague-Iqaluit-panorama

Iqaluit

One of the many art showcases in Iqaluit airport.

With about 7,000 people, Iqaluit is Canada's least populated capital city. It is the only Canadian capital not connected to any other settlement by road.  Travel to Iqaluit is only possible by plane, or if ice conditions permit, by boat.

It is a new city, declared such in 2001 after quickly rising from its status as a settlement (1970),  village (1974), and town (1980).

Iqaluit serves as the gateway to all the Baffin region communities (such as Cape Dorset), as well as to Greenland, Yellowknife,  Northern Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa. So it is only natural, that art about the Inuit culture, history and Nunavut's wildlife is evident the moment one steps off the plane.  

And, yes, like any place that is building a tourism industry,  much of this panders to what tourists want, and expect to see - polar bears, inukshuks, and romanticized Inuit life. But, that doesn't mean it isn't a joy to see, which it was, it's just that I expected to find art representing modern-day life in the north as well (note: this may have changed in the past 3 years).  

Below, is just a sample of what I saw - all in my first hour of strolling through Iqaluit!

Polar on the exterior wall of new office building in Iqaluit, Nuanvut, Canada. ©Christine Montague 

Iqaluit. Stone Park. Photo ©Christine Montague

©Christine-Montague-Stone-park-iqaluit-caribou

©Christine-Montague-Stone-Park-Iqaluit-pipes

©Christine-Montague-Stone-Park-iqaluit-raven_edited-1

©Christine-Montague-Stone-Park-iqaluit-

Me, looking self conscious, but spiffy in my newly gifted hat (made by a textile artist from Pangnirtung). In front of public sculpture. Created co-operatively by multiple carvers.

Read more about the cultural space http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2012-03/mar12_12car.html

Polar bear cubs. Public sculpture. Iqaluit, Nunavut. Photo: ©Christine Montague

Public sculpture. Iqaluit, Nunavut. Photo: ©Christine Montague

Bear and Chairs ourside Igluvut Building. Four corners of Iqaluit. Photo: ©Christine Montague

Vertical wood trim like runners of a komatik, the Inuit sled. © Christine Montague

Sign outside the Nunavut government building ©Christine Montague

The People. The other side of the Nunavut Government sign. Photo: ©Christine Montague

Nunavet Government Building. Stair railings shaped like kayaks. Perdago over entrance like komatik (sled) runners. Photo: ©Christine Montague

"No parking" sign in shape of polar bear. Photo: ©Christine Montague

Shrodinger's Cat, er, Polar Bear

A Polar Bear Cub Painting

The polar bear cub painting below,  is the second in my Sink/Swim series of polar bear  oil paintings. This painting comments on  sea ice loss and its negative effect on the polar bear habitat. 

Sinking or Swimming?

©Christine Montague. Sink/Swim 2. 12" x 6" oil painting. 

Climate change has decreased the amount of sea ice necessary for the mother bears to hunt seals, feed their young, and sometimes den. The season of open water from spring to fall has increased, delaying the opportunity to hunt. Cubs do not yet have that great insulating layer of fat and so the mother bear must carry the baby bears on her back as she swims to the next ice top.  These trips  are not always successful. Polar bear cubs just simply vanish along the route, and sometimes the mothers do, too.

The bear cub above, does not seem distressed. Like with the experiment Schrodinger's Cat, it is up to the viewer's thoughts about what this bear's state of being is.

For my online gallery of polar bear art – paintings and portraits, please visit ChristineMontague.com

A Polar Bear Benediction

Polar Bear Blessings

In Benediction, a 36" x 12" polar bear oil painting on canvas a polar bear, suspended upright under blue free water,  seems to be giving a blessing. Who would be the recipient of such a gift, do you think?

As with other paintings in the polar bear  Sink/Swim Series, we are at that tipping point of loosing much that is wonderful in this world. We need all the blessings we can get, and we should not only count them, but protect and nurture them, too.

I'm very blessed I can take the risk to follow my polar bear muse and look forward to where this polar bear art will take me.  Are you enjoying these polar bear paintings?  Let me know as I enjoy and appreciate your comments!

"Benediction" has a new home, but if you would like to have a polar bear in your home or office, or lucky you, polar bear lodge,  please check out what's available at  ChristineMontague.com 

Benediction Polar bear painting SOLD  ©Christine Montague www.ChristineMontague.com

New Polar Bear Cub Painting Study 4

Sink/ Swim 3, A Polar Bear Cub Painting

Polar Bear Cub 3, a 6" x 12" oil painting study on canvas, depicts a polar bear cub mid-swim, beneath the water's surface.

The Sink/Swim Series

Sink/Swim3. Polar bear cub painting © Christine Montague www.ChristineMontague.com

My polar bear Sink/Swim series of oil paintings offers commentry on the effect vanishing polar ice has on the survival of the polar bears. The delay in the formation of the sea ice, leaves the baby polar bear more vulnerable to attack by hungry male polar bears. The increased open water means the distance a mother polar bear must travel, polar bear cub(s) on back, before ice is found to rest on or hunt seal from,  increases the odds the polar bear bear cub(s), and even the mother, will make it safely ice top.

The sink or swim aspect can apply to the bigger picture of our planet as well. The decrease in the polar bear population is but one of the many consequences of increased global warming, and the resulting polar and glacial ice loss. Less ice means more dark water.

When polar caps melt, sea water rises. As a good part of the earth's population lives near the water's edge, well, we could all be swimming for it, couldn't we.

Anecdotal stories state that human babies will sometimes play as they drown, not realizing they are in danger.  With this chilling fact in mind, I wondered if polar bear cubs are aware they are in danger as they drown. I hope not.

Some may think of these polar bear cub paintings as "cute", not exactly a word a fine artist loves to hear. But, the fact is, it is difficult to paint escape the cute factor of a polar bear cub. I hope that the affection, admiration and concern I feel for these wonderful bears is evident, and that they evoke similar emotions in you, too. The thought that in the next 50 years then number of these magnificent polar bears may decline dramatically, is the furthest from polar bear cute I can imagine.

To sign up for my blog & newsletter, or for more info on my polar bear paintings or to buy a painting, please visit Christine Montague Polar Bear Art.

Sink/Swim 1: A Polar Bear Cub & Vanishing Sea Ice Painting

New Polar Bear Cub Painting Series

The polar bear cub painting below comments on sea ice loss and its effect on polar bears. 

Sink/Swim 1 (private collection). 12" x 6" polar bear cub oil painting  ©Christine Montague. www.ChristineMontague.com

You may know that, thanks to climate change (global warming)  mother polar bears, polar bear cub(s) atop their back, must swim greater distances in search of ice tops on which to hunt, rest, feed and occasionally den. The greater distances, and greater sea ice loss, means these trips, are not always successful.  Polar bear cubs just simply vanish along the route, and sometimes the mothers do, too.

I've heard some human babies continue to play as they sink to the bottom of the swimming pool, unaware they are in danger of drowning. I don't know if this is actually true, but, with this concept in mind, I've painted this little bear. This polar bear cub is under water, and not in distress. It's looking right at us though, leaving us to decide the innocence or tragedy of the scene. What do you think happens next?

For my online gallery of  polar bear art - paintings and portraits, please visit ChristineMontague.com

For everything polar bear, please visit Polar Bears International, the not for profit organization noted for their research and advocacy roles re: sea ice loss and effect on polar bear life.

Soft Snow Polar Bear

New Polar Bear Painting

Mauja I sa 6" x 12" portrait of a polar bear taking it easy ion some soft snow.  Mauja is Inuktitut for soft snow. Inuktitut is the language of the Inuit from Nunavut, an arctic territory in Canada.

The painting above is just one the polar bear oil paintings available in my series A Celebration of Polar Bears, my way of creatively celebrating a celebration  of bears (what a group of bears is known as).

Mauja. 6" x 12" polar bear oil painting on canvas ©Christine Montague. Canada.

For more polar bear paintings please visit here.

To contact me about my art contact Christine Montague

Polar Bear Sitting Pretty

A Celebration of Polar Bears Painting

Inerkartok, is a 6" x 12" portrait oil painting on canvas of a polar bear sitting in the snow.  "Inerkartok" means pretty in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit in Nunavut, an arctic territory in Canada.  The polar bear in this oil painting is a pretty one, and I would like to believe she is sitting pretty, too.  Sitting pretty is an old idiom that means in a good place or a in a good situation. However, this recent Polar Bears International video on the retreating sea ice and the 40% decline in the polar bear population is far from pretty.

Canadian visual artist Christine Montague portraits and polar bears in oil on canvas

Inerkartok is just one of the paintings in my series A Celebration of Polar Bears.

More more polar bear info -

• Polar Bears International for scientific info, the latest news, polar bear cam, school resource, and lots of photos.
• Tundra Connections Webcasts
• Toronto Zoo Polar Bear Conservation
• Polar Bear Habitat , Cochrane, Ontario

A Beautiful Bear...

...But Aren't They All?

Anana isa 6" x 12" portrait oil painting on canvas of a beautiful polar bear.  And that is what "Anana" means, beautiful in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit in Nunavut, Canada's arctic. This painting is another of the polar bear oil paintings available in my series A Celebration of Polar Bears.  This painting is not framed, but the painting carries around the edges and is ready for hanging.

Christine Montague polar bear oil paintings, Ontario, Canada. Contact me at Christine Montague

There's a Bear Model in My Studio

As fascinating as it would be to actually have a polar bear in my artist studio to paint "live" from, I realize the "live" part probably wouldn't apply to one of us for long.

Polar bear portrait study 1. ©Christine Montague. Polar bear oil paintings on canvas. 12" x 12". Contact Christine here.

So to simulate this experience I brought up one of my photos of the wonderful Inukshuk (the adult male bear at the Toronto Zoo) on my laptop.  I positioned my laptop at a distance and height a human model would sit in front of the easel.  Imagining the model before me was 3D,  I blocked in the shapes, values and colours I observed on the blank canvas. There was nothing drawn up before hand.

Detail: Polar Bear Portrait 2. (private collection). ©Christine Montague 12" x 12" polar bear oil painting. Please feel free to comment below or comments & inquiries are always welcome here.

In this style of painting, the background is more than a backdrop of colour to hide the white canvas. The paint helps carve out  and define the outer edge of the head, helping it to stand out from the canvas. Only at the end of the portrait painting are the fine details, and pure blacks and whites added.

Of course, for me, whether the portrait subject is human or otherwise, the big reward is always when I get to finish the eyes. Thanks to the magic of oils, the polar bear eyes in these portrait paintings, as well as in my imagination, are very much alive.

Polar Bear Portrait Study 3. ©Christine Montague (Please note that this image is slightly cropped. ) . For comments and questions about any of my art please contact me.

Northern Stars- On the Ground and in the Sky.

Polar Bear Paintings Aurora & Borealis

Here are two more polar bear oil paintings in the Celebration of Polar Bear Series -.Aurora and Borealis. They are named, or course,  for the aurora borealis, the northern lights that dance so brilliantly in the arctic sky. The size, beauty, and intelligence of the polar bear, makes this bear as magically magnetic as the northern lights.

Polar Bear Painting Aurora

Aurora. ©Christine Montague (6" x 12" )original oil paintings of polar bears  I've read that some Inuit communities believe that the aurora borealis are animal spirits,  but this Aurora has her paws firmly planted on the ground. Contact Christine Montague Polar Bear Art.

Polar Bear Painting Borealis

Borealis (6" x 12"). ©Christine Montague polar bear oil paintings Contact Christine Polar Bear Art. 

Borealis is a latin word that originates from the Greek personification of the north wind boreas.

Canada's arctic is home to over 60% of the world's polar bears but they also live in the arctic areas of Alaska (U.S.A.), Greenland, Norway and Russia (that's it, folks).

The word Boreas reminded me of Boris. They are not pronounced the same , but close enough, and so I often think of this painting as Boris, a popular Russian name that is fun to say, and is a nod to all the Russian polar bears, too.

A group of polar bears is known as a celebration of polar bears.  That is exactly what my polar bear portraits oil paintings are, happy, heartfelt celebratory tributes to these magnificent arctic animals.

Please visit Christine Montague Portrait Oil Paintings & Polar Bear Art for more information about these and other paintings.

Meet Polar Bear Painting Silatuyok

Meet a Polar Bear Named Silatuyok

Silatuyok is the Inuit word for cute and intelligent,  and so the perfect name for the lovely polar bear in the oil painting below. But as adorable as the big guy in this polar bear painting may seem, I have given a nod to his real nature -  an intelligent, playful, but deadly predator -  by making sure his giant nonretractable claws are clear. I actually love painting those big paws with the claws almost as much as those thickly insulated ears, and coal-black nose. 

Silatuyok. (6" x 12" oil painting) Polar bear oil painting ©Christine Montague. Canada.

Silatuyok is just one of the recently created paintings available in my new A Celebration of Polar Bears Series. 

Meet Polar Bear Painting Ursa

Here is another polar bear portrait oil painting from my A Celebration of Bears Series. I have named the little bear in this painting Ursa, for the northern sky constellation Ursa Minor or Little Bear. Please feel free to contact me or comment about any of these little bear artworks.

Ursa. (private collection) ©Christine Montague. Celebration of Polar Bears Series.