nature

Thoughtful Reflections

Art that Inspires

One of the great joys of being an artist who sells online, is that I actually get to have some contact with those who collect my art. Galleries are great, but most galleries keep the collectors names to themselves (rightfully so as their mailing list is their business). It is always a pleasant surprise when I receive a collector’s thoughts on why they purchased one of my polar bear paintings or receive a photo of the painting in situ in their home.

Recently I received these thoughtful reflections from a first time collector of my art that I think capture a lot of what I try to say with my painting. I am not bilingual, but these comments were written to me in French and so I wanted to include them in the language written.

Do you see what this person sees in my art? Id love to know in the comments below.


Reverence 1 ©Christine Montague. 12” x 12” oil painting. Private collection.

Reverence 1:   

It calls me to live with love and gentleness for others, because I do not know what they are going through, but everyone needs to feel respected, recognized, and loved. The beauty of the sky in the background gives me hope for a new day that dawns with the determination to do my part to stop the deterioration of the natural world and maintain hope for a better world since despair and resignation cannot benefits only those who exploit the world and others.

Elle m’appelle à vivre avec amour et douceur pour autrui, car je ne sais pas ce qu’ils vivent, par compte tous ont besoin de se sentir respecter, reconnue, et aimer. La beauté du ciel en arrière plan me donne l’espérance d’un jour nouveau qui se lève avec la determination de faire ma part pour cesser la détérioration du monde naturelle et garder l’espérance pour un monde meilleur puisque le désespoir et la résignation ne bénéficie que ceux qui exploite le monde et l’autrui. 

- F. D. Vancouver, B.C., Canada



Reverence 3. ©Christine Montague. 12” x 12” oil painting. Private collection.

Reverence 3:

I feel a lot of the same emotions with this piece, and by juxtaposing them I see the same bear, but in a different state. Sometimes I interpret his roar symbolizing anger towards an environment that is malicious, unhealthy, aggressive, and hostile. Sometimes it seems to me like a cry of anguish, not knowing how else to respond to this new world. A world dedicated to destroying its existence.

Je ressent beaucoup des mêmes émotions avec cette pièce, et en les juxtaposant je vois le même ours, mais dans un état différent. Des fois j’interprète son rugissement symbolisant une colère envers un environnement qui lui est malveillant, malsain, agressif, et hostile. Des fois ça me semble un cri d’angoisse, ne sachant pas comment répondre à ce nouveau monde autrement. Un monde vouer à détruire son existence. 

- F.D. Vancouver, B.C., Canada

If you enjoy my Reverence Series, there are other square foot paintings still available in the series. You can peruse these polar bear and northern lights paintings in Shop Original Art.

Detail - Reverence 2. See the complete painting here.

You're Invited To "Polar Bear Wonder and Warning"

Christine’s Solo Show of Polo Bear Paintings

at the Fireside Gallery at Art Gallery of Burlington June 28 - July 9, 2023

If you live in the Burlington, Ontario area I’m delighted to invite you to my solo show show of recent polar bear paintings.

Wonder and Warning Exhibit. View from atrium . Fireside Gallery at Art Gallery of Burlington. Burlington, ON

The show is a series of work paying tribute to the magnificent polar bear on its solitary journey through the arctic night. But in each painting, evidence of climate change and vanishing sea ice awaits.

More Info on Polar Bear Wonder and Warning Show

Location : Fireside Gallery at Art Gallery of Burlington, Ontario. 1333 Lakeshore Rd., Burlington, ON, L7S 1A9

Please phone the gallery 905 632 7796 to ensure Fireside gallery is open.

Hours: The gallery is closed Mondays. But is open Tues. & Wed. 10 am - 9 pm. Thurs.,Fri., Sat., & Sun. 10 am - 5 pm

Entry: Free, but donations are appreciated.

Parking: Paid parking is available behind the gallery. Free after 6 pm.

Merry Christmas December 25 Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar

Wishing you Peace & Joy Today

Only Two Polar Bears To Go

Here’s the 23rd Polar Bear Face for December 23rd

Here's polar bear face #23! A sweetheart of a bear for December 23rd! Enjoy your day!

Do you know that all my polar bear portraits are inspired either from photos I have taken of polar bears or are from my imagination. In this case this furry little face is inspired by a photo I took of the email bear, Juno, who was born @thetorontozoo , spent a while at the @assiniboineparkzoo and then returned pre pandemic to the Toronto Zoo again. Learn more about Sweetheart Polar Bear (on special) here

Here's Polar Bear #22 for December 22 of My Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar 2021

Fuzzball and The Poppies

Today's addition to the Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar is very late because we had a wonderful early Christmas celebration with the new little cub in our family! It seemed appropriate that a baby bear should be the art for today. (To see Fuzzball & The Poppies in its entirety & to learn its symbolism , please click here). I hope your December 22 is (was ) a good one!

Here's December 20 Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar

We’re All in This Together

Today's Polar Bear has a couple of titles - one of which We Are All In This Together. And whether climate change issues (what this was created for with its crown of Canadian provincial & territorial flowers ) or the pandemic, we most certainly are, aren't we? Enjoy your December 20th, may you be safe and well.

To learn more about this available 30” x 30” painting, please click here. Do you know I actually will consider any reasonable offer on larger art? Please contact me here

December 19th Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar is "In The Pink"

Today's Advent Calendar features the polar bear portrait from my painting In the Pink. Well, Christmas is just a week away and once again family get-togethers here in Ontario, Canada, are being limited due to the spread of the Omicron virus. So we're not quite "in the pink" here, but like this intelligent bear we're cautiously moving ahead. Enjoy your December 18th, and stay safe!

Learn more about In the Pink here

Here's December 16th's Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar

Wise Eyes For Troubled Times is Today’s Painting

Inspired by the beautiful, intelligent polar bear that enjoys the solitude, wonder and beauty of its arctic night journey. The bear in this painting gives us a “look”. We know what we have to do, that inner strength, that fortitude, it’s there. The original oil painting is a 6" round canvas, a portal into the polar bear world, and round like our beautiful planet. It is attractively framed in a black, and is wired, ready to hang. To see or purchase the original artwork , please click Shop Original Art

The Grey is the December 10th Polar Bear Advent Calendar Art

A Beautiful Polar Bear…

.. rising from a grey sea. A grey painting for a grey, but beautiful day here in the Toronto area. I hope you enjoy your day!

Here's the Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar for Dec. 5th

Into the Northern Lights is Dec. 5th’s Bear

To learn more about this artwork and see it in its entirety, please click Shop Original Art

December 2nd Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar

Today’s Polar Bear Art - Polar Bears on a Pedestal

Today’s polar bear art Together on a Pedestal is a detail of the 12”h x 4” w palette painting of a polar bear mom and her cubs. They are happily on the way on the ice.

Polar Bear Rock

Polar bears rock ! Yes, polar bears are awesome, but there's another way they "rock", too.

In the fall , the polar bear finds its way to the sea’s shore to wait for the ice to form. It has been months since it has feasted on it vital source of nutrition - the ringed seal. And it needs the frozen sea in order to catch this seal, travel, mate, and shelter.

Polar bears are excellent at conserving their energy. They enjoy a nap amongst, (or on) the rocks and willows. It is easy from afar to mistake a still, motley white and cream polar bear for one of the big rocks in the landscape.

In my latest polar bear painting, A Polar Rock Waiting Beneath the Northern Lights, a graphically painted landscape, I strive to bring you into the magic and otherworldliness of the north. It is a world as filled with wonder and danger, beauty and vulnerability, found in any storybook tale.

.

30" x 40"x 1.5" oil painting. Edges are black. Wired, ready to hang.

.

Regular price is $2500 CAD. However, until Feb 28th, 2021 enter POLARBEAR21 to receive 10% discount in celebration of International Polar Bear Day. Free shipping in Canada

Christine-Montague-Polar-rock-sq.jpg

Get Ready to Run

Here are a series of polar bear paintings, that viewed together animate an arctic night life moment.

At approximately 12" wide, the polar bear paw width is the same height as the paintings below.

In Paws Pause, (info here) a handsome polar bear pauses on its solitary journey in the arctic night. What does it sense out there in the dark? Its sensitive nose can pick up scents from over a kilometre away. And its round, furry ears hear better than ours. Then….

Paws Pause. First in the series.  ©Christine Montague

Paws Pause. First in the series. ©Christine Montague

Our intrepid bear is Thinking (info here)….and….

Thinking. Second in the series.  ©Christine Montague

Thinking. Second in the series. ©Christine Montague

….now, the paws of this powerful, apex predator, with their thick, curved and very sharp 2 inch plus claws, have changed direction. And appear to be heading your way. So...

"Oh, oh"

(info here)

Oh, Oh. Third in the series.  ©Christine Montague

Oh, Oh. Third in the series. ©Christine Montague

I often use blue in my polar bear art because it is one of the world's most popular colours, and it symbolizes intelligence, nature, royalty, and spirit. Perfect for the intelligent , curious and powerful polar bear, one of the world's most favourite animals.

Each of these original oil paintings is 12”H x 6”W x 1.5”D wood panel. Edges are black. Wired and ready to hang. A Certificate of Authenticity is supplied.

$195 each CAD. includes taxes. BONUS! Free shipping to Canada and USA. Wish to buy all 3? Contact me for additional savings. Please contact me here

Polar Bear Painting of the Day - Family is Golden

Some Polar Bear Familytime.

Today’’ painting suits a Sunday morning post -

Family is Golden

Family, love, & togetherness are represented by this pink, gold and rose gold acrylic paint on wood panel.
The polar bear is an intelligent, good mother. Polar bear cubs climb all over the mama bear just as our human little ones do. Her cubs stay with her for about 30 months.

In my art gold paint represents the royalty and intelligence of the polar bears, and the richness of nature.

Crackled white paint adds to the illusion of fur in the painting, but the "cracks" also symbolize the vulnerability of this polar bear family due to climate change.

A stylized gold ribbon behind them represents the northern lights, as well as our connection to the bears.

The sides of the wood panel are painted gold. The painting is wired and ready for hanging.

24"H x 12"W x 0.75"D wood panel

Special price $500 CAD. Free shipping in Canada.

Shop here

Family is Golden. 24” x 12” ©Christine Montague wood panel.

Family is Golden. 24” x 12” ©Christine Montague wood panel.

Painting of the Day - Into the Sunset 1

Polar Bear "Into the Sunset 1"

A powerful looking polar bear is portrayed against the setting sun, and the sea. The darkness of the winter is retreating, as is the sea ice, so important for the polar bear's survival.

As the sun sets, its glory is reflected in what remains of the sea ice and off the polar bear's translucent fur.

We can reflect, too. What will we loose under the threat of climate change? A setting sun offers hope with a new day ahead, but it also symbolizes the end of a story. Do we want a happy one? .

24" x 24' x 1.5" Painting continues around edges. Wired ready to hang. Certificate of Authenticity supplied.

$1000 CAD. Free shipping to Canada. Shipping is available worldwide. Contact me here

Into the Sunset 1 © Christine Montague ChristineMontague.com

Into the Sunset 1 © Christine Montague ChristineMontague.com

Polar Bear Cubs- How to See the Picture

Triplets

This stylized oil painting has a climate change story to tell, and can be hung vertically or horizontally to do so. 

Hung horizontally: In my latest oil painting, Triplets, three polar bear cubs affectionately play with their mother, secure and warm in their den. It is rare that 3 cubs are born and so this is one lucky polar bear mother.

One of the cubs is in the shadows. It could be a sign of foreboding, but is more a comment of how the healthier a bear is the more likely multiple births succeed. (Recently, a Polar Bears International post mentioned a bear with three cubs was observed for the first time in five years.) 

Triplets. Hung horizontally. ©Christine Montague Oil painting. 20” x 30”

Triplets. Hung horizontally. ©Christine Montague Oil painting. 20” x 30”

Hung vertically: The bear family’s survival is dependant on sea ice. Too early a breakup of the ice in the spring, and a delay in its formation in the fall, leaves the polar bear and cubs vulnerable to starvation, drowning and threat from male bears. 

30” x 20” x 1.5” oil painting on canvas. Edges are painted black. Wired, ready to hang. Certificate of Authenticity supplied. 

$1000 CAD Free shipping to Canada . Please contact me

Triplets hung vertically. 30”h  x 20”w ©Christine Montague

Triplets hung vertically. 30”h x 20”w ©Christine Montague





Looking Back Moving Forward - Happy New Year

Looking Back, Moving Forward


The painting below has the perfect title - Looking Back, Moving Forward - for New Year's Eve. New Year’s Eve is all about saying goodbye to what has been a heck of a year, and saying hello with great anticipation, to the new one.

Looking Back, Moving Forward tells a story about a polar bear in the spring (the next thing we can look forward to). The arctic night has ended, dramatic sunsets make their reappearance , the sea ice is breaking up, and the polar bear returns to the tundra. 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.

In the movies, setting off into the sunset symbolizes a happy ending, but it is also the promise of a new day ahead.

Wishing you all a better new day, and New Year ahead!

Looking Back, Moving Forward is a 24" x 24" x 1.5" oil painting ©Christine Montague . It is available.

Polar-Bear-Sunset-3.jpg

The Polar Bear Life Preserver

Polar Bear Life Preserver

The intrepid polar bear, backlit by the northern lights, is perched upon a circular ice floe. There isn't much room, but not to worry, this marine mammal is a powerful swimmer.

The real question is how much sea ice will our bear find located out past the picture frame? It is the frozen sea that the polar bear depends upon for travel, hunting, food and shelter. It is the frozen sea that is the life preserver for our beautiful bear.

12" x 12" x 1.5" oil painting on canvas

Edges are painted black. Wired, ready to hang. Certificate of Authenticity supplied.

$350 CAD. Free shipping to Canada and USA.

Please contact me.

Polar Bear Life Preserver  ©Christine Montague

Polar Bear Life Preserver ©Christine Montague


Polar Bear No. 25 Wishes you a Very Merry Christmas!!


.. and so do I!

Everyday from Dec. 1st until today, Dec. 25th, I added a new polar bear painting to my Polar Bear Advent Calendar. Thank you for following along!

My wish for you is the beauty and wonder of the Day, good health and peace of mind.

Fond regards ,

Christine

Detail Rising in the Moonlight. Please scroll down to see the complete painting with ut text.

Detail Rising in the Moonlight. Please scroll down to see the complete painting with ut text.

Here is the last of the special offers ( valid until December 31st, 2020 $130 CAD includes shipping to USA & Canada.

Rising in the Moonlight

In this portrait oil painting, a polar bear, spotlit by the moon, rises up from beneath the surface of the dark arctic sea.

Polar Bear Rising in the Moon Light. ©Christine Montague Until Dec 31, 2020. $130 CAD includes shipping to Canada or USA.

Polar Bear Rising in the Moon Light. ©Christine Montague Until Dec 31, 2020. $130 CAD includes shipping to Canada or USA.

10” x 8” x .75 " oil paint on wood panel. It is signed by the artist. It is wired and ready for hanging.

Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020

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

Please contact me