Polar Bear Goodness: a New Polar Bear Art Website & Art Blog at ChristineMontague.com

In case you are new to this art blog Camera & Canvas, I am a visual artist who, until recently, created representational art i.e. realism oil paintings of figurative landscapes, commissioned portraiture, giant cat paintings, canoes, lakes& more. After the polar bears were put on the animals "of concern" list, I painted the polar bear painting With the Northern Lights in tribute. I continued to have polar bears on the brain when shortly after that I created CRAM, a Polar Bear World for The Sketchbook Project. Increasingly, I found myself thinking about polar bear art, polar bear graphic novels,polar bear vacations...,you get the picture, all the while continuing with my portraiture practice & creating other representational art.

Fantasy sketch by Christine Monatgue www.ChristineMontague.com

One Big, Giant, Scary, Polar Bear Step Forward

Onward into a polar bear world of my own! Polar bear art, polar bear blog, and yes, and trips to Cape Dorset, Nunavut, the Canadian arctic, to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, polar bear capital of the world, followed (but not at the same time!).

If you love art, polar bears, or think about climate change, I hope you will enjoy (or find some solace in)

My website ChristineMontague.com is all about my POLAR BEAR ART.

Myart blog? I hope you will visit www.christinemontague.com/blog

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One thing is certain, in my part of the realm...Here there be polar bears. I hope that here there be you, too.

"Canoes in Fog' a 24' x 48" oil painting, is the latest in the Lake Dreams Series, my series of paintings of canoes & water at the dock's edge.

Torn between labeling the series Dreaming of Summer and Cottage Dreams I did some "dream" research online. A dream about a lake that has still water represents a reserve of inner peace and spiritual energy. Such a dream provides solace and security, as well.

My longing for an end to the gloomy spring and for escape to a lake (any lake!) inspired these paintings. It wasn't the hot, noisy, splashy days by the water I craved. I dreamed of those still and solitary moments at the water's edge. Those moments alone on the dock, reflections of clouds and blue sky leaving me wondering which world is real. Or the quiet of early morning, before the others are awake. The mist or fog not yet cleared, and the world dreamy and undemanding. Time to contentedly reflect and contemplate, the spirit replenished. Yes, these are definitely Lake Dreams paintings.

But what about canoes and dreams? A canoe in a dream represents serenity, simplicity, and independence. I don't know what six canoes overturned represents though. Normally in art, odd numbers of items, make for more interesting composition. Artistically this still applies to my work, as the overlapping canoes read as one shape. Squint and you'll see what I mean. (See some other canoe paintings here & here)

However, there are six of them. In dreams, "six" stands for co-operation, balance, tranquility, perfection, warmth, union, marriage, family and love. Mental, emotional and spiritual states are in harmony.

And the fog? Positive changes are afoot if the fog clears in the dream. In this painting, Canoes in Fog, the fog is lifting. The promise of clear day, with time spent on the water, lies ahead.

Fall is now officially here. I never did get away this summer, or was anywhere near a lake. These paintings, and the paintings of "dreams" to come, will have to give the solace I need until next summer.

This winter, if you need solace, or a reminder that summer will return, you are welcome to see what "Lake Dreams" are in my Williams Mill studio most Friday and Saturdays 12 - 5 p.m..