illustration

Polar Bears in My Kitchen

It wasn't long after the stone tile backsplash was installed in my kitchen, that I started seeing things. Movement, right there in the 2" x 4" tiles.  As I stared, the tan, grey and white striations in the stone shapeshifted into landscapes. Snowy ones. Cloud-filled and foggy ones.  Dark ones.

As if portals to other worlds like in old school Star Trek .

Polar bear drawing and fox drawing by Christine Montague

Polar bear drawing and fox drawing by Christine Montague

Christine Montague fantasy drawings
Christine Montague fantasy drawings

And these worlds, they seemed to be..gulp..inhabited! Polar bears and other bear-like animals, fox, and fish, and others, that I couldn't begin to classify.

I sketch portraits of these creatures when I can.   For the most part, they seem unaware I am there, as they fly, swim, and run past my window to their world. But when some stop  and gaze my way, I confess I sketch faster.

When Strange Neighbors appeared as a category in The Sketchbook Project, I sent my sketchbook their way. I had to let you know what lives with me in my kitchen. Even if you only believe it's all in my imagination.

The Sketchbook Project (www.sketchbookproject.com), is a global, crowd-sourced art project  and interactive traveling exhibition, of handmade books. It  is the flagship endevour  of Art House, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.. It consists of three libraries: Brooklyn Art Library, Mobile Library, and The Digital Library

Happy Spring Tulips

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?) Tulips at the Williams Mill Visual Arts Centre. Copyright Christine Montague

Christine-Montague-tulips-Before-the-Light

Christine Montague Watering Can with Tulips

Christine-Montague-Tulips-Growing-out-of--her-head

 

Happy International Polar Bear Day!

"In the Presence of Royalty" Illustration for CRAM, Sketchbook Project 2013 copyright Christine Montague 2013 Today is International Polar Bear Day. Here's an interesting FAQ page from Polar Bears International. http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/faqs

And although most of us have learned by now, that penguins and polar bears do not co-exist, I did not know "arctic comes from the Greek word for bear, and Antarctic comes from the Greek meaning the opposite, without bear" (Polar bears International). 

How sad would it be, if re: the polar bear,  "Antarctic " applied to the world?

Perhaps , all the snow we have received today in the Toronto Area, will not seem as miserable, if regarded as a tribute to the mighty ursus maritimus.

Polar bear Spirit in the Sky. Illustration from CRAM, The Sketchbook Project 2013 Copyright Christine Montague

Cram the Polar Bear World: The Sketchbook Project 2013

Copyright Christine Montague. "In the Presence of Royalty". The Sketchbook Project 2013". Grpahite. The little envelope containing my sketchbook from The Sketchbook Project, somehow was mislaid during my studio move, and completely out of mind with the excitement of family home for Christmas. My memory was suddenly jogged when The Sketchbook Project people wisely sent out a "deadline tomorrow" email yesterday.

There was no way I was going to miss out on this  terrific drawing project where artists from around the world have their sketchbooks (provided by the project) on display in the Brooklyn Art Library (U.S.A.), as well as online, and in a travelling art show.

So, what to do?! With less than 24 hours to fill a sketchbook, I would do the student "thing" and CRAM which, by the way,  became the sketchbook title, and maybe more than that , too.

And what did I draw? Why I followed The Sketchbook Project recommendations:

" The Sketchbook project is a space for new work and experiment - it's not intended to be a portfolio" and  " ...follow your book wherever it takes you and change your mind along the way".

And that's exactly what I did, I veered off the course of the few sketches I had done before Christmas and my move out of my Williams Mill studio, and spent well into the night immersed into my polar bear fantasy world.  You know how it is when you have a good book you can't put down? That's how I felt last night as I worked deep into the night with ease.

To read more about The Sketchbook Project 2013, and to mark it on your calendar to take part in,  visit www.thesketchbookproject.com

Also I'd love to know what you think of my foray into fantasy illustration, and if you'd enjoy more posts on this.

New Portrait Oil Painting: Polar Bear 6

 Polar Bear 6 oil painting portrait. Copyright Christine Montague

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.

Napkin Art - Taking Stock (everything's coming up roses)

napkin art Copyright Christine Montague 2009 I know I am not alone in being a doodler.  Nothing is safe - the newspaper, telephone book, napkins. If I have a pen in hand any sheet of paper is in danger of being obliterated by doodles.

Tuesday, as I ate lunch, I  mused (obsessed),  pen in hand,  on how best to move forward with my career.  To my surprise, this doodle  was much calmer than one I drew a while ago - me flailing between two pieces of bread, a palette where the lunch meat should go.  Of course, the doodling progressed to another napkin -  penguins in the shape of pink pearl erasers and and me naked doing fan dances with palettes instead of fans, but that's a whole other napkin.

Later that afternoon, thanks to Beaux-Arts Brampton artist Steve Wilson, I learned of a new art fair in Toronto, Art-2009. Thanks to the help of  a very affable organizer, I found myself, the proud inhabitant of Booth 465 0f the upcoming  Art 2009, May 12 -14th, 2009, in the Toronto Convention Centre.

I wonder if the fact I used the good flowered napkin was a sign ?