5 New Polar Bear King Paintings

Polar Bear Gold

Although I usually paint in oils, I like to take a break now and then to play with acrylics. I enjoy revisting my Polar Bear King theme, and creating new stories about the polars bear’s majesty in black, gold and acrylic paint. I impose some pretty human feelings to these little portraits, but, that’s the human way, isn’t it?! But no matter the scene, our mighty hero is always in his rightful place of apex figure of the North.

The gold paint represents the treasure our polar bear is. The stylized sun, and its position in relation to the bear, speaks to the suns power and our warming climate.

Each painting is 6”h x 12” w black, white and metallic gold on canvas. Wired and Ready to hang.

Introducing -

The Polar Bear King Looks Back To learn more of this bear’s story please click here (opens in new window)

The Polar Bear King Dreams. To learn more of this polar bear king’s story, please click here. (opens in new window)

Steady Bear (The Polar Bear King is Calm) . To read more about this teddy bear of a polar bear , please click here (Opens in a new window)

Sunset on the Polar Bear King To learn of this polar bear’s story, please click here. (Opens in a new window. )

The Polar Bear King Roars. What do you think has provoked our polar bear king? Read more here (opens in new window)

A celebration of Polar Bear Kings!

Polar Bear Art for the Ukraine

An Art Auction with Heart at Waddington’s

All Proceeds Go to The Canada-Ukraine Foundation to be used where needed most. Make a Polar Bear Yours & Help the Ukraine, too

Bidding begins … NOW until April 14th, 2022. https://www.waddingtons.ca/auction/auction-for-ukraine-apr-14-2022/gallery/lot/107/

I wanted to help in some way with my art and wasn’t sure how. When this opportunity to donate came up I jumped at the chance. All proceeds from the auction will go The Canada-Ukraine Foundation. Waddington’s is a well revered, prestigious auction house (read more here. )They are generously waiving any of the fees normally associated with an auction.

So which polar bear painting can be yours?

A Light in the Darkness is a perfect title and symbol for this cause. Goodness and hope will shine even brighter in the darkness of evil. This beautiful bear rises up out of the dark sea, to face the future with strength, intelligence and resilience. Please bid here

Please bid for this important cause! You will have the fun of bidding from the comfort of your home, the triumph of winning art at good value and helping those who need it in the Ukraine. Please bid here

THANK YOU! GOOD LUCK!

A Light in the Darkness. 12” x 12” oil painting on canvas ©Christine Montague Available through waddingtons.ca April 9 - 14, 2022. Auction to help The Canada-Ukraine Foundation. Please bid at https://www.waddingtons.ca/auction/auction-for-ukraine-apr-14-2022/gallery/lot/107/

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

Here is December 9th's Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar

Polar Bear Prayers

Today’s polar bear art is created from Polar Bear Prayers, an original oil painting on a 6” diameter round canvas. To learn more about this painting, please click here.

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

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

It's Dec 3rd! A Sruffy Little Bear is the Face for Today!

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This little cub face is the flip image of "Scruffy" a 12" h x 6" w palette knife painting . The palette knife brings out the texture of a little bear who has been playing hard out in the tundra. It looks like a pretty bright little bear, don't you think? To learn more about the original painting , please click here .

An Invitation to Bring Feel Good Summertime Memories Into Your Home

I’m pleased to announce that my painting Hydrangea Blues has been awarded first prize in the Kefi Art Gallery “Summertime Memories” online juried fine art exhibit in a virtual gallery . I am honoured that a detail of the painting is is used on the invitation below. To read more about this summer artwork, please scroll down.

To see the complete painting , and enjoy a walk through a virtual gallery, please click Kefi Art Gallery (opens in a new window)

Invitation to Kefi Art Gallery Summertime Memories . This is a detail of Hydrangea Blues. Please scroll down to view the complete painting.

Hydrangea Blues is a 60" wide by 20" high oil painting on canvas.

My oil paintings of summer offer escape into days at the cottage or by the lake. They are about the promise of contented, quiet, and mindful moments alone, often before the day begins, or when it is done. They are about solitude without loneliness.  They are meant to invoke memories and emotions - good ones - but  will probably stir up longing for carefree days and warmer weather, too. 

My scenic figurative artworks are mostly inspired by the Canadian locales I vacation at and am fond of, usually in Ontario. Hydrangea Blues, could be easily be in Ontario, and is meant to be universal in mood, but in truth, it is inspired by the beautiful blue hydrangeas that surrounded the century old cottage I stayed at in Chappaquiddick, Mass., USA.  

In Hydrangea Blues, a young woman, a girl really,  sits in the shade of the cottage. She is lost in thought, her feet resting on the cool flagstone path.  She is probably relieved to not only be out of the heat, but to be away from parents and siblings. Whether she misses her friends or her phone, we don’t know. Her thoughts are hidden, as she almost is, amongst the gentle blue hydrangeas. 

This painting is one of the most ambitious artworks I have created. A lot of intricate work went into making sure the overlapping leaves and flowers took the eye up and around the figure, across the canvas, then down to zig zag along the path and up the legs and arms to the subject’s face.  The brush strokes in her hair point to a branch in the bush, and so our trip around the canvas begins again. 

Like most of the world, I love the colour blue, and enjoy using it in my art. It is a popular colour because we equate it to nature , especially sky and water.  

It actually makes one feel good to look at a blue painting, and this one is no different. All those beautiful blue flowers, set amongst the fresh green of the leaves, were a joy to paint as well as to look upon. 

This  painting is created in a slightly more graphic style than what I usually use. There is a lot of an outline to the shapes and the colours are more selective. But I feel this works as  there is a brightness and youthfulness in this, that suits both the young model and the subject matter. 

Hydrangea Blues. ©Christine Montague 20” x 60” x 1.5” oil painting on canvas.

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

A Sweetheart of a Polar Bear

The sweetness of babies is universal. Whether human, or animal, it seems we are all struck by the cuteness of the young. If you have been fortunate, you will have seen a polar bear cub. They are so cute, playful and funny, it almost hurts! So why, you wonder, does this portrait of a dear little polar bear cub have a baby's breath (gypsophila) flower crown on its head?

Well, the flower crown is a symbol of nature, tribute and celebration. It reminds us that our lives - nature and humanity, are as intwined as the flowers in the crown. ( For another flower crown painting visit here)

The white gypsophila represents the innocence of the young bear, and well, that its English name is “Baby’s Breath” is symbolic in itself. Not only do we want that little bear to keep breathing for many year’s to come, but also it’s a reminder, we all share the airspace here. We are connected, that what is important for the polar bear’s survival is also important to our quality of life, too.

Do you know, that my realistic polar bear paintings are all inspired by the photographs I have personally taken of polar bears? This cub is Juno who was born at The Toronto Zoo. I think she is now at the beautiful Assiniboine Zoo, Winnipeg, Manitoba. I have not exaggerated the fur - it quite naturally formed the shape of a heart!

Sweetheart Bear. 12” x 12” x 1.5” original oil painting on wood panel. © Christine Montague For more information, please contact me.

In the Pink - A New Polar Bear Sunset Painting

Fresh off the easel, fourth in the Polar Bear Sunset Series. In the Pink is a 24” x 24” x 1.5” oil painting on canvas. This beautiful bear is both literally and figuratively “in the pink”

In the Pink. Sunset Polar Bear Series. ©Christine Montague Please contact Christine here

From Polar Bear to Pet Portrait - It's All in the Eyes

Although I am an experienced portrait artist, over the past few years, my online presence has evolved to that of polar bear artist. Recent followers do not know about my portrait painting service. And so recently, when out of the blue, I was contacted to paint a portrait of a very lovely Labrador Retriever, it was interesting for me to learn that one of my polar bear paintings had inspired the commission!

Golden Lab Commission. 24” x 24” x 1.5” oil painting on canvas. ©Christine Montague Contact me here, or visit Commission a Portrait.

How does a polar bear painting possibly relate to a portrait of a beloved pet?

It lies in that fact that I regard all my subject matter as portraiture, and my polar bear art is no different. I paint with the theory the eyes are the “mirror to the soul”. Until I get the eyes “right”, until they feel alive to me, I personally don’t connect to the painting. When that magical moment of connection happens, then the painting is on its way!

All artists have their own way of approaching a painting, especially when painting from photographic reference. Some artists apply the paint inch by inch, finishing each section completely before moving on to the next.

I use the more “whole painting” approach in my technique, but I start each session with the eyes and work out from there. As each new layer of paint is added, my focus remains on the eyes, until finally, the portrait comes to life in my imagination.

I have a biology degree, a fine art degree and most of an illustration degree. As a result, I like my portraits to be realistic and anatomically correct, yet emotional, too. But my ability to draw from my imagination, honed from my illustration studies, plays an important part in this process, too. One learns to be a bit of an actor - to feel that emotion and spirit of the subject and to try transfer it to the canvas.

For example, when I was commissioned to paint Dr. Oscar Peterson (Living Arts Centre, Mississauga, ON, Canada), I was honoured and thrilled to paint the jazz great’s portrait, but I had also never seen or met him in person. This was a larger than life portrait and I was working from someone else’s photographs. .

How was I to connect to the subject and make it more than a copy of a photograph?

First, I brought the whole painting to the edge of completion. It was a large painting (larger than life) and a complex one , as in fact it was multi-portraits.. Dr. Peterson’s piano was to be accurately represented. His hands were a portrait in themselves. And his face was clearly selected in the piano top!

So with the face roughed in, I began the final painting of it as I listened to the emotion- filled, heartfelt tribute of music and song that aired on CBC Radio that day. As his teenage daughter spoke lovingly about Oscar Peterson, the father, I did the final paint of his eyes and face.

So, when I began to paint polar bears, I wondered, how to bring the bears alive? How to make them more than a reproduction of a photo I took of a polar bear at the Toronto Zoo?

So for the painting below, Polar Bear Portrait Study 1 (Wistful Bear) ( and a couple of others in this earlier series) I placed my laptop on a stool in front me, as if a portrait model on a chair. One of my polar bear photos was up on the screen. I then created the polar bear portrait as if the bear was seated there in front of me. (wouldn’t that have been fun, although short lived.) Once again, the eyes say it all in this painting. (Read more about this painting here)

Wistful. Polar bear portrait. 12” x 12” x 1.5” oil painting on canvas. ©Christine Montague Contact me here

So when Ottawa’s CTV news reporter and anchor, Christina Succi contacted me to paint a portrait of her beloved dog, I was flattered, but also surprised to learn that it was one of my polar bear paintings that inspired her request. But then I learned which painting and then saw a photo of her dear doggy,

Can you see the connection?

Wistful Bear and the dog portrait it inspired side by side. ©Christine Montague

If you would like to know more about my polar bear art , or info on how to commission a portrait, please feel free to contact me here.

The Fall

The Fall is a portrait of a polar bear on its solitary journey in the arctic night, unaware that a red maple leaf (Canada’s national symbol) falls before it from above. The fall colour of the maple tree isn’t part of this bear’s autumn landscape, but the frozen sea, so vital for its survival, is. Increased periods of open water from spring to fall, due to climate change, increases the polar bear’s vulnerability.

Painted in wonder and warning,The Fall pays tribute to an iconic Canadian animal, and connects Canadians in the responsibility to protect it, thereby protecting and saving ourselves.

The Fall. An original oil painting ©Christine Montague 2018

Why the Canadian connection? Although one of the world’s most favourite animals, polar bears are only found in Canada, Alaska (USA), Russia and Norway. 60 - 80 % of the world’s population are found in Canada. The Fall has a “sister” painting, the award winning “The Canadian Flower Crown”. Read about it here

I am pleased to announce The Fall has been accepted into ARTWORKS 2018, the OCADU Alumni Show, December 2 -8, 2018. The Great Hall, OCADU. 100 McCaul St., Toronto. More Info and opening reception date & time here

Polar Bear in Dark water

Dark Water 1 is an oil painting portrait of a beautiful polar bear swimming.  The water is dark, as daylight is diminished in the arctic fall.

Polar Bear in Dark Water. ©Christine MontagueAvailable at Artworld Fine Art Gallery until July 20, 2017. 365 Evans Ave. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

But dark water has another implication. The earth’s bright white polar ice cap, which serves as a giant reflector for the sun’s heat, is being diminished by climate change from carbon emissions. The melting polar ice increases the darkness of the planet’s surface (hence “dark water”), decreases the sun reflected back into space, and increases the heat absorbed by the earth. More ice melts, which creates more dark water,  and so the loop continues.

This loop of sea ice loss and increased dark water endangers the polar bear. Although this magnificent bear is a highly intelligent (think great ape), top-of-the-arctic-food-chain marine mammal (the only bear that is such), and is a powerful swimmer (slightly webbed front paws, highly insulated and buoyant body), it is dependant on the frozen sea for hunting (only seal fat sustains them, not berries or birds’ eggs), resting, feeding (can’t nurse in water) and denning (necessary for mother bears with cubs, semi-hibernation, and to ride out storms).  The increase of the period of open water from spring to fall, and the distance between ice tops in winter, leaves the polar bear and its cubs vulnerable to starvation, attack, and drowning.

The polar bear in Dark Water 1 gazes back upon her path, her body twisted as if in question.

It is up to the viewer to imagine how far outside the picture frame the next ice floe waits, and whether or not, until this moment, her journey was a solitary one.

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