Christine Montague is an award-winning Canadian artist, a portrait painter turned polar bear artist.  Her dramatic polar bear portraiture paintings show a bear that is intelligent, powerful and muse to themes of wonder and hope, even under environmental threat. During her time in her Halton Hills studio she created her first polar bear painting in reaction to SARA’s (Species at Risk Act) declaration that the polar bear was now a  species at risk. The reaction to this painting helped fuel her further exploring the subject  matter of polar bears, northern lights and vanishing sea ice, altering her career path.  

Now committed to the polar bear and climate change story in her art, Christine has  traveled to the Canadian arctic, and subarctic to further her knowledge. She’s had two  polar bear solo exhibits: on thin ice (2020) and Dark Water (2018). She was honoured  to paint the portrait of the oldest polar bear in captivity. Her bear art is in collections in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, and Denmark. 

Christine resides and creates in Mississauga, ON.

On today’s episode Christine talks about how she got interested in painting polar bears, her travels to Churchill and why artist communities are so important. 

Interested in seeing some of Christine’s work. Go to her website at www.ChristineMontague.com  

Find Christine on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/paintingbears

Find me on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/artconversationswithlisajayne/ or at my website at www.lisajayneirvine.com