Category: Art Licensing

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Back on Instagram. Sort of.

Four years ago, I stepped away from Instagram.

I had spent a lot of time posting artwork, trying to build an audience, and doing all the things artists were supposedly meant to do on social media. But I wasn’t seeing any noticeable improvement in sales. The return on the time I was investing just wasn’t there, so I stopped.

I don’t regret leaving the platform.

If I regret anything, it’s that I didn’t start years earlier, back when simply posting good artwork had a better chance of building an audience organically. By the time I was putting serious effort into Instagram, the platform had changed, and during COVID it became even easier to get sucked into Stories, Reels, posting schedules, engagement tactics and endless advice about what the algorithm supposedly wanted.

For the record, despite many people speaking with great authority on the subject, nobody has ever convinced me they really know what the algorithm wants.

Had I stayed, I suspect I would have spent far too much time trying to get better at Instagram. Instead, I spent that time trying to get better at my business.

But people still ask if I’m on Instagram. People still want to DM me there. People still follow me, even though the only thing on my account for the past four years has been a post telling them I’m not using it.

So I’ve been wondering whether there’s a way to make Instagram useful again without letting it become another job.

The thing about being self-employed as an artist is that everything is an experiment. What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Something you once thought was a good idea might turn out to be a waste of time, while something you abandoned years ago might be worth another look.

I’ve been self-employed for more than 25 years, and the only real constant has been adaptation. For a long time, editorial cartooning was the biggest part of my business. As the newspaper industry changed, I had to change with it. I developed my wildlife paintings into another part of the business, expanded into licensing and retail, built an email newsletter, started experimenting with YouTube, and now I’m working on a book of my bear paintings.

Some things worked. Some didn’t. That’s business.

Diversification has helped keep mine alive, but diversification doesn’t mean doing everything. It doesn’t mean I need to be on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Threads and whatever comes next, feeding them all every week. There’s a big difference between diversifying and scattering your attention everywhere.
There’s also a practical side to visibility. I’m working with a publisher on my bear book, and when it comes out, I’ll have a responsibility to help promote it. The same goes for retailers, licensees and sponsors. Those are partnerships. They’re putting money, time, shelf space or resources behind my work, and I need to help send attention their way too. Sometimes being in business means playing the game, as long as you know why you’re playing it.

One of the hardest parts of being self-employed is that you have to do almost everything yourself. I make the art, draw the cartoons, maintain the website, deal with customers and retailers, handle orders, bookkeeping, licensing, newsletters and everything else required to keep the business moving. Somewhere in there, I still need to paint.

So when somebody says I should be making more Reels, more Stories, posting at the right time, tracking trends and figuring out what the algorithm wants this week, I have to ask a pretty simple question: to what end?

I can work my ass off doing all of that and still not sell any more artwork. Being busy isn’t the same thing as making progress.

There’s still an assumption that if an artist posts their work on Instagram, sales naturally follow. I wish it were that simple. Think about your own habits. How often do you see something on Instagram, click through to a website and actually buy it? Not once or twice over several years, I mean often.

That doesn’t mean Instagram has no value. Attention and buying intent just aren’t the same thing.

Four years ago, I was trying to build an audience there. More followers, more engagement, more exposure, and hopefully more sales. I’m not interested in chasing 100,000 followers anymore. That’s a vanity metric unless those followers actually do something.

If a few hundred people discover my work, visit my website, sign up for A Wilder View or eventually buy something, that’s more useful to me than thousands of people liking a post and moving on.

I do believe repeated exposure matters. That’s why companies advertise. You see the same product, company, artist or brand often enough and eventually it becomes familiar. I’m not going to use a gambling app, but I’m certainly aware they exist.
Maybe somebody sees one of my bear paintings on Instagram today. A few weeks later, they see another. Later, they come across one of my YouTube videos or see my booth at the Banff Christmas Market or at The Calgary Expo. Eventually they visit my website, sign up for A Wilder View or buy something.

I can’t tell you how many people at live events have asked me, “Where have I seen these before?”

I have no idea, but I’m glad they saw them somewhere.

Over the past few years, I’ve put much more effort into my website and asking people to subscribe to my emails. I get far more meaningful engagement and connection from my email list than I ever did on social media. That’s why A Wilder View remains the destination.

It’s also why I won’t put my Instagram handle or YouTube channel on my marketing material. I point people to my website and invite them to subscribe.
That’s how I’m going to treat Instagram this time. Not as a place to build an audience for the sake of having an audience, but as a window into my artwork and a doorway to my website. Finish a painting, post it on Instagram, point people toward my website and A Wilder View, and get back to work.

I already have plenty of artwork to share. I don’t need to create a separate stream of content just to keep Instagram happy. And no, this doesn’t mean I’m going back to Facebook or suddenly making TikToks.

I’m still not convinced returning to Instagram is the right thing to do. In fact, going back makes me uncomfortable. I’m simply no longer convinced that staying off it forever is necessarily the right thing either.

Leaving the platform four years ago was a business decision based on what I was getting out of it at the time. Returning now is another business decision, with different goals and a much smaller investment of my time.

Maybe it brings in a few subscribers, a sale, a licensing contact or simply more people who remember my work later. Maybe it does none of those things.

I’ll plant the seed and see what happens. If it bears fruit, great. If it doesn’t, I’ll look for another crop.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Peekaboo Panda

SORRY FOLKS! Put the wrong link in the New Prints email. You can see the video here.

 

 

Here’s a brand new painting I’m calling Peekaboo Panda.

At first glance, this one looks like a pretty simple idea. A red panda popping out of the bamboo with a curious expression. But paintings like this often come with a bit more planning than people might expect.

The inspiration for this one was a photo I took at the Calgary Zoo one day. I don’t always share my reference photos, but in this case I thought it might be interesting to show the pose that sparked the idea. For the colour, lighting, and texture, I used several other photos I’ve taken over the years.

A recurring theme in some of my posts is the difference between art for fun and art for a living.

In an ideal situation, I would just choose an animal I want to paint, find or take some reference, put a whimsical spin on it, and enjoy the process. And to be fair, that still happens often enough to keep me interested while painting my funny-looking animals.

But this work is also how I pay my bills, so I have to think about what comes after the painting is finished.

When I start a painting, I usually work at the same dimensions because I know the final print will most often be 11×14, either vertical or horizontal. From time to time I will create a square painting, depending on what I see in my mind’s eye when I imagine the character in the critter.
I keep these dimensions because it makes it easier for my customers to find a frame, and that is a selling feature.

But because I have done my best to diversify my revenue streams, which is marketing speak for not putting all my eggs in one basket, I also have to think about my licensing clients.

In simple terms, art licensing means that companies pay to use my artwork on their products in exchange for royalties. If you have ever bought a backpack with cartoon characters on it, that artwork is licensed.

The challenge is that very few products come in neat little 11×14 rectangles.

That means when I paint something like this red panda, I have to allow extra space. More background and sometimes more of the animal so the artwork can be adapted to different formats later.

Pacific Music & Art, for example, might use one of my paintings on several different products, from magnets and mugs to calendars. While my vision for this piece was the vertical print you see at the top of this post, I had to paint quite a bit more of the panda, the background, and the bamboo leaves so the image could be adjusted to fit those other uses.

Last week I finalized the images for the 2027 calendar for Pacific Music & Art. Just like other licensing contracts, there is a lot of lead time for design and printing. My vertical red panda print would not work for a calendar page, so I had to create this different horizontal version, and that meant thinking about that layout when I started the painting.

The downside is that it means more work. Even though I paint digitally and can use layers for much of the process, the final cropping still requires extra time to make sure everything blends properly and does not look like pieces pasted together.

Because my goal is to continue diversifying my work to help ensure the longevity and security of my business, I will have to make these considerations more often than ever.

But the upside is that my licensing clients get the images they need to best fit their products, while my customers get the print of the painting that I originally envisioned when the idea for this critter first popped into my head.

Art for a living. Some assembly required.

Cheers,
Patrick

 

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A New License and a New Lane

Over the past year, running a small independent art business has required more flexibility than usual.

Between labour disruptions at Canada Post and the removal of de minimis exemptions in the U.S., not to mention the tariffs, shipping anything across the border has become unpredictable and, in many cases, unsustainable for a one-person operation like mine. I heard from many of my American subscribers last fall who were frustrated they couldn’t order the 2026 calendar. Believe me, that frustration went both ways.

Self-employment teaches you one thing very quickly: you can’t control external conditions. The only thing you can do is build a strong enough foundation that when something shifts, you’re not left stranded.

Over the years, I’ve worked to build multiple income streams so no single lane determines whether the lights stay on. Licensing, especially, is a long game. An agreement can be signed, files delivered, and then… nothing. Months pass. Larger companies move slowly. And when something finally launches, you don’t know whether the first royalty payment will feel significant or symbolic.

Which brings me to this week.

I’m very pleased to share that Elephant Stock has just launched 40 of my paintings as canvas wall art in the United States.

Every time a company chooses to license my work, I don’t take that lightly. Forty pieces is no small thing. They first approached me in June of last year, and like most licensing agreements, it took time before the launch finally happened.

At the time, it was simply another license I was pleased to have. Given the shipping issues mentioned above, it’s now especially useful for my American collectors. This means those works are printed and shipped from within the U.S., with no cross-border fees or customs complications.

If you’re in the United States, you now have several ways to collect my work locally:

Elephant Stock – Canvas wall art (newly launched, 40 pieces live)

The Mountain – This is a long-standing partnership, and I’ve had two different licenses with this company under two different owners.

Diamond Art Club – Exclusive diamond art kits. Several of my subscribers have sent photos of their completed pieces. This has been a strong and enjoyable partnership.
Still, if you prefer ordering directly from me, I can now have custom giclée, metal and canvas prints produced and shipped from within the U.S. through my printer.

Canadian customers, nothing changes on your end. You can continue ordering prints, stickers and tote bags directly from the store, and custom orders through me. And I’m always happy to answer questions.

I’ve learned not to assume smooth roads ahead. The best I can do is build something sturdy enough to handle a few detours, and change lanes when required.

Check out the galleries of my available designs with any of these U.S. licensing partners at
Elephant Stock
The Mountain
Diamond Art Club

Cheers,
Patrick
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A Gentle Giraffe


In June of 2023, I finished a painting of three giraffes called Long Neck Buds. It was a real challenge. I had never painted acacia leaves and thorns before, and I still remember how satisfying it was to figure them out.

Each giraffe started as if it were its own painting, fully rendered and detailed. I moved them around in the scene, added the foliage and background, and worked in the shadows and highlights to make them look like they actually belonged together.
If you’d like to see more about how that came together, that original post is here.

When I finished it, I remember thinking that any one of those giraffes could have stood on its own.

Sometimes I paint something just because I feel like it. Maybe I enjoyed getting the reference photos. Maybe it’s a subject I’ve never tried before and want to see if I can pull it off.

Other times, I choose an animal because I think it might appeal to my wholesale customers and licensing clients.

My Sasquatch was one of those. Mike at Pacific Music & Art had asked for it. When I talk about that painting at shows, I often joke that the hardest part was the weeks I spent in the woods of northern BC trying to get reference photos.

Truth be told, it’s not one of my favourite paintings.

And the actual hardest part was making sure my version didn’t look like somebody else’s. I referenced Harry and the Hendersons and the Jack Link’s Sasquatch specifically so I could steer clear of them.

And still, lots of people call mine Harry when they see it. Not because it looks the same, but because that’s the only friendly Bigfoot they know. It’s the same reason people used to call my shark Bruce from Finding Nemo, even though the only thing they share is that they’re great white sharks.

At the Christmas Market, a few people said my Spa Day painting looked like Baloo from The Jungle Book. Others say some of my bears remind them of Brother Bear. My style is completely different, but what people are reacting to is the feeling.

The Sasquatch did well, but mostly in places where that folklore resonates. Zoos and Discovery Wildlife Park didn’t want it, which makes sense. Pacific Music & Art has done well with it, and Harlequin Nature Graphics licenses it on a T-shirt.

As a print, it never really found its footing, so I retired it in that format. But it still sells as a sticker at markets and here in Canmore at Stonewaters. The only way to know what will resonate is to put it out there.

The sweet spot is when I paint something for commercial reasons and end up genuinely loving the result. The porcupine I finished last week fits that category. I had never painted one, but several wholesale clients told me they’d carry it if I did. After sharing it, I received a lot of kind emails from subscribers who really liked it. I never know ahead of time which paintings will connect.

Long Neck Buds still does well, but single-animal pieces often perform better at zoos and markets. Giraffes are reliably popular, so creating this print felt like an opportunity worth exploring.
I chose the middle giraffe and spent a few hours Saturday morning refining it. More detail. A slight softening and tweak to the expression to bring out more personality.

I’m pleased with how it turned out and looking forward to seeing how it’s received.

It also gave me a new print to include in the first PDF catalogues I sent to my wholesale clients earlier this week, and another image available for licensing.

On Monday, I sent Gentle Giraffe, Bear Boop, and the Porcupine to my printer in Victoria for their first proofs. I’m restocking the online store and gearing up for the Calgary Expo in April.

I’ve got several other paintings in progress, but my priority right now is to make some headway on three dogs I’m painting for a very patient commission client.

Cheers,
Patrick

 

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Painting a Pudgy Porcupine

This porcupine turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected, and that was exactly what I needed right now.

I’m in a busy stretch, finishing a few new paintings so I can send updated print and sticker catalogs to the zoos and start lining up licensing for the first half of the year. There’s a lot on the go, and most days it feels like I’m working with one eye on the calendar.
But this piece reminded me why I sit down to paint in the first place.

After finishing the recent Bear Boop painting, I moved straight into this porcupine and felt that familiar shift. Less pressure. More play. The kind of focus that quiets the noise for a while. When everything else feels heavy, as it often does right now, this is my happy place.

I really do love this work.

Cheers,
Patrick

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No GPS for the Year Ahead

Most of us now use Google Maps or some GPS equivalent. You enter your start and end points and it tells you the most direct and efficient way to arrive at your destination, in the shortest time and in one piece. It can route you around construction and traffic incidents, tells you when to switch lanes, turn, and keep moving.

In the old days, we often had a stack of folding maps in the glove box. It wasn’t uncommon to find yourself pulled over on the side of some road with the map open wide enough to cover the driver and passenger side, trying to figure out how the highway you thought you were on suddenly became a rural route, then a dirt road, then a cart track, and hey look… we found a river.

On New Year’s Day, as I was planning the year ahead, I realized how nice it would be to have either of those options for an art-for-a-living career.

One of the toughest challenges in this profession is figuring out where to put limited time and energy. There are only so many hours in a day, and I’m already working every day of the week. If I want to add something, it means I have to let something else go.

The problem is that with limitless content, free advice, and options in every direction, there are a lot of things I could try to add variation and longevity to my career. There are also things that sound exciting to try, but take time and energy away from the practices that move the progress needle. But none of those things are a quick drive to the grocery store. Every option is a cross-country road trip, and you only know if it was the right route once you’ve invested the time and energy to get there.

I could start any number of creative projects or experiments, design and launch new products, but it might take a year or more to find out whether they were worth the time, effort and expense.

My focus this year is to continue to build my career, adapt to the ever-changing landscape, and try not to stretch myself too thin. That last part keeps tripping me up.

The newspaper industry isn’t what it used to be and has ongoing challenges, and though it’s not the largest part of my business anymore, it’s the only part that provides steady monthly income. I still have to draw six editorial cartoons each week.

Art licensing is where companies use my work on their products and pay me a royalty percentage. Just some examples include Diamond Art Club, Harlequin Nature Graphics, Pacific Music & Art and The Mountain. Royalty payments are subject to each company’s plans, vary according to the economy and season, and arrive quarterly, not always on time. So budgeting for that revenue is near impossible.

Pet portrait commissions pay as I finish them. Because of all the other work I need to get done, I only take on a handful of those each year and I’m booked up for 2026.

Shows like the Calgary Expo at the end of April or the just completed Banff Christmas Market are big paydays, but they also require big expense in the months leading up to them. I’m already working on Expo inventory planning, because I’ll need to start ordering next month.

Website sales come in waves, and wholesale orders hit at different times of year as gift shops and zoos prepare for their busy seasons.

Balancing all that, and finding the right mix to pay the bills while still growing the business, takes a lot of planning, with no guarantees.

And of course, I need to write regular posts like this one for A Wilder View, record and edit videos, reach out to new companies, and seek new opportunities, planting seeds for future growth.

I’ve often said, I spend more time marketing my work than creating it. That’s part of the profession and something every starry-eyed young artist needs to realize before choosing this career.

There are always unforeseen circumstances that can flatten tires at any point during the trip. The economy and the weather are two obvious ones. Then there ones you never see coming, like a pandemic and a president.

So most of New Year’s Day last week was spent with spreadsheets, Word files, and internet searches, mapping the route for the year ahead. Though AI art has been a detestable part of new technology, it would be hard to argue against how valuable ChatGPT has been as a researcher, virtual assistant, and editor.

By day’s end, I had created a document with clear boundaries on where to put my efforts this year. Regardless of whatever trends, shiny objects, or tempting tangents might pop up, I intend to keep that roadmap handy so that when I get distracted and lose my way, I can pull over, open the map, and remember where I want to go.

Cheers,
Patrick

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New Calendar, New Tote Bag, and a Big Bear Update

At long last, the 2026 calendars and special-release Christmas Bear tote bags are now available in the store.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we can expect any changes that would make shipping to the U.S. feasible again. I’m as frustrated as many of my American customers, but those rule changes didn’t come from this side of the border.

We didn’t break it, so we can’t fix it.
Hopefully, the issues we do have here, namely the ongoing Canada Post dispute, stay at a working stalemate long enough for me to ship orders. I’ll send everything as soon as I can.

But fair warning: if the mail stops again, there won’t be much I can do. I won’t be able to issue refunds for orders once they’ve been sent. If that happens, we’ll just have to wait for Canada Post to clear the backlog once things resume.

Here’s hoping it won’t come to that.

In other new product news, Diamond Art Club has given me the go-ahead to announce a brand-new kit based on my Big Bear on Blue painting, the cover image from the 2025 calendar. They’re calling it simply Big Bear, and it marks their eighth release featuring one of my designs.

They’re a great company to work with, and I’ve heard from many subscribers who’ve enjoyed putting together their official Diamond Art Club kits. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s kind of a blend between paint-by-numbers and cross-stitch.
If you’re on Facebook, here’s the link to their page where you can see the above announcement. The new image releases this Saturday.

All of the other currently available designs can be found here on their site.

That’s it for now, I’m deep in a custom video project with a fast-approaching deadline, a pet portrait commission, and the usual cartoon deadlines keeping me out of trouble.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Happy Color & Christmas Bear Totes

I’m a little overwhelmed this week, plenty to do and not enough time. It’ll pass, but that’s why this is just a short update on a couple of things.

Happy Color 2.0
Thanks to those who emailed me to say the Charmers’ Club 2 collection went live on the Happy Color app this week. I knew it was coming sometime this fall but, frankly, I’d forgotten all about it.

With art licensing, there’s often a long gap between signing contracts, uploading images, and when the products actually launch. Regular readers might remember an interview I did with X-Flow Games, the company behind the app, back in July. You can read that post here for more on why I enjoy working with them.

If you haven’t tried the app, it’s a free download for both Apple and Android. When I tried it the first time they licensed my work, it turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected.

I also noticed a bunch of new subscribers to A Wilder View over the past couple of days, and I suspect that has something to do with the new launch. If you discovered my work through the Happy Color app…welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride.

Christmas Bear Tote Bags
I was pleased and relieved today to receive the first Christmas Bear tote bags. This was another big investment in a new product for the Banff Christmas Market, but they turned out great.

Best of all, it’s the last product order I’ll need before the month-long market begins on November 20th. With just over a month to sign and package prints, enter inventory into my sales app, update spreadsheets, and finish everything else I’ve got on deck, I’m grateful not to be waiting on any more deliveries.
Shipping
By the end of next week, I expect to have the 2026 calendars, new tote bags, and prints added to the store. Once that’s done, I’ll reactivate it and let you know when I’m taking orders again. I’m holding off one more week to see if Canada Post keeps operating before I reopen. With no deal in place, they could strike again at a moment’s notice. Fool me…what is this, three times? Four?

Cheers,
Patrick

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Stocked for Christmas, Stuck with Canada Post

It’s with mixed feelings that I can say most of my stock for the Banff Christmas Market has arrived.

My restock of metal prints came in last week, along with a large order from Art Ink Print in Victoria, who handle my 11×14 poster prints. That shipment included both my own stock for the four Banff Market long weekends and a big order for the Calgary Zoo, which I delivered on Wednesday.
Each of my poster prints is hand-signed, and the Zoo got the very first print of my latest Snowy Owl painting. It’s always a nice feeling to see a new piece in print for the first time.

Another large order from Pacific Music & Art arrived yesterday. They’ve licensed my work for several years on a wide range of products. People often tell me they’ve seen my art in stores across Alberta, BC, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest. Those are all Pacific products.
They also produce the calendar many of you look forward to each year. That means I get to sell my own artist edition while the same calendar reaches stores I could never reach myself. Some of you on Vancouver Island have even told me you already picked up your 2026 calendar before I got mine.
If you’ve ever bought a magnet or coaster from me at the Calgary Expo or the Banff Christmas Market, those are Pacific items, too. I already had several designs in stock, but yesterday’s delivery topped up my inventory for the market.
So yes, you have to spend money to make money, but placing large orders like these is a serious expense, often weeks or months ahead of actually selling anything. Anyone who’s ever kept retail inventory knows the feeling. It’s something I never get used to and it puts me on edge.

That’s the “mixed” part.

While I’m happy with this year’s calendar order and confident in my usual sales projections, the Canada Post labour dispute has thrown a wrench in everything. Normally, early calendar sales through my online store help offset these upfront costs.

Announced late last night, as of Saturday, Oct. 11, Canada Post is moving from a nationwide strike to rotating strikes, which should get some mail moving again, just not reliably. So for now, my online store will stay closed until I see what happens. But until Canada Post proves this isn’t just a temporary pause before another shutdown, I can’t risk taking online orders that might end up stuck in limbo. I’ll plan to reopen by late October. My last outstanding order, custom tote bags featuring my Christmas Bear painting, has shipped from Montreal by courier and is scheduled to arrive next week. Thankfully, that one’s unaffected and on track.

Like every other small business caught up in this dispute, I just have to wait and hope for a resolution soon… or find a way to make this year’s Christmas sales work despite it all.

So yeah, I’ve been angry and stressed. I won’t pretend otherwise. Even with rotating strikes, which should get some mail moving again, the uncertainty means gritting my teeth, clenching my jaw, and trying to accept what I can’t change while working on what I can.

On a brighter note, I’m currently working on a dog commission that’s been a welcome distraction. I’d love to focus on that full-time for a week, but for now, the editorial cartooning is paying the bills until the wildlife paintings can contribute again. And thankfully, with each Canada Post strike and job action having taught hard lessons, all of my newspapers now pay by direct deposit.
I’m also creating a project for Wacom, featuring their new Movink Pad 11, hands down the best mobile drawing experience I’ve had. Full stop. I’ll share more about it in an upcoming video, which includes outdoor sketching footage. Above is a preview: a small practice piece I’m working on to get comfortable with the included software.

Thankfully, I’ve got a short cabin trip coming up with my buddy Darrel, something we booked a while ago. It’s a pre-market reset before the long haul through November and December. I’m looking forward to a few days of quiet: playing cards, Scrabble and guitar, napping on the deck, and wandering the pastures with my camera in search of wildlife. Fall is my favourite time of year there.
Here in Canmore, we got our first snowfall last Saturday. Most of it melted in the valley by Sunday afternoon, but the mountains stayed white for a few days longer. If this isn’t the best view from any Safeway in Canada, it’s at least in the top three. Helps (a little) to soften the shock of the ridiculous grocery prices around here.
But I was biking my errands in shorts again yesterday and snapped this pic of Policeman’s Creek.

Back to work.

Cheers,
Patrick

If you missed the video I created about the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre and the creation of my most recent Snowy Owl, here it is again.


 

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2026 Calendars, Christmas Totes, and What I’m Painting Now

Although the first weekend of the Banff Christmas Market is still over two months away, my planning and purchasing are well underway.

Calendars

I’ve placed my magnet and coaster restock order with Pacific Music & Art, along with the newly finished 2026 calendar that many of you tell me you look forward to each year.

Last year, I miscalculated. I ordered what I thought I needed, but after the usual online sales and the first couple of weekends at the Banff Christmas Market, most were gone. I managed a quick restock for the final two weekends, but sales slowed down, and by January I still had about 20 left. I sold a few more, gave some as bonuses with larger print orders, and still have five or six sitting here now.

It’s always a guessing game. I look at the previous year’s numbers, order what I think will be enough, and cross my fingers.

This year, I’m placing one order only. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

The cover features one of my favourite new paintings, The Grizzlies. Inside you’ll find a mix of new pieces and some perennial bestsellers. I’ll let you know when they’re available.

Tote Bags

I already have Smiling Tiger and Otter tote bags in stock, available now in the store. But I also wanted something seasonal for the Banff Christmas Market, so I created a Christmas Bear design and ordered it last week. It should arrive by the end of October.

I had thought about doing a subscriber pre-order, but to be blunt, I don’t trust that Canada Post won’t strike again for the holidays. If that happened, I’d be stuck with prepaid orders I couldn’t ship and a pile of unhappy customers. Rather than risk it, I bit the bullet, paid for the order myself, and will sell them in person and online as long as stock lasts.

I’m happy with how the design turned out, and I think it’ll go over well. Because of the lead time, there’s no chance for a second run before Christmas. Once they’re gone, that’s it until next year.

Painting

I’m working on a new commission right now: a senior dog with a lot of character. She’s full of markings and features begging for exaggeration. I’m still in the sketch phase but already looking forward to the painting itself.

My Snowy Owl painting is also coming along nicely. I spent several hours Saturday morning painting feather details, and I hope to finish it this week. It’s a perfect seasonal fit, and I plan to have poster and metal prints ready for the Banff Christmas Market. I’m also recording the process, so I’ll have a video to share once it’s complete.

In the meantime, if you missed it, here’s my recent Three Cats Commission video.

While I won’t be taking reservations for calendars or tote bags, A Wilder View subscribers will always get first notice and early access when they’re in the store.

A reminder: I still can’t ship to the United States. With the suspension of the de minimis exemption for Canadian goods, the paperwork and costs are just too much for a small business, both in time and money.

Cheers,
Patrick