After hearing the same request again and again at the Calgary Expo and Banff Christmas Market, I finally found a tote that works with my Highland Cow painting, horns and all.
For the next 7 days, the new Highland Cow Tote is available for PREORDER.
$42 CAD + GST FREE large Highland Cow vinyl sticker with every tote ordered Made in Canada – Canadian orders only – Shipping flat rate $18 Preorder closes SUNDAY, AUGUST 16th at noon Mountain Time
These totes are made to order in Montreal. Please allow up to 8 weeks for production before they arrive to me, with shipping expected to begin in the latter half of October.
Once the preorder closes, the remaining bags from this production run will be reserved for the Banff Christmas Market and will not be available online again this year.
I’m excited to share that a selection of my prints and stickers is now available at Alberta’s Own Marketplace in Canmore.
After more than 20 years as a full-time artist, it still means a lot when a local business chooses to support my work. Alberta’s Own has built its reputation around celebrating Alberta artists, makers, and small businesses, so I’m proud to have LaMontagne Art included alongside so many talented creators. If you’re spending some time in Canmore, be sure to stop in and have a look around. They’re right on Main Street, which is closed to vehicle traffic during the summer months, making it a great place to wander the local shops and eateries at a comfortable pace. The views are pretty spectacular, too.
A sincere thank you to Laura and everyone at Alberta’s Own for the opportunity. I’m proud to have my work become part of the shop, and I hope you’ll enjoy everything Alberta’s Own has to offer.
I’m happy to reveal this new painting of Berkley, a bear near and dear to my heart who lives at Discovery Wildlife Park in Innisfail.
I hadn’t planned on painting another bear so soon, as I have commissions I’m desperately trying to get completed, but the book needed the right cover, and the right cover needed a new bear.
After years of delays, procrastination, and perfectionism, my first book is well underway.
My publisher, Alexander, owner of Renegade Arts Entertainment here in Canmore, first started talking with me about a book ten years ago. Leaving out the details and roadblocks along the way, all of which were self-created, I finally got tired of my own B.S. excuses.
I usually see Alexander at Expo each year, as he’s always there with several of his authors, and he brought up the book again this spring. I admitted that I figured he was probably tired of hearing me say, “soon, I just have to…”
But he was his typical gracious self and told me it would happen when it happened.
So I decided it was happening now.
We went for lunch the following week and agreed on some immediate deadlines, including a full book mockup and the marketing material he’d need to begin promoting it on his side of things.
Most pressing of all, he needed a cover.
I tried several existing paintings in the mockups, but none of them seemed right. Eventually, I realized I needed to paint a new bear for the cover of my bear book.
My friend Serena at Discovery Wildlife Park helped me gather some new Berkley reference, because she’s the only bear I wanted on the cover. Fortune favoured me, and I got the shots I needed earlier last month.
As my work is all about personality and connecting with character, I had to think like a customer, and that meant a closeup of her face for the cover. The full painting, however, will appear inside the book, and I’ll have prints available before too long.
Now that this is out there, there’s no turning back.
The book will be an 8X10 softcover, around 70–80 pages. I still have a few pieces to complete, along with additional sketches I want to add. There’s also some writing and editing to do before this fall, when all of this needs to be finished.
You’ll read more about the project in the coming months, and I’m excited, and more than a little relieved, that this is finally a real thing.
Alexander knows the importance of the Calgary Expo in my world and volunteered last week that he’s planning to have advance copies available for my Expo people in April, ahead of the official book launch on May 12, 2027.
There’s still a lot of work left to do, but I’ll manage. Scary stuff, in the best possible way.
I hadn’t planned on working on any paintings other than the dog commissions for a very patient client. Those are still underway, but my publisher at Renegade Arts Entertainment gave me a deadline to finish the layout for my bear book, along with a brand new cover painting.
The best part is that after years of procrastination, I delivered.
It’s exciting to finally see this book taking shape, but it has also meant some long days at the desk. I’ll be sharing the new cover painting, the finished cover, and more details about the book very soon.
Since I was already painting this bear, I decided to record part of the process. The result is a different kind of YouTube video, where I talk about trying to use YouTube to promote my artwork without letting it become the work itself.
Another Calgary Expo is in the books. If you’ve been around for a while, you know how this goes, so I won’t bore you with a play by play.
Sales ended up almost identical to last year, within about twenty bucks, which is oddly precise. Not a record year, but still well worth my time. As always, it’s not just about the money.
The best part, and the reason I keep coming back, is getting to see so many of you in person. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth, said hello, and added to your collections. I never take that for granted. When I first started painting these funny looking animals, I had no idea if anyone would connect with them. Every year, you show me that you do, and that keeps me going. Talking with all of you refills my creative tank and makes me want to paint more.
I tried something new at the Banff Christmas Market last year, but this was the first time I brought it to Expo. A small display screen with sped-up painting footage, along with a couple of signs that said “NOT AI. NOT PHOTOS.” Both got a lot of positive reaction. People are paying attention, and they care how the work is made. That matters more than ever right now.
On the first morning of the show, sitting in my hotel room, I recorded a quick, unscripted video for YouTube. Nothing polished, just me talking into my phone. A few hours later, a young woman came by the booth with her family because she had seen that video that morning. She had never heard of my work before.
That was a nice moment. Also a bit of a kick in the ass. I spend too much time overthinking this stuff. I just have to put the work out there and let it do its job.
One of the most useful parts of Expo is seeing what people actually respond to. I have my own favourites, but the real feedback happens at the booth.This year, Peekaboo Panda and the Porcupine did very well, and the Highland Cow continues to be one of my strongest pieces. But the biggest surprise was the Raven on White painting. It’s a couple of years old now and has always been popular, but for whatever reason, it hit hard this weekend. I sold more of that print than I ever have of any single print at Expo, and I could have sold more if I hadn’t run out.
Not to worry, I’ve got more on the way.
With another raven in progress right now, I’m curious to see if it will resonate as well. It’s one of my favourite subjects to paint.
Saturday threw me a bit. It’s usually the strongest day, but this year Friday was better, and that got in my head more than I’d like to admit. I was back in the hotel that night wondering if my time at this show might be coming to an end.
But I rebooked Sunday morning, and by the end of the day, with very good sales, I’m glad I did. I relearned a lesson I already know. Don’t make big decisions when you’re run down.
I also had a couple of important conversations. I connected with another artist I admire who shared some valuable insight that might lead to something new. I also reconnected with Alex from Renegade Arts about the bear book we’ve talked about for years. I’ve been dragging my feet on it, mostly because I don’t trust my own design skills. That’s on me. Time to deal with it.
Now it’s back to work. The week after Expo is as busy as the week before.
I’ve got cartoons to draw, commissions to finish, works-in-progress and new paintings to start based on everything I saw and heard this weekend. And I need to finally make real progress on the bear book.
Sometime soon, I should probably take a couple of days off. Funny how that’s always my last priority.
Tomorrow is setup day at the Calgary Expo, which means today I’m packing the car and getting ready to head into Calgary until Sunday. Looks like snow and rain on the way (AGAIN!) for both Canmore and Calgary, so not a bad weekend to be indoors at Expo.
Here’s a quick video I recorded about some of the prep.
I hope to see you there!
If you’re coming to the show, here’s where to find me this year. Snap a quick photo on your phone so you’ve got it handy.
You can watch and listen above, or read the piece below.
As I write this, I’ve just turned 55.
I’ve got a strange relationship with birthdays, especially in recent years. I’ve never been that big on them. They’ve often felt more like an obligation than a celebration, something I’m expected to enjoy for other people.
Twice a year, I experience a certain flavour of melancholy. New Year’s is one, my birthday is another. It starts a few weeks out, taking stock of where I’m at and feeling like I haven’t done what I meant to in the year that’s passed.
Which is a bit ridiculous, because if I try to name what I actually wanted to do, it’s a mix of specific things, like finishing my bear book or getting out for more wildlife experiences, and vague ones, like doing less doomscrolling, painting more, and yes, making more money.
I’ve never claimed to be above that.
Money may not buy happiness, but it does offer security.
In the months between New Year’s and my birthday this year, I’ve been taking more stock than usual. Not because I want to slow down. I don’t. Time off isn’t good for me. An overactive creative mind left idle tends to wander into places I’d rather it didn’t.
But I’ve become acutely aware that 40 doesn’t feel that long ago. And yet, it’s the same distance between then and now as it is between now and 70.
That lands differently.
I still have a lot of work I want to do. I don’t think I’ve done my best work yet. I’m still improving. I’ve spent most of my art career agreeing with those grade school teachers who wrote the same thing in my report cards. Patrick isn’t living up to his potential.
Those demons are always around. I don’t mind calling them what they are, my own particular brand of batshit crazy, but I’ve come to accept they’re tied to the same place the work comes from.
That’s the trade.
Physically, I’m in decent shape. A few more aches, worse sleep, more bad dreams, a little less tolerance for things I used to shrug off. Nothing alarming. But I’m not naive about where I am on the timeline.
I’m seeing more obituaries for people my age. Some younger. People I’ve known, or at least known of, for years. Heart attacks. Cancer. Strokes. Plans that didn’t get finished.
Didn’t they all think they had more time?
I don’t fear death itself. But I do think about the stretch between now and then more than I used to. I have an acute awareness that the runway isn’t endless.
So what does that have to do with art and funny looking animals?
My start in this career wasn’t early. I didn’t even consider doing this for a living until my late 20s. I’ve been full-time for twenty years now, and for most of that time, I’ve felt like I’ve been trying to catch up.
To who, I couldn’t tell you.
A lot has gone right, some of it by design, some by accident. I never got an editorial cartoonist contract with a daily newspaper, something I really wanted in the early 2000s. In hindsight, I’m grateful for that. Staying self-syndicated meant I still have that part of my business, long after most of those staff jobs disappeared.
Nobody is more surprised than I am that I’m still drawing editorial cartoons every day.
In those early years, I threw a lot at the wall. Some of it stuck, most of it didn’t. Or at least that’s how it felt at the time.
I spent years drawing caricatures of celebrities and regular folks, taking commissions for birthdays and weddings. I did contract illustration work for board games, everything from game cards to box art. I even went down the animation rabbit hole for a while, learning software, recording voiceovers, trying to figure out if that was a direction worth pursuing.
Even though it wasn’t, none of that time was wasted. Every one of those detours built skills I still use.
And one of those experiments became the work I enjoy most, my whimsical wildlife portraits. I painted the first one in 2009 with no real plan. It was just fun, so I did another. Now there are well over a hundred, plus all the sketches and half-finished ideas sitting in folders.
That part worked out.
But something has shifted this year. Maybe it’s the number. Maybe it’s just time doing what time does. Either way, the question feels louder now.
How many more years do I get to do this?
I’m not being dramatic, I’m being practical.
I don’t need a big deal made about my birthday. It matters to me for reflection, but I don’t want it to be a social thing anymore.
A couple of years ago, I rented a cabin for my birthday and went there by myself, just to think.
And it didn’t work.
Because there were the birthday texts. Emails. Phone calls. All well-intentioned. People reaching out because they care. And I answered.
Which pulled me out of it.
That’s when it hit me that it’s not just about wanting the time. It’s about protecting it.
For most of my career, I’ve spent more time running the business than doing the work. Marketing, promotion, logistics, all necessary parts of the job, but they come at a cost.
Time.
And I’ve given too much of it away.
To projects I didn’t really want to take on. To requests I said yes to just to be polite. To things that had nothing to do with the work I actually care about.
I’ve let other people’s agendas, criticisms, and priorities dictate my direction, even when I knew better. I went along to get along. And I regret that.
I can’t afford that anymore.
These days, it’s a polite no.
Because they’re not minting more time.
Even writing this, I caught myself wondering if it sounds too dark. If I should lighten it up, because people just want happy animals and not my voice in their ear going on about this stuff.
But honestly, who am I to decide what people want?
Before I painted my first whimsical grizzly bear, nobody was asking for it. It connected with some people who were already following my work, and then more people came along who liked my brand of wildlife painting, too.
With less time ahead than behind, I don’t have the luxury of trying to be everything to everyone.
The people who like the work, the funny looking faces and the writing that goes with it, will stick around.
Those who don’t will find what they’re after somewhere else. No hard feelings.
We’re all living on borrowed time.
I’d like to spend more of mine on the things that make it bearable.
New prints just arrived this week, including a few brand new pieces I’m seeing in print for the first time. Always one of my favourite parts of the job.
I put together a video going through them, along with a few bestsellers I’m restocking for Calgary Expo. Cheers,
Patrick
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.
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.
It’s finally here.
I’m happy to reveal this new painting of Berkley, a bear near and dear to my heart who lives at 
If you’d like to see more about how that came together, that original 
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.