Category: Prints

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A Cartoon for the Calgary Expo

The two sides of my business rarely intersect. But while there’s nothing political about my whimsical wildlife animals, I have sometimes used one of my paintings in an editorial cartoon. Just recently I used my Angry Bear painting in a cartoon about the stock market.
I’ve used a polar bear or two in cartoons about climate change. And when Kevin Costner was the parade marshal for the Calgary Stampede in 2022, I used my portrait of his Yellowstone character, John Dutton, in a cartoon.
The Calgary Herald currently runs my cartoons more than any other daily newspaper in Canada, and they’ve been publishing my work for more than twenty years. How often, depends on how the editor of the day feels about my work in general. Everyone has their favourite artists.

The income from syndication comes from volume, where many customers pay a lower rate to run the same cartoon. When I draw a Calgary Expo themed cartoon, I’m not doing it for the money. It’s for my own enjoyment and to promote the event. I drew this Calgary specific Expo cartoon this year, knowing full well the only paper that might run it was The Calgary Herald.But it’s also fair comment about a positive event that brings a lot of people and revenue to the city. Though many refer to it as Comic-Con, it is so much more than that, a massive fan experience with 100,000 people coming through this show in four days. Some are there to get a celebrity photo or signature, others to add to their pop culture or art collections, and many come for the cosplay, to dress up and let their freak flags fly. I suspect most people come for the spectacle, to run away with the circus for a few days.

We’re in the final week of a federal election and defending against an unwarranted trade attack from our formerly closest friend and ally, so I had no idea if the Herald would run a silly Expo cartoon right now. But, I drew it anyway and enjoyed the work. While having coffee in my hotel room this morning, it was nice to see the cartoon published in today’s Calgary Herald.
If you’re coming to the Calgary Expo, I’ll be chained to my booth from opening Thursday to closing on Sunday. I set it up yesterday, and I’m ready for the chaos. Come by and say Hello!

Cheers,
Patrick

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The Calgary Expo 2025

Artist Alley is part of most Comic Cons and Expos. As the name suggests, it’s a section for artists and independent creators. Each space is often a single, no-frills table, ideal for smaller budgets or those who fly to shows with only their product and a banner or two.

At my first Calgary Expo as a vendor in 2013, that’s where I planned to be. But a vendor I knew talked me into spending a little more money to get a Small Press booth. It had a bit more space and a pipe and drape backdrop between the booths. It was great advice, and I was in Small Press for the first five years.
This was my first year setup, and I was thrilled I got enough sales to cover my expenses. Shonna helped me out the first couple of years, but I’ve long been able to handle this show solo. She works hard at her own job, so I don’t need her to come and do mine, too.

While most of these paintings are retired, a few are still popular today in prints and with licensing clients. Nobody is more surprised than me.

Shonna and I laughed this week, talking about those first years. There were no YouTube videos to tell you how to prepare for a show or what equipment you’d need. There were no pay terminals connected to our phones; it was all cash sales. You had to learn by watching other vendors, looking at their setups, and asking for advice from anybody and everybody.

Fortunately, other vendors had been where I was and freely offered tips, tricks, advice and supplier info. I do my best to pay that generosity forward when newbies ask for help.

The Expo grew yearly, and Artist Alley moved to the Big Four building. As part of that redesign, they eliminated the Small Press section. I had to decide if I wanted to step backward and leave the main building or invest in more space, equipment and inventory and become a retailer with a full-sized 10’x10’ corner booth.

To this day, I still get people asking me why I’m not in Artist Alley. The simplest answer is that I like having more space and professional pipe and drape dividers. An artist in the retail section stands out more than one squeezed in among many others. I also pay an electrical fee each year to power my lights, a service not available in Artist Alley.
The BMO Centre has been under renovation for several years, and the show’s footprint has kept shifting. With the convention centre expansion and renovation completed this year, it’s a massive change, and Artist Alley is finally back with the rest of the show.

The other day, I chatted with a subscriber who works for a wholesale customer. She’s more involved in the online Expo community than I am and shared that some of the Artist Alley vendors were disappointed or upset that the show is now under one roof.

I understand their fear of change, especially if the divided venue is the only thing they know. They’re likely unaware the show only split when it got too big to contain itself. Putting Artist Alley in the Big Four building was a compromise, and back then, many were upset and disappointed at the split. This year, it’s a welcome reunion for those who remember the good old days.

As this is my tenth year, having experienced both options, I have no doubt that having the whole show back together will be an advantage for vendors and attendees alike. With no requirement to leave one building and enter another, people will spend more time in one place, which means everyone will get to see everything.

I hope the Artist Alley vendors find out it’s probably a good thing for them, and I want them all to do well.

Five days in one location means you can get to know your neighbours during the slower periods and before opening each day. I always learn something from other vendors, even if they’re new. I’ve had mostly good neighbours in my ten years of Expos, but occasional challenges have occurred.

Two years ago, a collective of three or four young women selling their costume jewelry had boundary issues. They pushed into my booth several times, threatening to knock my art off the walls. They hung out in front of or IN my booth with their friends, or they cranked up their club music, making it difficult to talk with my customers.

Last year, however, I was next to a couple of young guys from Grande Prairie who were friendly and fun to be around. They politely asked if they could hang a banner off my grid wall on their side, and I was happy to accommodate them.
This was my booth in 2019, one of my best spots ever. During setup, the booth next to me was a no-show, and the vendor on the other side of the gap asked the organizers if he could take some of that space. They agreed. He excitedly came to me and said he’d only take half of it, and I could have the other half, a generous gesture on his part. We both expanded our booths and even had storage space between us.

Another reason I loved this spot was that it was next to one of the widest aisles beside a wall and a straight line to one of the loading doors. On teardown, it was pouring rain that year. The vendors around me cleared out quickly. After I packed everything and it was time to load out, one of the show staff offered to let me bring my car inside. I parked beside my booth, loaded up comfortably, and drove out the door.

This was likely the only time that will ever happen at this show, but it sure was a treat.

The most familiar faces at the Expo are my wonderful subscribers, customers and collectors who come back year after year to support my work. I see several of the same vendors, too, but I only know a few. It’s a busy show, with 100,000 people attending over four days, so spending time outside my vendor neighbourhood is impossible.

One vendor I know has been at this show for about as long as I have. Brock is a talented scroll saw artist with pop culture and entertainment-themed work that fits this audience perfectly. We chat each day of the show, before opening, or when he and his family come by my booth to get some new prints and stickers.

Because I’m usually at the show by myself, they’ve always been so kind to offer to watch my booth if I need a bathroom break. Several of my long-time collector friends do that, too, and it’s greatly appreciated. I bring my food, so that’s the only time I need to leave my space.

This week, the Expo updated its Exhibitor List to reveal booth numbers. I was delighted to discover that, for the first time, Brock and I are next-door neighbours, our corner booths forming the end of an aisle block. What a great start to the event.
Though everything I need for Expo is here and mostly ready, I’m still working on last-minute prep and drawing editorial cartoons to keep my newspaper clients supplied while I’m away. The Monday after the show is Election Day in Canada, so I must also have that morning’s cartoon done in advance.

To you diehards who attend every year, I look forward to seeing your smiling faces once again.

If this will be your first Calgary Expo, please stop by and say Hello. I love seeing the shell-shocked expressions on people who have never been to this circus. You’re in for a real treat.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Three Weeks ’til Expo!

April, already. Where did the time go? The Calgary Expo is three weeks from today, and even though this will be my 10th year, I still obsess about the prep.

I keep detailed spreadsheets that allow me to look back on every show to see how much I sold of each item, which informs how much I order the next time. Knowing that my Smiling Tiger, Otter, and others are bestsellers is not enough. I need accurate numbers, otherwise I might order 20 of one print, though I only sold 10 the year before. Multiply that by dozens of paintings, and it soon gets costly.

Each year, I try to bring enough stock so I don’t sell out early, but not so much that I have a lot left to bring home. With tariff threats and an uncertain economy, people will still be there, but will they buy?

Late spring and summer aren’t big months for my online store, but they’re the busiest times for my wholesale clients. Because of my editorial cartoon commitments, I don’t do summer markets. So, if I have too many prints the Calgary Zoo, Toronto Zoo, or Discovery Wildlife Park don’t sell, they can sit in the closet for months. For example, none of those venues want a Raven, Orca, or Panda.

Immediately after this year’s Expo, I have two commissions on deck, one featuring three cats and another with three dogs. It’s bizarre they both arrived at the same time from different clients. Those are significant commitments and top priorities for the next few months. Both clients have been collecting my work for years and were willing to wait until May for me to start.

Sadly, I dropped the ball on a video assignment last month for a client I never want to disappoint. But I bit off more than I could chew and had to bow out. I’ve been learning a new camera setup and editing software, and editorial cartoon commitments have increased with the rapidly changing daily news, not to mention marketing efforts that have taken days away from productivity.

While the client understood and let me off the hook, it’s a professional failure I have not yet accepted.

There aren’t enough hours in the day right now, and I’m floundering.
Fortunately, everything I need for Expo is already here or on the way. I placed a large print order earlier this week to fill orders for The Calgary Zoo, Discovery Wildlife Park and this event, which will arrive next week.

My stickers, magnets, coasters and metal prints are fully stocked for the show, but I’m waiting on tote bags. As with any new product, you learn the most from the first order.

While the first two tote bag samples arrived quickly, this much larger order took longer. It’s been five weeks, but they finally shipped a few days ago. Quality takes time, but that was unexpected. Thankfully, they’ll still arrive before Expo.

I didn’t anticipate the enthusiastic tote bag interest from all of you. Even though I asked for feedback before I ordered, inquiries have continued to come in. I checked with the company to see if I could add more to the order, and they said it wasn’t possible because they were already in production.

So, while it’s great that people are excited about them, it has presented a dilemma. I won’t have enough for the event if I offer them for sale before the Expo. The best sales are in person, and I can’t test a product at a live event if I don’t have enough to make it through the weekend. How the bags perform at Expo will determine how many I order for the four weeks of the Banff Christmas Market, which is a much more significant financial investment.
Additionally, the next three weeks will be some of the busiest of my year, and the bags won’t even be here for another week. I don’t have the room to add hours and days of shipping and delivering tote bag orders on top of all the prep and drawing cartoons.

Creating the art is the easy part. Promoting and selling it is the work.

For those of you who have expressed interest in the tote bags, I greatly appreciate it, but I’m going to ask for your understanding and patience for a little longer. I need to take the whole order to Expo.

After the event, I’ll immediately put any remaining stock in the store and let all of you know when they’re available. If I don’t have enough to fill the demand, I’ll launch a preorder for subscribers and do what I can to add a little bonus incentive to reward your patience.

Three months into the year, I have yet to find my groove. I’m always working, but it doesn’t feel like I’m getting anywhere. Something has to give, because if there were a report card that listed all the plans, projects, and paintings in progress, there would be a big INCOMPLETE next to most of them.

I need to figure that out.

In the meantime, I’m focused on Expo. It really is a good time, and I look forward to it every year. There are so many subscribers and collectors I only see in person at this event, which is what makes it so much fun.

I’ve painted seven new paintings since the last Expo, which isn’t as many as I would have liked. But two of these paintings were a lot more work than any before, so it’s understandable. Those Grizzlies and Lemurs felt like several paintings in one. And since I will still have 39 other available images at the show, I won’t worry about it.

Stickers do well at Expo, and because so many asked for it at this event and the Banff Christmas Markets, I’m looking forward to introducing my new Highland Cow sticker.
But every year, even if they follow A Wilder View, people always ask, “What’s new this year?”

So, if you’re coming to the Expo but haven’t come to the Banff Christmas Markets or ordered anything online, here’s a refresher of the paintings you most likely don’t have yet. Of course, I’ll be happy to remind you in person.

Cheers,
Patrick

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A Wilder View on Awards

I’ve been drawing and painting my whimsical wildlife art for 16 years. Licensed internationally on several products, I also sell prints and stickers wholesale to places like the Calgary Zoo and Discovery Wildlife Park, in my online store, and at live events like the Banff Christmas Market and the Calgary Expo.

Most people subscribe to A Wilder View to see new paintings and hear the stories behind that work. So, it often surprises some and occasionally annoys others when I write the odd post about politics or things going on in the news. What does that have to do with funny-looking animals? Does everybody have to share their political opinion these days?

It’s usually that many people don’t know that I’ve been a syndicated editorial cartoonist for over twenty years. But if it weren’t for the political cartoons, there wouldn’t have been any animal paintings.
In 1998, while managing a waterslide facility at a hotel in Banff, I drew my first cartoon for the Banff Crag & Canyon. Many editorial cartoonists get into the profession because they’re political junkies who can draw. I liked to draw, and I figured I could learn to follow the news and politics if I had to.

I was 27 at the time. I had never been to art school and didn’t know the difference between right-wing and left-wing politics. But hey, it was a small weekly paper, and $30/week gave me a little beer money.

In 2001, I was invited to join the Rocky Mountain Outlook; about the same time, Shonna and I moved to Canmore. It was an upstart weekly newspaper looking to compete with the Banff Crag & Canyon and the Canmore Leader.

Today, the Outlook is the newspaper of record for the entire Bow Valley; those other papers are gone. It is a point of pride that I have had a cartoon in every issue for 24 years. While most Outlook cartoons have a local theme, they sometimes run one of my syndicated cartoons if a local toon doesn’t work that week.
So, what’s a syndicated cartoon? I get that question a lot.

Each week, I draw five to seven more cartoons on regional, provincial, national or international issues and submit them to newspaper clients across Canada. I follow the news every day, come up with ideas and draw them. If a publication prints the cartoon, they pay me.

Many of my clients are weekly publications, and several are under monthly contracts. That means they only print my cartoons. They only need one cartoon each week, but because I also supply dailies, they have several cartoons to choose from.

While some daily newspapers still have editorial cartoonists on contract, many have a few available spots each week or only use syndicated. Several daily papers in Canada run my cartoons, but they also print submissions from other cartoonists, so it’s a daily competition.

Early in my career, I wanted a job with a daily newspaper. But as we learn in life, sometimes the best thing for you is not getting what you want. Had I got a daily newspaper gig, I would have been laid off in budget cuts years ago, a fate that has befallen many cartoonists in the struggling newspaper business.

Because syndication was always my business model, I never had to face losing my day job and scrambling to pivot. It also meant I had to draw every day, without fail, or I didn’t get paid. I learned early the discipline it takes to run your own business, that you work even when you don’t feel like it because you have to. It’s a lesson I try to share with anyone who asks for tips on making art for a living. As any self-employed person will tell you, you’ll never work harder than working for yourself.

The other benefit was that you can’t help but improve if you’re drawing daily, so my cartoons quickly got better. My early pitiful caricatures, where nobody could tell who I was drawing, became one of my best skills. I used to dread drawing real people, but now I enjoy that part of the work, even though those cartoons take longer.

Best of all, my years of learning to be a better cartoonist led to the work I enjoy most: my funny-looking animals. If I hadn’t been a cartoonist first and still somehow stumbled into painting wildlife, they wouldn’t have that ‘cartoony but real’ look that so many people enjoy.

I’ve been fortunate to receive some awards in my career, but not many. Artists only need one award to add ‘award-winning artist’ to their bio. They’re kind of like high school diplomas. Employers look for them on your resume, but how many ever ask to see one?

To think, one lie and I could have skipped those three years and started work early.
I’m most proud of the awards I received at Photoshop World Las Vegas in 2010 and 2014. The first year, I won the Illustration and Best in Show awards for some of my early animal paintings. That recognition was important to me because it was from an organization full of people I liked and respected. They were an encouraging group of talented artists and teachers, and they helped me become a better artist.

That award also opened doors at Wacom. They make the drawing tablets and displays on which I have created all my cartoons and paintings since the late 90s. I’ve worked with them several times on promotional projects over the years, and it’s been one of my favourite professional relationships.

In 2014, the last year I attended Photoshop World, I won the Best in Show award for my One in Every Family painting. The prize was the Canon 5D Mark III camera I still use today to take reference photos. Just like my car, it may not be new and pristine anymore, but it gets me where I need to go, and I will be truly upset the day I no longer have it.

That organization and event no longer exist, but it ended on a high note, and I look back on that time with fond memories. Many of those friends and acquaintances still follow my work in A Wilder View.

I have won several Alberta Weekly Newspaper Awards and Canadian Community Newspaper Awards for my local cartoons in The Rocky Mountain Outlook. The Outlook enters my work for those, and that recognition does more for the newspaper than for me. But I’ve been happy to be part of the team effort.

This brings me to the National Newspaper Awards. I think I tried to enter once in 2006 but found out I wasn’t eligible because I wasn’t attached to a daily newspaper. Sure, many dailies ran my work, but they most often sponsored their own cartoonists for the NNAs.

So, I didn’t try to enter again and figured I never would.
The Calgary Herald has been publishing my cartoons for twenty years. During that time, they’ve gone through several editorial page editors, and I’ve had a good relationship with most of them. But as is the case for all art, some liked my work more than others. So, some years, I might get published only once or twice a month.

A change in editor at any newspaper can be the end of a cartoon contract or the beginning of a new one. They all have their favourite cartoonists, and when an editor goes from one newspaper to the other, they’ve often brought me with them or replaced me with one of my competitors. It’s the nature of the business.

These days, I’ve got a great relationship with the Calgary Herald. The now Editor-in-Chief, Monica Zurowski, has been encouraging and supportive of my work and runs my cartoons around ten times a month.

So, while the Herald does not employ me, they run my cartoons more than any other daily newspaper in Canada. Last year, Ms. Zurowski asked if they could sponsor me for the National Newspaper Awards for editorial cartooning. It was a big surprise because the NNAs hadn’t been on my radar for almost twenty years.

Because the Herald had published so many of my cartoons in 2023, I could choose five cartoons I liked from a large enough selection, and they submitted them on my behalf. I didn’t expect much, so I wasn’t disappointed when I didn’t get a nomination.

In January of this year, The Herald again asked if I wanted to submit and said they would sponsor me. The editor chose five cartoons she liked from those they’d published and said I was free to make any changes. I suggested two substitutions, and they submitted another five-cartoon portfolio for the 2024 competition. Again, I went in with low expectations. You can see those five cartoons throughout this post.

This week, I received a call from Ms. Zurowski telling me I’m one of three finalists for the National Newspaper Awards. The other finalists are Michael de Adder for his work in the Halifax Chronicle Herald/Globe and Mail and Gabrielle Drolet for the Globe and Mail.
I’ve got some mixed feelings about this unexpected nomination. I’m pleased at the recognition, of course. It’s a bit of validation in a profession where I’ve often felt like an outsider.

As someone who started relatively late in the profession, when the newspaper industry was already struggling, I often felt too far behind and that my cartoons didn’t measure up. Even when I hosted the Canadian Editorial Cartoonists Convention in Banff in 2008, I felt significant imposter syndrome. And in the aftermath of that event, of which I have no fond memories, I resigned myself to the fact that I was not part of that club. And I moved on. I have had little contact with that community since.

Instead, I have focused on the work, improving my skills, and keeping my business adaptable and sustainable. As newspapers have sold, floundered and folded, I have positioned my other artwork to take up the slack. Financially, 2018 was my best year for editorial cartooning, but each year since then, as more newspapers close, that side of my business has shown a steady decline.

Fortunately, my whimsical wildlife work continues to grow, allowing me to continue to make a good living as an artist. But I’m still drawing a local cartoon for The Outlook and five or six syndicated cartoons each week. I’m just getting paid less now for that same cartoon output.

I wondered this week if the NNA award carries the weight it used to. There are fewer cartoonists on the playing field, and some of the giants of the profession are now gone, out of work, or drawing fewer cartoons. Would a National Newspaper Award mean more to me if more cartoonists were in the race? I think so.

Or perhaps, even twenty-seven years after that first editorial cartoon became a career of thousands more, I still feel that imposter syndrome, that I never was a part of that club. Our demons never leave us, do they?

They will announce the winners of the National Newspaper Awards in Montreal on Friday, April 25th. It’s an appropriate irony that I will be very busy that day, selling my whimsical wildlife art at my biggest annual event, The Calgary Expo. It will be my tenth year at the show, introducing people to the artwork I love most, that wouldn’t have happened without newspapers and political cartoons.

Whether I win a National Newspaper Award or not, I’ll be right where I belong.

Cheers,
Patrick

One more thing

Several metal prints arrived this week for The Calgary Expo next month, the first time I’ve seen some of my newest paintings on metal. Unpacking new prints never fails to put a smile on my face as my work always looks best in print.
When I finished this Ringleader painting, I wrote, “I have no idea how I feel about this painting and probably won’t for a while. I feel more relief that it’s finally over than satisfaction with the result.”

Just over a month later, now that the perfectionism for the piece has subsided, I can honestly say this is one of my favourite paintings. It’s so delightfully ridiculous and I laughed out loud after unpacking it. Because of the detail and so many faces, I printed it larger at 18”X24” on metal and I’m looking forward to hanging it in my booth.

As I’ll be busy every day for the next month, signing and packing new stock, organizing my booth hardware and equipment, drawing cartoons and trying to get a video recording finished, I wanted a break before all the chaos. So, my buddy Darrel and I spent four nights last weekend at the cabin we often rent in the foothills of Central Alberta.
There was still plenty of snow on the ground, on the colder side of March, and we didn’t see any wildlife. But we did what greying old men like us usually do; played cards and games, went for walks around the property, napped and played guitar. This was a selfie I took for a text reply to Shonna one afternoon when she asked how we were doing.
She complimented our usual black T-shirt matching ensembles. I told her I suspected she might be making fun of us, to which she replied, “Nailed it!”

As I finished writing this, an email alert came in that Prime Minister Mark Carney will call a snap federal election this weekend, and Canadians will go to the polls as early as April 28th. That’s the day after the Calgary Expo, which means April just got a whole lot busier.

I’m glad I took the break when I had the chance. 

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Elbows Up, Canada!

Canadians aren’t happy.

Better writers and speakers, more educated than I, with decades more experience and insight in the political arena, are trying and failing to explain why Donald Trump does what he does.

I certainly don’t have the energy to write a lengthy essay trying to figure him out. I’m too busy, too tired and too angry. I wrote a post the day after the U.S. election, and somebody sent me an email accusing me of Trump Derangement Syndrome. I wonder if he still thinks people like me are overreacting. Or if he will in a few months when his job might be at risk.

I take solace in the emails I’ve received from many of my American subscribers, expressing sympathy for our plight. It’s appreciated because even though the President is lashing out at every other country he can think of, he’s saving the worst damage for his own.

Many Americans are on my subscriber list, some following my work for decades. I’ve known several of them for over twenty years through my association with the now-defunct National Association of Photoshop Professionals and several trips to Vegas for Photoshop World. I bear no ill will toward any of you, and most Canadians would say the same to all their American friends and family members.

Our beef is with the unprovoked attack on our sovereignty and economy by an overgrown child who clearly will never get enough attention to satisfy his fragile ego. The President of the United States has been verbally and economically threatening Canada for months now. By his own admission, he wants to end our country and take what remains.

Surrender isn’t an option, so we must fight back. That means reciprocal tariffs on U.S. products. American liquor has been removed from store shelves across the country. Canadians are cancelling vacations to the U.S., and this trade war we didn’t want has launched a nationwide ‘Buy Canadian’ campaign.

Between Shonna and I, I’m the heart-on-sleeve half of this relationship. Like many artists, I’m an emotional person and overly sensitive about a lot of things. Shonna’s usually more stoic, feet planted firmly on the ground. But she was the one who ordered Canada flag pins for us to wear.

I’m tempted to compare this new national wave of Canadian pride to that which swept the country during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, but that was joyous. This is not.

Canadians are pissed off. Our closest neighbour and friend has attacked us for no reason that makes any sense. And we’re trying to figure out how to handle it.

Winning the 4-Nations hockey series was a big deal. The outcome of that final game meant a lot more to Canada than it did to the other competitors, even for those who aren’t usually hockey fans. After months of Trump’s 51st state threats, we needed a win, even a symbolic one. Last week, Mike Myers delighted Canadian viewers of Saturday Night Live by wearing a T-shirt on stage for the traditional all-cast farewell. It read CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE, and he gestured while mouthing the words, “Elbows up.”

It’s a hockey reference, meaning the gloves are off, and it’s time for a fight. It has since become a Canadian call to arms. This far, no further.

Hey Gretzky. You watching? This is how it’s done.

I’m drawing a LOT of cartoons about this issue. I’d like to see other news stories rise to the top, but as the following cartoon shows, good luck with that. Just like in 2020, one topic dominates. Who would have thought I’d miss the pandemic? At least with the virus, it wasn’t personal.

I have art licenses with American companies. Some of them I acquired through an American licensing agent, and while I ended that association a couple of years ago, many of the licenses have term limits and contracts I must honour.

For other licenses and companies based in the U.S., I’ve had great relationships with these people for many years. They’ve treated me well, paid for the use of my art, and to attempt to punish them for the actions of their President, somebody they may not have voted for, would be foolish. Good licensing contracts are hard to find, and relationships are formed over a long time. They also come with legal contracts that are in force for years.

I have a new license I signed with an American company last year. It was an exciting opportunity, and the products are still pending, so I can’t reveal anything yet. I can’t simply end those contracts, nor would I want to. I would be shooting myself in both feet, all because one selfish politician has a default setting of ‘asshole.’

Eventually, Donald Trump will be out of office, one way or another. After that, we’ll have to pick up the pieces. Canada’s former friendly relationship with the United States will hopefully recover, but it will take time. It’ll be hard to forget how insulting and painful this has been for Canadians, and it has only just begun. We’re looking at four more years of this nonsense.

I’m pleased to see the Made in Canada patriotism sweeping this country. The reciprocal tariffs launched by our provincial and federal leaders are the only response possible because you can’t reason with an unreasonable person. Who would have thought Donald Trump would do more to unite Canadians than anyone in recent memory?
Thankfully, I was already on board the Buy Canadian wagon. The poster prints in my store have always been made in Canada, first by three companies in Calgary and most recently by Art Ink Print in Victoria. Harlequin Nature Graphics on Vancouver Island has the apparel license for some of my bestselling images.

Have you ever bought a magnet, coaster, or calendar from me? How about a mug, water bottle, trivet or art card in places like the Calgary Zoo, About Canada in Banff, or many other retail and gift stores in Western Canada, Alaska or the Pacific Northwest? Those come from Pacific Music & Art in Victoria.

My vinyl stickers, metal and canvas prints are made in Ontario. The new tote bags many of you are excited about are currently in production in Montreal.
I have always strived for Made in Canada with the products I sell.

There is a distinction, however, between Made in Canada and Product of Canada. You can read about that here. Though they’re Canadian companies employing Canadian workers and printing the artwork here in Canada, many of my suppliers and printers get their paper and product blanks overseas from China and Taiwan. The backer board, cellophane sleeves, art bio labels, shipping envelopes, and many other parts and pieces I use are sourced from different places. Try as we might, some things aren’t manufactured anywhere in this country. Americans are about to find out how many of their products rely on Canadian and overseas imports. As those prices go up, I hope they express their displeasure to their elected representatives, especially those sycophants who surround their golden god.
So, we do what we can to fight the fights worth fighting with the tools and weapons we have on hand.

Nobody knows where we’re headed in this ridiculous trade war, how much damage it will do, or how deep of a debris field it will leave behind. We don’t want to win the war. We just want it to end. What is certain is that Donald Trump’s game of “Let’s Make a Deal or Else” is going to hurt a lot of people inside and outside the United States.

During those joyous 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Tom Brokaw explained Canada to Americans in this video. This is what both countries stand to lose.

____
©Patrick LaMontagne 2025

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A Pouty Bear, Commissions, and Tote Bags

A post in three parts. Here we go.
First, here’s a painting I just finished yesterday called Pouty Bear. Even though most of the animals I paint are smiling and happy, I occasionally change them up, even if I know that a different expression may not appeal to people.

My Angry Bear painting is not popular, but it’s still one of my favourites because I enjoyed the work. The grumpy lion, on the other hand, is a pretty good seller, and that surprised me. The Ring-tailed Lemur creeps some people out but definitely has its fans.

Will this pouting brown bear connect with people? Time will tell.
Commissions and Comic-Con

I’ve enjoyed most of the pet portrait commissions I’ve done. Each has a unique story. I like the back-and-forth with clients and am usually happy with the results.

I only paint two or three commissions a year, sometimes only one, so they’re not a big part of my work. I’m OK with that because custom paintings are labour-intensive. Each begins with initial client emails, vetting photos, and discussing expectations. This leads to the actual painting, printing and delivery, which takes several weeks at the best of times. That’s in addition to my daily editorial cartoons and paintings and running my business.

A whimsical wildlife painting takes several hours, too, but each of those paintings has the potential to become a popular print or licensed image that sells for many years. Although every commission advertises my skills to future clients, the painting itself is one and done. It’s unique and specific to the person who hired me. Very few people want a painting of somebody else’s dog.

For my clients, a commission is not an impulse buy; it’s an investment in a very personal and meaningful custom painting. Most people hire me after following my work for a while and becoming familiar with my art style and process. They’ve had time to think about a commission, decide they want one, and only then do they contact me.
At the Calgary Expo a few years ago, Jeremy asked me about painting his dog, Luna. It was several months later before he reached out and got the ball rolling for a Christmas present for his wife, Jenny. Luna is one of my favourite paintings. I enjoyed the experience and look forward to seeing them each year at the Expo. Jeremy and Jenny even visited the Banff Christmas Market this year and brought their dogs along.
I am asked about commissions at shows all the time. For the past couple of years, I have displayed an 18” X24” metal print of Luna in my booth, with a little sign in the corner that reads, “YES, I DO paint commissions. Ask me for more info.”

Since advertising the service with Luna’s painting, I get a lot more inquiries. But here’s the thing: Jeremy was the exception to the rule. Almost nobody hires me for a commission after meeting me at shows. And I’ve realized that talking about commissions is usually the quickest way to get somebody to leave my booth.

Whether it’s at the Calgary Expo or the Banff Christmas Market, here’s how that usually goes. While they scan the metal and canvas prints hanging on the grid walls that define my booth, they see the Luna painting and the commission sign. They get excited that I might paint their dog, and the first question is usually, “How much would that cost?”

I’ve used various talking points to try to soften the sticker shock. I mention that a custom painting is an investment and personal to them. I explain how much work is involved, including printing and shipping/delivery. But as soon as I mention it’s $1900, the disappointed look on most people’s faces is unmistakable.

The price surprises those who are used to buying underpriced art on Etsy, which is often generated AI or photo manipulation. I don’t know how much they thought a custom original painting would cost, but it was much less than what I just quoted them. Because even though very few will flat out say, “I can’t afford that,” it’s evident in their reaction, and that makes them feel embarrassed, even though they shouldn’t. I don’t drop two thousand dollars on anything without planning and careful consideration, so I don’t expect anyone else to.

But now they’re uncomfortable. Their initial enthusiasm for my work, which attracted them to my booth in the first place, is tarnished, and they want to escape this negative feeling as soon as possible. They’ll often ask for a card and say they’ll be in touch, leave the booth, and I know I’m unlikely to ever hear from them.

They never got around to flipping through the 40-50 different prints in the bins, nor did they see the magnets, coasters, stickers, or postcards. I’ll never know how many sales I might have missed if the commission price hadn’t scared them away.

As much as I love showing off that Luna painting, I won’t bring it to shows anymore. I’ll still get commission inquiries at The Calgary Expo, but I won’t advertise them. I’m likely to say that I’m not taking any right now with my current workload.

Like a commission, The Calgary Expo and Banff Christmas Markets are big investments, which I hope will result in excellent sales and allow me to introduce my work to new people. And when they see my happy, smiling animals, along with the occasional pouty bear or grumpy lion, I want to invite them in and show them around my booth rather than give them a reason to leave.

If they sign up for A Wilder View, they can always look into a commission later and decide on their own time that they want to talk about it.

As with all self-employment, art-for-a-living is about adaptation. When something isn’t working, it’s time to make a change.

Tote Bags

Thank you for all the positive comments and emails about the new Otter and Smiling Tiger tote bags I’m ordering for the Calgary Expo. These vibrant printed bags are 100% polyester textured canvas, machine wash and dry, and will withstand everyday use while looking great. Each measures 16” X 13” X 3”.
Several people emailed me asking if I’ll have them in the online store. As with any new product, I must guess how many I might need for the show. Production and delivery timelines mean I won’t get these for more than a month, so I need to order them on Monday to have them in time for the end of April.

While I think they’ll do very well, they’re a significant investment, and I’m erring on the side of caution, which means I hadn’t planned on ordering extras for the online store until I see how they do. And if I added them to the store first and they do very well, I won’t be able to order more in time for Expo.
But I’d love to hear your thoughts.

At $29 plus $5 shipping (in Canada) for one bag, would you buy one if I stocked them on my site? Depending on the feedback, I may increase how many I order tomorrow to accommodate online sales. Please let me know in the comments.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Collectors from Across the Pond

Rich and Jill have been coming to the Bow Valley from their home in the UK every year for over a decade. While I don’t remember our first encounter in 2010, I had delivered an out-of-stock print of my first wolf painting to them at the Two Wolves gallery in Canmore.

I miss that place. The owners gave my whimsical wildlife work a shot at the very beginning, when I had only painted a handful of them and knew nothing about this part of the business. (Hi, Andrea!)

During other trips, Rich and Jill bought my art prints in Banff at About Canada under the previous owners. In those days, I offered black matted giclée prints on consignment, which means I supplied them to the gallery, and they would pay me when they sold. These days, my wholesale customers buy my prints outright, and I no longer offer matted prints.

But Rich and Jill liked that look and still wanted the giclée prints in that same size. So, in recent years, they have kept up with new releases through A Wilder View. And before they come to Canada to ski, they place a special order for the prints they want to take home. They order in the fall so I have it ready when they get here in December or January. I provide the prints in a roll and they have them framed in the UK.

This year, Rich told me in November that they wanted some coasters and a special order print of Spa Day in the usual 11″ X14″ size. He joked, “We just bought a larger house, mainly so we had more wall space for your pictures.”

But he also said, “Ideally, we would get a large format of the grizzlies, but I guess that’s not finished yet.”
Up until then, the above work-in-progress image was all they had seen. I had shared it in August, along with an unfinished series of sketches. That they wanted to order the painting before they’d seen the finished work was flattering and a little frightening.

Even though there was no pressure, I suddenly wanted to have that print ready for them, especially since this was the first time they wanted larger than the usual size.

After the Christmas markets, I focused on The Grizzlies and finished it for New Year’s Day. Rich and Jill decided on an 18″ X24″ print, giving me three weeks before they arrived, which was plenty of time. This was the first time I’d seen the new painting in print and I was pleased. While I’m proud of my poster prints and Art Ink Print in Victoria does a great job, a giclée fine art print has a texture to the paper that often results in richer colours and enhances the detail. The photos here don’t do it justice.
I met them at a local brewery for a drink to deliver their order this weekend. We haven’t had time for anything more than a short exchange on previous deliveries due to weather or distancing during the pandemic, so it was nice to sit and chat with them.

With this most recent delivery, they now have 16 prints of their own, plus trivets, coasters and prints they’ve bought for friends. As a self-employed artist, there is no bigger compliment than somebody who enjoys my work that much.

I’m grateful for anyone who buys my art, whether it’s a sticker, magnet, coaster, calendar, print or commission. Still, there are a handful of collectors whose ongoing support is sometimes overwhelming. Hopefully, I have told each of you how much it’s appreciated.

Because I had a little more time to get to know them on Saturday evening, I asked if they had any requests for animals I hadn’t yet painted. Though they own several other animal paintings I’ve done, they said they’re happiest with the bears, and I assured them there’s no chance I will stop painting those anytime soon. But Rich also took the opportunity to say, with an implied wink and a nudge, that he’d really like to buy a copy of my book.

I laughed nervously and hung my head in shame.

Maybe next year, Rich. Maybe next year.

Sigh.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Polar Plunge

In June of last year, I painted my Big Bear on Blue polar bear painting, which is now a popular print. Pacific Music & Art used it as the cover of their 2025 calendar featuring my artwork. I like that painting and didn’t feel the need to create another polar bear image, at least not right away.

In July of last year, however,  I shared the following sketch painting, the term I use for unfinished experiments. Because I had just painted a polar bear, I didn’t see the need to take it any further.
But it had received a positive response, and a few people sent me emails asking if I would finish it. So, over the last week, I put the time in to complete it, and I think Polar Plunge will be a nice addition to my print releases for spring.

At the beginning of this year, I spent a few days looking through unfinished paintings. There are a couple I had forgotten about that I’d now like to dust off and complete, and I’d like to finish as many paintings in progress as I can before I start anything new.

I also created a 2025 list of folders with reference files, so I don’t have to wonder what’s coming next.

There’s always a short-lived high whenever I finish a painting. Years ago, it used to last for a week. Now, it lasts for about an hour, followed by a bit of a crash, for anywhere from a couple of days to a week. If I look through my reference files during that post-painting hangover, hoping to find the next idea, nothing inspires me.

This year, I decided to eliminate that problem. Art for a living is a job, and when one painting is finished, I need to start another, regardless of whether I feel like it. Thankfully, I now have 28 new folders containing reference images for paintings I can start right away. Some are paintings I need to finish, like the group of ring-tailed lemurs I’ve been working on. As I complete a painting, I’ll choose another folder and start the next one. And even if I’m not ‘feeling it,’ that will pass soon enough as I get into the new piece, because lost in the details of a painting is about as happy as I get.

I have never painted that many images in a year, but that’s not the goal. I simply now have 28 options and no excuses not to start a new piece.

When I’m not feeling especially creative, it helps to think of each painting as a commission. When clients pay me to paint their pets, I have a deadline or know that I’m wasting their time and money if I don’t work on their painting. Guilt is a strong motivator.

I’m trying to shift my perspective regarding my own paintings where I’m the client, and by not working, I’m wasting my own time and potential revenue.

I’m also working to create a new portfolio this year to attract new licensing clients. Even though many of my licenses aren’t exclusive, some companies are still reluctant to use an image on similar products if another company uses it, even if the market conflict is minimal. Anything can happen, and relying on only a few clients risks future income security. The loss of newspaper clients in recent years illustrates that point well.

While editorial cartooning is still a large part of my business, newspapers have experienced a steady decline for years, so it no longer provides a full-time income on its own. If I hadn’t had the whimsical wildlife side of my business, which is now the most significant portion of my income, I would have had to get a part-time job a few years ago.
Last week, I delivered the year’s first print and sticker order to the Calgary Zoo. It was warm, with plenty of sunshine, and there weren’t many people. Even traffic was light, so I had an enjoyable day. When I got there, I chatted with the retail manager and the staff I know, then wandered through Canadian Wilds, my favourite part of the zoo.

I texted my friend Kayla, one of the zookeepers, asking if she was working and where she was. She said she was in the North American porcupine enclosure, so I went there. Kayla was one of those who asked me if I was ever going to complete this new polar bear painting, so I was happy to tell her the finished painting was imminent.
Porcupines are nocturnal, so they’re not active during the day, but like any animal, they’ll make an effort when food is involved. Because Kayla was inside the enclosure, feeding the cute and prickly resident, we had a nice chat while I got some decent reference shots. Add those to the ones I’ve taken at Discovery Wildlife Park, and there is now a Porcupine folder in my list of paintings I’d like to get to this year.

Though I took many more photos of different animals that day, most weren’t worth keeping. Bright sunny days and photography don’t usually mix. No matter how you compensate with camera settings, the lights end up too bright, the shadows too dark, and you can only fix so much in Photoshop. The sun is also low in the sky this time of year, which doesn’t help.

Normally, I’d be disappointed, but there have been plenty of days I’ve come home with dozens of shots worth keeping, and it often takes me years to get to them. And as I’ve explained, I have no shortage of paintings to get to this year. Hey, I delivered an order to one of my best customers, got out of the office, and had a nice day outside in the middle of winter. I have no complaints.

While I’ve recorded the occasional high-speed video for YouTube, it’s been quite a while, and I want to get back to using that platform to help promote my work. I’ve been spending a lot of time lately learning to use new recording software and hardware. Something many artists don’t realize when they want to turn their hobby into their work is that the business and promotion side of self-employment requires constant adaptation and continuing education. While it takes time away from creating art, it’s necessary for career longevity. Just because something worked well ten years ago, doesn’t mean it will today.

While I’m learning the ropes of these new tools and preparing to create more videos, I’ve got a few more paintings in progress to complete, and as I do, I look forward to sharing them with you.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Open for Business


I woke this morning to news alerts that Canada Post will return to work tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. That’s good news, but unfortunately, not soon enough to save the holiday season for most retailers and small businesses whose online sales are critical this time of year.

I suspended my store over a month ago, but with the news that shipping may resume, I’ve updated my stock, reactivated each product, and am ready to resume taking orders, with one very important caveat: anything I ship won’t get there by Christmas.

It will take Canada Post some time to get through the enormous backlog of mail that’s likely bursting at the seams all over the country. I imagine that will be the priority before any new mail.

But we work with what we have.
I still have plenty of 2025 calendars available, plus various prints, postcard sets and large vinyl stickers in my regular stock. So, if you’re still looking for your 2025 calendar full of funny-looking animals and don’t need it shipped for Christmas, you may place your orders.

FREE DELIVERY FOR CANMORE RESIDENTS

With decent weather this week and no out-of-town plans, I’m happy to deliver orders anywhere in Canmore, but with two minor conditions. It’s a minimum $25 order for free delivery, and I’m only taking payment by e-transfer. Please email me your order with the address to patrick@nulllamontagneart.com, and I can reply with a total and set up a convenient delivery time.

My thanks,
Patrick

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Banff Market Christmas Wrap

In the runup to the Banff Christmas Market, I had concerns. Will I have enough stock? Will I get enough sales? Will I get my editorial cartoons done each week? What if I get sick? What if the weather turns horrible?

Before I became a full-time artist in my early thirties, I worked several years in retail, tourism and office jobs. I ran a waterslide facility at a hotel in Banff for a few years. During the busy season, that place was always loud and full of people. I also managed a few retail stores in Banff for a while, so I’m no stranger to customer service work or crowded environments.

But I’ve been working at home by myself for nearly twenty years. These days, I thrive in quiet solitude. Though I’ve done the Calgary Expo every year for over a decade and the occasional holiday market around here, being ON in a public setting for a month required the reactivation of rusty skills.

In the four days between each market, I had to draw my daily editorial cartoons, update my bookkeeping, order stock, respond to client inquiries, and prepare for the following weekend. During a bit of a lull this past Saturday, I excitedly said to my market neighbours, “I get to paint next week!”

I haven’t had time to paint anything in over a month, and I’ve missed it.

It takes many hours to paint one of my animals. Sometimes, it doesn’t come together the way I want, and there’s no shortage of frustration. I wrote about that recently with the Ring-tailed Lemurs piece I’m working on. But creating the art is still the easy part. I want to problem-solve a painting, discover the solutions, and apply the lessons I learn from each piece to the next one.

However, the work surrounding the creative part takes more time than the art itself. When it’s your job, you can’t just create art; you must also sell it. Marketing and finding the products on which a particular art style works best is difficult. A product that sells well for one artist may not for another, and you only learn by trying.

My metal and canvas prints are higher-priced items that adorn the grid walls of my market booth, and those show off the brush strokes and colours better than any other substrate I sell. I don’t sell many of them because they have a higher price tag.

But they look amazing under lights, which attracts people to come into the booth in the first place. So, I need those higher-priced items to get people to stop and look at everything else. They’re products, but also advertising.
They do sell, however. I had one woman in Canmore send me an email after the market one Saturday night, regretting she didn’t buy the 16”X16” metal print of my Blue Beak Raven.

I told her I still had it; she sent me an e-transfer, and when I got to the show Sunday morning, I wrapped it and put it in my car. I delivered it to her the next day. Later that week, she sent me a photo of it hanging in her home. That never gets old.
Another gentleman wanted the same size Spa Day painting on metal I had in the booth, plus a 12”X16” metal print of my Genial Grizzly I didn’t have. I said I could order and deliver the missing one to him, but he didn’t want to carry the other one around. He asked if he could pay for them, and I could order and drop both of them off in Canmore when they arrived. He wasn’t in a rush, and I was happy to accommodate.
I wanted to sell the metal and canvas prints, but I didn’t want to lose Spa Day on the wall because it attracts a lot of attention. It has become a bestseller, and the metal prints on the wall sell the poster prints on the tables.

Prepare as I might; what’s true one day might not be the next. Last year, I had two metal prints of my Peanuts painting, one of my personal favourites. It doesn’t work as a poster print because it’s a square composition, so it’s only available in metal or canvas. This year, I made sure to have two metal prints on hand, and I sold them both the first weekend. So, I ordered three more for the last two weekends.
I had two metal prints of my Raven on White painting and two of my Highland Cows. I sold one of each the first weekend, so I figured I should get spares.

Those five metal prints arrived in time for the last two weekends, and I didn’t sell another of any of them. It turned out to be an unnecessary expense. There’s just no way to know.
But the Highland Cow on the wall sold many poster prints over four weeks, more than any other image. The Raven on White print was also a bestseller.

Thankfully, art doesn’t expire and those metal prints will sit safe and sound in their case until the Calgary Expo in the spring.

As for the other products, I sold a lot of small magnets and ceramic coasters. Those are Pacific Music & Art licensed products. Calendars sold well when I had them, but because the Canada Post strike is causing national shipping issues, I had none for the third weekend and couldn’t sell all the reorders the last weekend. As I write this post, there is no end in sight for the strike, so I have no idea when I’ll be able to sell my remaining stock. Unlike prints, calendars have a limited shelf life.

I’m very pleased and relieved that my large initial inventory of poster prints is now much smaller. Now that I have retired even more paintings, I’ll bring a leaner gallery of prints to the Expo in April, with many new paintings I’m working on and more popular and proven sellers than ever before.

What about my initial worries about four weeks of the Banff Christmas Market? For the most part, I had enough stock. When the Highland Cow prints sold out way too early, Art Ink Print in Victoria had my back and quickly resupplied me. Those continued to sell well the whole show. When I sold out of calendars and Highland Cow magnets, Pacific Music and Art did their best to deliver, though courier shipping delays threw a wrench in the gears, and those arrived later than I needed them.

As usual, I got my editorial cartoons done. Most of my newspaper clients don’t even know about this larger side of my business. Then again, many people who know my animal art don’t know about my editorial cartoons.
I had made sure to get my flu and COVID boosters before the markets, but still ‘got sick,’ knocked on my ass by a cold in between Weekends 2 and 3. If you wonder where I get my cartoon ideas, life inspires art. But just like everybody else who gambles with seasonal viruses, I handled it. Inconvenient, uncomfortable, but manageable. And though I began that third weekend still suffering and wearing a mask for a day, it was my second-best sales weekend.

The weather was only horrible once when I had to drive home in a whiteout on frightening roads. There were a couple of icy mornings/evenings on the highway when a Chinook wind delivered rain around the freezing mark. But that’s just driving to work in Canada.

As for sales, I’m happy. The significant expense of booking the booth, insurance, ordering more stock than I’ve ever had, and gambling on such a large event paid off.
I regret I have no decent photos of my booth. The bright light on the artwork looks great in person, but my older iPhone camera just can’t seem to compensate correctly, even with an accessory filter. It’s no doubt a user problem.

The new venue at The Banff Train Station was terrific. I was happy with the booth location and had a lot of fun with my neighbours. It was nice to have coworkers again, for a short time. While telling Shonna some of the funny stories, of which there were many, she laughed and said we sounded like a bunch of carnival workers.

She wasn’t wrong.

The organizers and staff put on a great show; I have no complaints or critiques. Challenges happen at every event, but this dedicated group handled them well, and I commend their efforts. Applications for Banff Christmas Market 2025 aren’t until February, but I’m ready to do this again next year for all four weeks if they’ll have me.

Finally, thanks to all of you who came to see me at my booth. Some subscribers even drove out from Canmore, Calgary, or other parts of Alberta because they had read my posts about the market. It was great to see you, and I’ll see several of you again in April at the Expo.

I added a lot of new subscribers to A Wilder View and hope you new people enjoy following my art and the stories behind it. Thanks for taking some of my work home with you or buying it for gifts. Each year, more people tell me they have one or more of my funny-looking animal paintings. They’ve bought them at The Calgary Zoo, Discovery Wildlife Park, or in one of the many retail stores in Canada selling products made by my licensing clients.

Many have bought the art directly from me at the Calgary Expo or previous Christmas markets. You all say the nicest things and pay me the kindest compliments. I’m never comfortable with that, but I’ve learned long ago just to say Thank You.

Face-to-face time with people who enjoy my work never fails to refill the creative tank. I can’t tell you how fulfilling it is to see my silly little critters make people smile or to hear how happy they make you.

So far this week, I’ve been busy drawing cartoons, doing the bookkeeping, organizing my booth hardware and products and putting it all away for a few months. I’m tired and ready for a break, looking forward to quiet time alone, with tunes in the earbuds, fresh hot coffee, and uninterrupted hours painting little hairs on smiling faces.

Art-for-a-living is a lot of work, but your support makes it well worth it. Thank you.

Cheers,
Patrick