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.
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©Patrick LaMontagne 2025
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.
Commissions and Comic-Con
Several people emailed me asking if I’ll have them in the 
But I’d love to hear your thoughts.
This year, I have replaced them with these retractable banner stands which are more compact and set up in seconds. While I could have gone with new images for both banners, I opted to keep the Smiling Tiger. It’s still one of my bestselling images, but more importantly, it’s part of my Calgary Expo booth and brand identity. People tell me they look for that banner. For the second image, my Rat painting is now retired, and I was happy to use my new Polar Plunge painting in its place. I think it fits this format well.
Shonna has been urging me to get tote bags for a long time, but I’ve never been enthused with the idea. There are many different products on which I could print my art, but that would mean buying, storing and transporting them as well. Having too many products gets expensive and complicated, and I wasn’t sure if tote bags would be the best investment.
I designed each bag as a wrap; the same image on both sides, with no text or advertising. I’ll have these two bestselling painting designs, my Otter and Smiling Tiger, available for this year’s 
Some paintings come together easily. A reference photo may immediately inspire an idea, I’ll sit down and mock up sketches, and it will almost feel like the image creates itself.
This painting has been something entirely different. Even though I had a clear idea of what I wanted it to look like, I couldn’t get it to feel right. It was inspired by a photo I took at the Calgary Zoo, and I even had the name of the piece before I painted the first brushstroke.
The first go round, I used a specific reference for each lemur I painted and drew them all individually. Even after I assembled them, I kept going back to the individual references for each, and it wasn’t easy to keep track of it all. I made it far too complicated.
The key to getting this piece back on track was to stop painting individual trees and just paint the forest. Even though this was a challenging painting, with a lot of redrawing and direction changes, I learned from the frustration. These kinds of lessons always contribute to better work in the future.
Under these circumstances, my perception of how any finished piece looks is distorted. 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.
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 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.
Each week, I draw five or six syndicated editorial cartoons. I follow regional, provincial, national and international news and draw illustrated commentary on prominent stories. Many of my weekly clients across Canada only run my cartoons in their publications, some for over a decade. Other clients, especially daily papers, will pick and choose from submissions from several cartoonists. Despite the belief that journalism is unbiased, it most certainly is not. Some newspapers lean left while others lean right.
Years ago, I recall that somebody in Canmore came up with a proposal that each business in the community should contribute to a tourism promotion fee. Some businesses complained they shouldn’t have to because they weren’t in the tourism business.
Canada and the United States have had a unique, enviable, and friendly relationship for longer than any two countries. We’ve often referred to each other as family. We’ve had our ups and downs; every relationship does, but it has always endured.
On Saturday, I paid my deposit and applied for the Banff Christmas Market this year. While anything can happen between now and the end of the year, I’m already lowering expectations. I’m currently sourcing and buying stock for the Calgary Expo at the end of April, but I’m no longer planning on some products. I don’t think people will have money to spend on luxuries, and my work certainly qualifies.
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.
Last week, I delivered the year’s first print and sticker order to the 
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 
Painting the wet look in this one was challenging because I had to decide where to draw the line. I could have added more rain in the background and foreground, but I’d risk it looking too busy. The same could be said for the water droplets I painted on the feathers. More definition might equal more distraction.
“How long does it take you to paint one of these?”
The spark for this painting was reference photos I took at the 
I did some drawings shortly after that and returned to them whenever I had the time. While Skoki was the inspiration, I used several bears in my photo archive as reference for the bodies and faces. If nothing else, I figured they would be good sketches for the book I’ve been talking about for years, but to my eternal shame, never deliver.
Once I had several sketches, I pieced them together, trying to find a composition I liked. The five grizzly bear buddies soon became five members of a family. It reminded me of a grizzly bear version of a Sears family portrait photo shoot. Refining the shapes so they fit together, and reimagining the expressions meant losing a lot of the sketch detail I had already drawn, but that’s just part of the process.
Many paintings begin as one idea but take on their own life while I work. I have no idea how many hours I’ve put into this piece, but it’s more than any painting before.
Rather than work in colour from the start, as with other paintings, I started this one in greyscale because I wanted to play with the values and experiment with the scene. Once I had a good starting point, I painted colour in the background and foreground, leaving the grizzlies for last.
Initially, the berries in the foreground were bright red. But when I showed this work-in-progress image to my buddy, Derek, at Electric Grizzly Tattoo, he suggested they might be a distraction from the bears. It was a helpful critique. So, I toned down the berries and made them a deeper burgundy and blue.
As brown bears come in many shades, from dark brown to red to blonde, I had initially planned to have a more noticeable colour difference between the five. But it looked weird, and I didn’t like it, so I erred on the side of more subtle variations in fur colour.
One of the nice things about working digitally is that at the end of each painting session, I can look back at the image when I opened the file and compare it to progress at the end of a session. It’s often a big difference, and that’s satisfying. However, when a painting nears completion, two hours of work may be barely noticeable before and after. That’s usually how I know it’s time to call it done.
Deciding whether I like a piece or not takes time, but I’m pretty happy with how this turned out. I liked my 
Because of the current uncertain economy, I’m not yet committing to doing puzzles again right away. But when I do, I think this grizzly family is worthy of consideration.
New subscribers usually follow me for my 
On that list of celebrity passings, for the ones that didn’t say, I found myself looking up their causes of death. Mostly, it was the usual suspects I don’t need to list. They’re the indignities of disease and illness that can strike any time but become more likely the longer we’re here.
Though clichés and platitudes, there are lessons I clearly haven’t yet learned, that I’d do well to remember heading into 2025. Perhaps they’ll give you something to consider as well.