The Inspiration for this Bear Painting

Not Ours
30 x 30 oil, Carole Rodrigue ,Copyright 2026

 I’ve been incredibly inspired to paint more black bears lately.  Having lived in the North most of my life, they are often around, even in the city.  They come looking for food.  As urban areas expand, they lose more of their habitat and feeding areas.  

Black bears are a reminder that they have always been here. The first people to walk these forests are gone. The trappers are gone too. The loggers, the miners, the farmers who cleared fields by hand and built homes from trees cut nearby. Most have become names on weathered stones, their stories carried away by time.

Yet the bear remains. He is strong, he is resilient. Long before roads crossed the North and long after they crack and disappear beneath the forest floor, bears will continue to follow ancient paths through cedar swamps, blueberry barrens, and rocky ridges.

We often speak of nature as though it belongs to us. We draw lines on maps, build fences, and mark property boundaries. But the bear knows nothing of deeds or ownership. It moves through the landscape as it always has, answering only to the seasons. Perhaps that is the lesson.

The land is our home, but it is not ours alone. For a brief moment, we share it with those who came before us and those who will remain after we’re gone. This bear is a reminder of that quiet truth. We all belong here, we all share these spaces, but they’re not ours.  We are stewards, not owners. The forests will forget us after we’re gone, so will the cities.  In the end, none of it really belongs to us. Not Ours.  

And being French, you know I just had to put a twist on that title.  I kinda like it.  I hope you do too, as well as the painting.  

This is now available at the Backstreet Gallery in the French River area in Ontario.