Original Oil on Canvas by Geoffrey C. Smith, 2024
72"w x 48"h
 
A mother polar bear strides forward across the tundra, her cub close behind—two white silhouettes against the vast, wind-bent Arctic sky. They are not on ice. They are not hunting seals. They are waiting.
 
Painted from an encounter in September near Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska—the northernmost point in the continental United States—this scene captures a quiet crisis. Each fall, polar bears gather along the gravelly shore, watching and waiting for the sea ice to return. Without it, they cannot hunt. Their primary prey, ringed and bearded seals, live on the ice. And so the bears wait, scavenging what they can—often relying on the remnants of bowhead whales brought in by the Iñupiat people during traditional subsistence hunts.
 
The Iñupiat have lived in this region for thousands of years. Life here is shaped by cycles of ice, whale migration, and community cooperation. In recent decades, they’ve witnessed firsthand the retreat of sea ice, the shifting patterns of wildlife, and the strain on species like the polar bear. Climate change is not theoretical here—it’s visible. It’s personal. The Iñupiat continue to hunt, to gather, to share, and to adapt—but the land and sea they rely on are changing fast.
 
This painting uses soft, layered oil and wax to build form and light. The palette leans cool—arctic blues in the sky, dusty golds and gray-umber in the gravel—but the bears remain luminous. There’s a quiet tension in their posture: movement without destination. The mother’s stride is sure. The cub stays close. Together, they search the horizon for ice.
 
“This was one of the most humbling places I’ve ever stood. No trees. No roads. Just wind and sky and bears, waiting. I painted them with reverence, with restraint—with the knowledge that these moments are growing more rare.”
— Geoffrey C. Smith
 
Featured at the Kenai Art Center- World on Fire, Solo Exhibit 2025