Information About the Artist

Introduction: Fred Montague, born and raised in the Midwest, earned a Ph.D. in wildlife ecology at Purdue University. He taught environmental science and wildlife biology in Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources for 18 years. His professional interests spilled over into the realms of art and illustration as he produced various scientific and technical materials associated with his teaching and research activities. He is a self-taught artist, having learned from direct observation in the field and hours of sketching, experimentation with printing and bookbinding, and the study of techniques. He gains his greatest insights from the design lessons inherent in the natural world.

He has a strong desire to share with others those delights and dramas, lessons and joys he experiences as a biologist and teacher. He endeavors to incorporate art into his teaching, and teaching into his art. In addition to being a working artist, author, and printer, Fred Montague is currently Professor (Lecturer) of Biology at the University of Utah where he teaches courses in wildlife ecology and environmental science. In an effort to help students actually use their skills and knowledge to help address current environmental problems, he teaches some of his courses as "service-learning" classes- where students work in the community to restore habitat, assist resource agencies and non-profit organizations with projects, teach conservation concepts to children, and establish food-producing community gardens.

Recognition: Montague's drawings, books, and prints occur in public and private collections in 50 states and 30 countries. He has exhibited at over 150 juried art fairs, including the Lafayette (IN) Round-the-Fountain Art Fair, Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Park City (UT) Art Festival, the Kansas City Country Club Plaza Art Fair, the Wisconsin Festival of the Arts, the Cincinnati Creative Arts Festival, the Utah Festival of the Arts (as invited artist), and many others. His work has earned numerous awards and prizes. He was commissioned by Purdue University to create a special commemorative print for Marlin Perkins (of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom ), by the National Park Service to illustrate a monograph about the ecology of wolves and moose in Isle Royale National Park (Lake Superior), and by Macmillan Publishing to illustrate an outdoor recreation textbook. His commemorative drawing "Silent Snow" (shown below) was commissioned by Purdue University.



The Artist's Statement of Philosophy: "An indication of an aware and responsible society is its expressed sense of perspective and sense of connection with the environmental setting, the ecological processes, and the sequence of events which called it into existence-- and which permit it, as a collection of people, to continue to exist. A responsible society also exhibits concern for vulnerable and aesthetic values. In addition to fostering social and economic justice, we also seem to be concerned, sometimes surprisingly more than we realize, with those increasingly threatened values of wildness, wildlife, and wilderness. The artwork and writings that I produce are an effort to preserve and share glimpses, as I perceive them, of the environmental setting, the ecological processes, and the wild things we seem to have an affinity for. Our understanding of, concern for, and stewardship of, these gifts of life seem to me, in these times of ever-expanding human power, to be critical to the well-being of children, whales, and wildflowers. "

More about the drawings: Rendering images in ink with pen is a discipline of tradition. It is an exciting and an exacting activity. Foremost among these is one's skill as a draftsman. The medium, in all its black and white starkness, demands much, and there is little room for error. Furthermore, the artist states, "The greatest challenge is to produce the effects of form, space, texture, and color merely by making black marks on white paper." Montague accomplishes these feats by painstakingly deliberate stippling and intricate cross-hatching. Some drawings have taken in excess of 200 hours to complete. The plants and animals come alive, and the habitats grow in space and detail as each ink dot and line is applied. The finished work becomes a window to the natural world. Montague collects ideas for the drawings during field trips. His field notebooks are littered with sketches of birds, mammals, insects, plants, rocks, clouds, and landscapes. Photographs by the artist provide reference materials for animals that are very active or difficult to observe. After composing the drawing in pencil and solving problems such as lighting, texture, color patterns, postures, and animal expressions, he transfers the drawing to an archival paper or illustration board for the final ink rendering.

More about the limited-edition prints: Fred Montague prints most of his editions on a 1913 Golding hand-fed, platen letterpress. He prints from engraved plates that are made from his drawings. He essentially learned printing by doing it- after a printer-friend in Indiana gave him the vintage press. Montague moved the massive cast iron antique to his Utah print shop from his Indiana studio in 1992. Printing is a challenging craft, and few people who create their own pen-and-ink artwork print it themselves. The interplay between paper texture, ink density, image detail, and image pattern all come together as the large balance wheel spins and the platen holding the paper closes against the inked plate. The resulting embossed impression can sometimes be almost like a carving, thereby adding literally another dimension to the graphic work. Besides letterpress prints, Montague also produces editions of linocuts and woodcuts from blocks he carves. The off-set photolithographs are executed under the artist's supervision by custom commercial printers. This method is usually used only for the largest prints- prints too large for the letterpress. All prints are signed and numbered. Edition sizes range from 8 to 880. The accompanying artists' proof runs typically range from 8-20. Most editions of woodcuts and letterpress prints are printed on Arches 88 print paper, a heavy, white, acid-free paper that the artist finds especially appropriate for his work.

More about the handmade books: Fred Montague writes, designs, illustrates, prints, and binds books. These Artist's books represent a uniquely individual and personal medium of communication- especially in this time of the expanding electronic culture. Of the several editions he has produced, Rambling is the most ambitious. It is a personal narrative of 22 natural history accounts, each accompanied by a verse and an illustration. It is a hard cover book that blends his scientific, teaching, and art interests into a special exhibit in book format. Another book, One Earth, is a soft-cover book bound in the Japanese style. It contains 21 original illustrations, each in a circular motif, that relate the author's view about the relationship between humans and the Earth. These two books are presented in limited, signed editions of 880. Montague's latest book project (see newsletter section) is called Garden Grace and is a collection of 30 hand-drawn "poem symbols" that illustrate the biological processes that make gardening such a magical (and necessary) human activity. This book is a limited edition of 80. Its soft cover is bound in the Japanese style and includes an attached string of beads and garden seeds with a miniature model of a Native American digging stick.