First things first - French artist Guy Thomas (profile) has a new look to his website, it's great, easy to navigate and you get to see all of his most excellent Bearish artwork. As he states in his biography: "I've never stopped drawing what I love most: big, strong, full bodies, hairy with rough or smiling bearded faces. This is my way of thanking Mother Nature for all the grace and pleasure she brings us with Bears".

Now for the news: Guy has a new exhibition at the Station B in Lyon, France. It begins on November 22nd and will run right thru until January 18th. Looks like a great place for a showing.

It was just a couple of days ago that I mentioned that the Bear Boutique was about to go live. Well it's alive, kicking, and it's a bouncing brand new baby Bear boy.

This online shop is direct from France, and it's maintained by a very handsome couple - Axel (Thorn on TubeBear) and Pascal (Pakko). As I mentioned in the last update, Roger and I got to meet them and we took a few pics while we were in Chinatown (here). So head on over to their site and take a look at the t-shirts and baseball caps (coming soon) they have to offer. Roger was wearing one of their shirts the other day ~ which read 'Woofez Moi' ~ and more than one person asked him what it meant and where he got it.

Voulez vous Woofez avec moi, ce soir...?

The Bear Boutique website is not quite ready... yet... but they are planning on opening up shop really soon (as in the next few days). This online shop is run by 2 hot gentlemen who live in France ~ Axel (profile on TubeBear - Thorn) and Pascal (Pakko). They have come up with a real cute design for t-shirts and baseball caps and, realizing that there is no one in France working on Bear goods, that they would take the initiative and start something up.

Axel and Pascal were in Montreal not too long ago, and we (Roger and I, Bob Forrest) met up with them for an afternoon. We headed into Chinatown, ate, and had a few laughs. The visit was short but we did take a few snapshots (snap #1 - snap #2 - snap #3 - snap #4 - snap #5 - snap #6 - snap #7) of our afternoon together, and Roger is going to model some of the t-shirts for their website, and I'll add the pics up once they are ready.

Artist Christophe Jannin (articles - blog - profile - website) sends in some updates as he plans for his upcoming exhibition in Lyon (France) which will be taking place at 'Le Station B' from July 25th thru August 15th (flyer).

From Christophe: "Winter is here in New Zealand, bloody freezing, stormy, rainy, haily. I am now counting the days before I leave to go to France for the holidays. Taking off on Tuesday night and landing in Paris on Wednesday 8 in the evening. About 22 hours flying, roughly a 30 hours trip with the stop in Singapore.

I have just finished my latest drawing entitled 'The Rite of Spring' (full image). A drawing full of optimism and very pastoral, the format is in the 'Italian way', meaning horizontal which is very unusual for me since I prefer a vertical format. In fact, physically it's two drawings, composed as a diptych but reunited with the colour version".

Parisian artist Guy Thomas (website - profile) is going to be showcasing his excellent material in Madrid for the very first time. It will be at the Hot Bar from July 4th thru September 15th. The exhibition is called 'Bearroco' (flyer). Guy states that this is going to give him the opportunity to pay a tribute to the Golden Age Masters of Portrait as well to his favourite subject of painting Bears which he has been doing for 10 years professionally.

In other news ~ Guy, after many years drawing mostly in monochromatic, states that he is rediscovering the joy in doing oil painted portraits; "I enjoy the strength of oil colours, sometimes on a golden background - like the Middle Age icons, of course to represent Bear-Icon... in my way".

It's high time you familiarize yourself with the excellent art work drawn by the French Bear artist Christophe Jannin (website - blog - TubeBear profile - PlanetBears articles). Now I know I mention the fact that Chris is as cute as his artwork, the simple fact is that it's true.

Christophe sends in his newest artwork. From Chris: "I have just finished 'Gilles de Rais arriving in Orleans' (click here to see the full version). Gille de Rais is flamboyant here. He was a real historic character, marshal of France and a Joan of Arc companion with whom he liberated the city of Orleans during the 100 years war against the English in he first half of the 15th century. You might know him under his nickname 'Blue Beard'. He was condamned and hanged for the crimes of felony, murder and sodomy. Yes he was gay!

As for my upcoming schedule, I have 2 upcoming exhibitions in France, one in Lyon from July 25th thru August 15th at the StationB, and the one one in Orleans at the cinema "Les Carmes" from September 23rd until October 12th for the Gay and Lesbian Films Festival. The title of this is called ' From Auckland, Bears, at the end of the world...".

The following is from Christophe Jannin (website - blog - TubeBear profile - PlanetBears articles): "Here's a new drawing I am sharing with you. It's Michel Strogoff (drawing here), Jules Verne's hero. Some symbols are visible in this drawing and are directly linked to the behaviour of the Chinese army in Tibet (I say army, not Chinese people). The flame shows that it's not always symbol of hope, it can be the symbol of blind violence, this flame which reminds the heated saber used to blind Michel Strogoff. Also the flame of the Olympic torch... the iron collar and chain, symbol of the constraint by force, the rope, symbol of the privation of freedom, all these values I cherish so much. Two Masonic symbols are in the drawing but you'll have to find them by yourself.

About my actuality, the second half of the year is going to be full of events. First, I will be in France in July and August and will have two exhibitions, one in Lyon and one in Orleans during the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival where I've been invited. I will do for this occasion, the poster. A publishing is planned for the end of the year and also the start of a big project, but I will talk about it later".

There's some old legend that Bears once roamed this planet in the company of Wolves - great looking husky Bears mingling with somewhat leaner, somewhat starker and darker Wolves - the 2 wild beasts glaring at each other as dusk arrives. And this legend comes true every night over at the Wolf Bars. There's a Wolf Bar in Paris (France - website here) and there's another in Beirut (Lebanon - website here).

Here's a little description about the Wolf Bars from their site: "The 'Wolf Bars' concept is a concept of bars for men around the world: Bears, Wolves, Cubs, Chubbies and Daddies. The Wolf association was set up in the autumn of 2005 to organise a Wolf and Bear scene in the world, the 'Wolf Bar' became known by the same name as the association. But the Wolf does not live alone - he lives in packs enjoying good time with others! 'Wolf Bar' seeks to organise a range of activities open to all who wish to participate in trips, dinners, fun nights hammams sauna dancing, etc.". For more info, contact Wolfer (TubeBear profile).

Who is Christophe Jannin? Well you can first find out who this excellent artist is by visiting his website, then discover even more intimate details about this handsome husky drawer by taking a look at his blog (in French), and you can even scour the archives of PlanetBears to see what we've had to say about him (and here are some pics of him - pic #1 - pic #2 - and make sure to also check out his TubeBear profile).

Christophe has recently finished a new drawing. From Christophe: "Soon the Rugby World Cup will begin in France. I thought - and some told me too - that doing an illustration based on this event would be a good idea. So here it is. It is called All Black. It's not a portrait of a any of the players, simply an idealisation. I hope you'll appreciate it".

Christophe is also announcing that he has an upcoming Parisian art exhibition which will be happening from October 1st thru the 28th at Blue Book Paris Bookshop. He will be later posting the date to the opening party when you can meet, chat, have a drink and look at his drawings.

Alors une soiree avec des Ours en Paris, ça c'est une bonne idée, oui...?

Do you think all those French classes you took in school might pay off for one night in Paris while you hang out with the BearWWW crowd? The beauty about Bears is that we don't need a spoken language to communicate since we have the 'grope', patented and copyright by Bears. So if you happen to be in Paris in spring - April 21st to be exact, then check out what BearProd and BearWWW are doing for their 2nd Paris BearWWW Night ~ you might finally get to loosen that French tongue of yours yet (and here are pics from their 1st evening they had last November).

Usually I see an artist's work before I actually see the artist (kind of like hearing a song on the radio first then seeing what the band looks like after). In this case, when I saw Christophe Jannin's Bearwww profile, something inside me made these kinds of sounds - grrz - wooferz - heavius pantius. Once my insides stopped swooning, I then checked out Chris' webpage to find out he's an incredibly talented artists who has done some very good Bear drawings (among other things). He also makes websites. Take a good look around his site to get to know him a bit better and if your French is up to par, then check out his blog as well.

Arabian men are hot, doncha agree? There's just something about stocky men with great tans. Now if you happen to be in Beirut, Lebanon today then you should head on over to the Wolf Lounge Bar because they are having a Full Moon Party (and there's something about snow... in Lebanon... you've got me). They are also opening a new Wolf Lounge Bar in Paris France (website) which will be opening its door on March 1st.

Now don't let the word Wolf scare you because - from their site: "The 'Wolf Bars' are concept bars for men around the world: Bears, Wolves, Cubs, Chubbies, Daddies"... so guys like me which are wolves (I see myself more as a German Shepherd actually, but that's for another day)... as I was saying... wolves like me become the star of the evening in such places... I'm packing my bags, here I come.

Bonjour... ca va bien, oui...? Welcome to Bear France... sit back, enjoy the ride as you listen to one of the sexiest languages on the planet.

Here are a couple of upcoming events. First off at Le Bears, a bar in Toulouse, is getting ready for their New Year's ball - and that would be tonight, of course. Then in Paris, with the BearProd group as well as Aminours, there is another Bear Night on February 17th.