I’m Jim — most folks call me Bear. I’ve been on a 25-year journey of personal growth, and somewhere in the middle of all that, I picked up some markers and started making art on little 3×5 cards during Zoom meetings. Just doodling. Playing. Letting the colors talk.

Turns out, people wanted them.

Joyteetude is my word for what I live every single day: finding gratitude in all of life’s experiences — the beautiful ones and the hard ones. Every card I make carries that feeling. Some have flowers. Some have hearts. Some just have words that needed to be said out loud.

I’m a former clown minister. A general contractor. A volunteer youth sports director. A husband. A father. A guy who hugs strangers at the grocery store. If you’re looking for perfect, polished art — I ain’t your guy. But if you want something that was made with love, by hand, with a little bit of mess and a whole lot of soul — pull up a chair.

— Bear