Waterloo, Iowa — Est. by hand
I put the tools down.
Now I'm picking them back up.
Coming Soon
Words drawn by hand, straight off the pages of a Bible I'm reading for the first time. This is what comes out of the silence.
First look. First prints. No spam, ever.
The first piece drops in
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
The resurrection
I used to build words out of pencils, erasers, and paperclips—art made from the small stuff people throw away.
Then life happened.
Divorce. Job loss. A custody battle. A lawsuit. I stopped making anything at all.
For years, the silence was louder than the art ever was.
Now I'm reading the Bible for the first time. And every single page is giving me something to draw.
Bear Witness is what comes out of that: hand-lettered art, new merch, and a mission to put words in front of people who need them.
Not a relaunch. A resurrection.
And you're invited to watch it happen.
Why "Bear Witness"
To bear witness is to say
what you actually saw.
Not what you wish happened. Not what you're supposed to say. Not the version that makes you look good or keeps the peace.
What you actually saw.
Even when it's hard. Even when it's you.
This isn't a sermon. I'm not here to preach. I'm not here to sell you a highlight reel of a life that went perfectly.
I'm here to tell the truth.
The truth of what happened to me. The truth of what I lost. The truth of what I'm clawing my way back from. And the truth of what I saw when I finally opened the Bible for the first time at 40 years old.
My last name carries a bear in it. So does my work.
Every piece I create is something I saw and refuse to stay quiet about.
The silence nearly killed me. For years, I didn't speak. I didn't create. I didn't tell anyone what I was going through. I just disappeared into myself.
Not anymore.
Bear Witness is my way of saying: I was there. I saw it. And I'm not going to pretend I didn't.
What's coming
THREE THINGS LAND ON DAY ONE.
Project Blueprint // Phase 01 Deployment
The originals
Hand-drawn scripture lettering. Ink on paper, one at a time, no shortcuts and no AI.
Prints & merch
Priced so anyone can own one — prints, tees, and goods carrying the same words.
The mission
For the person having the worst day of their week. For the one who needs to hear 'keep going' one more time. These words are a lifeline — and we're throwing them out loud.
Don't hear about it later.
The list sees every piece first, gets first shot at the prints, and reads the story behind them before anyone else.
Watch it happen in real time
Sketches that fail, the ones that don't, and the verses behind them — @josephbearbower everywhere.
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