Welcome to the Artwork of Jill Marie
Born and raised on the unceded territories of the Ayajuthum speaking peoples - Tla'amin, Klahoose, Homalco, and K'ómoks Nations— Jill Marie's worldview has been profoundly shaped by the ecological, cultural, and spiritual presence of these lands. She continues to learn from the enduring relational intelligence of Indigenous knowledge systems - instructions on how to live in balance since time immemorial.
A painter and writer, her creative process is rooted in listening - to landscapes, ancestral wisdom, and the quiet somatic intelligence carried within the body. This practice emerged through a life-altering illness that forged an inward journey-unlearning dominant narratives she once inhabited and cultivating reciprocal, embodied ways of being.
With over two decades of experience guiding in wilderness settings and surveying forest ecosystems, her advocacy with qathet Old Growth further clarified the inextricable links between ecological integrity, cultural continuity, and collective well-being.
In recent years, she has turned toward her own lineages -learning about Northern European histories and hidden Métis roots in the Great Lakes region-unraveling colonial stories and silenced truths deeply embedded in the Canadian psyche. In this work she began connecting how ancestral memory becomes internalized frameworks shaping identity, perception and our ways of relating —to ourselves, to others, and to the world.
Her path has been a slow re-attuning to land and myth —not only as ecological work, but as a return to inner coherence. This includes tending to the nervous system, caring for the spirit, and staying emotionally balanced in a world that often pulls us away from wholeness.
Guided by a growing sense of sacred responsibility, she acknowledges that in diasporic communities, remembering plant stories and ancestral seasonal rites can become vital acts of reconnection. Rooting into the Indigenous lands we live on, learning to live cyclically and with repair offers a way forward in finding balance in an unanchored world.
Jill Marie's art weaves themes of belonging, cultural memory, and the spiritual ecology of kinship. Aligned with movements to renew animist worldviews, she honours the animals, plants, fungi, rivers, rocks, weather systems, and even words or places as sentient.
Guided by elders, ancestors and the more-than-human world, she is learning to listen, grieve, and speak from deeper truths-tending to the necessary work of dismantling systems of disconnect and reorienting toward reciprocity and relational care.
Discover the Story Behind Each Painting
Art that Honors Place, Wisdom & the Unseen
Every piece by Jill Marie Bear is more than just a painting — it’s a gentle invitation to explore the mysteries that shape our lives. Her work weaves moments of quiet reflection into art that resonates deeply.
Whether drawn from the whispers of ancient forests or the soft echoes of forgotten stories, each creation holds space for belonging and wonder. Welcome art into your home that not only adorns your walls, but stirs your spirit.
Connect with the Sacred
Bringing Ancestral Landscapes to Life Through Art
Jill’ Marie's work is a dance between the seen and unseen — weaving ancestral echoes, natural landscapes, and dreamscapes into art that holds space for belonging. Each painting invites you to reconnect with timeless stories and find beauty in life’s quiet mysteries.