Bear Soul Holistic

If you're looking to calm your mind and release some stress every week, look no further! Each Sunday at 10am I will be at for half an hour to 45 minutes for a 'Sunday Reset' facilitating group meditations. All levels of experience are welcome and it's pay what you wish. We have mats available. Bring a pillow or yoga block if that's most comfortable for you. Hope to see you there!

Painting some minis while watching The Fellowship take the ring to Mordor with a side of DND with the boys. Joined earlier for the very first round table for as well. Great Saturday!

It's Spring and nature is waking up! To celebrate I am offering 50% off first time Reiki clients. That means $20 for a half hour session or $30 for a full hour session. If you're new to Reiki healing and how it can help you this is a perfect time to experience it for yourself. You can book through the link in my bio or send me a message if you have any questions.

I've noticed since starting my Reiki practice that there is some uncertainty about Reiki and its benefits. Reiki and similar forms of healing have been around for thousands of years, and in the past couple decades it has been introduced in places like hospitals and end of life care. I'm going to share a video later this week where I go over some of the benefits and how Reiki has helped transform my life.

I've had some incredibly powerful sessions since starting and I can't wait to share this miraculous healing modality with even more of you lovely people! Much love, Michael 💚🐻🐉

We've got FREE drop-in art classes for teens starting next Wednesday at !

🗓️ Every Wednesday evening (starting March 20)
🕕 6-7:30PM
📍 208 Queen St. Chatham
🖌️ Teens 13-17
👋 Hosted by me (Mike Pickard)
🎨 Basic art supplies provided (pencil crayons, marker, paper, pencils, etc.)
📒 You are welcome to bring your own sketchbook, art journal or any art project you wish

Completed my Karuna Reiki training this weekend and it was a blast!! So happy that I got to learn with my lovely friend and one of the best teachers ! Looking forward to sharing this new energy and healing with the world. Much love 💚🐻🙏

Reiki has changed my life in ways I never knew possible. It has not only helped me heal but opened me up to the magic of this life. If you are wondering how Reiki can help you please send me a message. If you would like to book an appointment there is a link in my bio (distance Reiki sessions are available). Much love! 💚🐻🙏

Quick little fire dragon sketch from last night 🐉

'Love Eternal'

This painting took me 9 years to complete. It was started as a gift for a dear friend of mine who had lost a loved one. Soon after I started it I went through one of the darkest times of my life. I had lost the will to live and I found joy in nothing. I also lost my joy creating art.

During this time was changing their music podcast to Group Therapy. They called it a rebirth, and had a live event for it that I listened to repeatedly. This idea of rebirth stuck with me, and gave me hope during my darkest times.

Soon I started changing. It was slow, but the changes were happening. Then I would get what I called "little miracles" from the Universe that would give me a breakthrough or help keep me going.

Today I can without a doubt say that not only can you come out of the darkest places you've ever experienced, but you can come out of it and recognize it as a great gift for your life.

On this Summer Solstice I hope that you can recognize that light, that power within yourself and how amazing you are. And that you will get through whatever trials you are experiencing right now.

As I head to the airport for a new adventure, I realize I'm not just starting a new chapter, I'm starting a new book in my life. I'm an entirely new person and I'm so grateful for the last chapter and all that it has done for me. I hope this painting can give you hope and love wherever you are in your journey. Happy Solstice! 💚🔥💫

Finished this pencil portrait of my Grandma Badder last week. Pretty happy with how it turned out. I miss her but I can still feel her presence sometimes 💚

'Pinery Daze'
Acrylic on canvas,
36" x 12", 2023

Finished this one after several years of it sitting in my art studio. Pretty happy with how it turned out! Started it out at the Pinery Provincial Park. Thank you to my dear friend and artist for gifting me her yurt for the week, you're amazing 💚 If you would like a print please message me, I am getting some high quality prints made later this week.

It's the last day of and it was an incredible time. Thank you so much Kristi for putting this challenge on, it has helped me so much and I had a really great time exploring and just creating again! Thank you to all of you that supported me with your likes and comments, I appreciate you!

Day 29 of put on by

Finished my talisman early this morning. Pretty happy with how it turned out being my first time wire wrapping. This rock has a very special story behind it, it's in the shape of a bear head (an animal totem of mine) and came to me in a really amazing way. Might share the story later 🐻✌️

Part of the creative process for me has been finding time to turn my mind off to regenerate and enjoy nature. No goals or doing, just being. This month of creating has given me new eyes for seeing the world, really seeing things and the life or consciousness they embody. The magic of life we can often overlook.

One of my favourite smells is from the lilac bush and I try to enjoy the smell as much as I can before the flowers leave again. Some butterflies were enjoying them with me today 🦋🪻

Day 20 entry for yesterday. is an awesome event put on by the lovely to help inspire creators to simply enjoy the process of creating. Still time to join in on the fun!

Day 16 of put on by the incredibly talented !

This is a portrait of our Grandma who passed away recently. Slow going so far, but I want to do it right. It's the first portrait I've done since college I think. I forgot how gentle the process of using pencil is, it's been nice to be reacquainted...

Day 6 of hosted by the incredibly talented !

One of my favourite things to photograph are clouds/sunsets. It's God's ever-changing canvas and the shapes and colours are just awe-inspiring. These are some of my favourites I've been able to capture with my phone over the years.

Prepped canvases today, just a bit of light sanding and I'll be all set to get painting tomorrow. The theme is going to be clouds/skylines. More to come!

Day 5 of Didn't have much time today but got a couple sketches in. This is the Earth element painting I finished earlier this week.

Thank you for putting on it has been great to consistently create again. You rock cuz! 💚 Check out her Instagram if you want to take part, all the info is pinned there. Hope you all have a great weekend, enjoy the full moon and lunar eclipse! 🌝🦂💚

Day 4 of a couple more quick portraits. Trying to become looser in my drawing process. Another goal of mine was to become more 'painterly' in my paintings and becoming loose in my drawing process should help with that.

Visit if you would like to take part in it's an amazing way to get in that space of creation!

Part 2 of day 3 of ! Was really enjoying drawing today so I just kept going. Can't remember the last time I sat down and had a really good drawing session...good times

Visit for more info on

May 3rd entry, back to basics. Felt like drawing some faces from reference and I had a lot of fun today. It's been a long time since I drew straight from reference and I could see a big difference in quality even from my first to second drawings. I've always been better at drawing women than men but I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. Which one is your fav?

If you want to take part in make sure to go follow for more info! Each entry gives you a chance to win some unreal prizes!!

May 2nd, day 2 of and it was a doozy. Went through my cards today and saw one of my favs, Lugia, and figured that would be fun. Nope. Almost gave up on it a couple times. It was rough. It's not what I envisioned at all when I started, and that's ok.

One of the things I'm working on in this month of creativity is letting go of perfectionism. It's one of the reasons why I barely create. It either takes me forever to complete something or I'm so scared of it not turning out the way I want that I don't even start (or finish). Ironically that means I'm not improving much as an artist. I'm not enjoying the act of creating because I'm so consumed with the end result or it "not being good enough".

So this month I'm gonna create and share a drawing/painting/sketch/whatever with you every day, even if I think it's 💩! Got an idea for a self-portrait with a dragon that I'll start sometime so that's nice. There's a picture of about half of my WIP's too.

Head over to if you want more info on !

Throwback from my college days in animation (over 14 years ago 🤯). Studying the anatomy that makes up the human body 🦴

'The White Stag'

One morning after waking up I felt called to paint a white stag. The connection I felt was to a higher realm of consciousness and a closeness to my ancestors.

There are many legends about white stags in different mythologies and religions throughout the world. It can symbolize deep spirituality, illumination, faith, humility, protection, and connection to the higher realms. For me it also felt like moving into a healing masculine energy.

Loved creating this one 🙏💚🦌

Blown away by all the talent in today. This remarkable group of women got together at The Co. to connect, reflect, and create some affirmation feathers together. Incredibly grateful they let me in on 'The Matriarchy' for a day and help run their first art meet-up! I'd like to say I'm a great art teacher because of how beautifully they all turned out but I think the most I did was help put paint on pallets 😆 🎨 These ladies CRUSHED it! Each one so unique and beautiful (them AND the paintings).

I was expecting it to be a great time but I wasn't expecting all of the love and healing I'd get from simply being around these wonderful women. If you are thinking about joining 'The Matriarchy' you need to do it. Visit The Co. website to learn more and join ! Thank you Angel and for all your hard work and for asking me to help with the class. Thanks again to all the ladies I got to meet today! Hope to see you all again soon, much love 🪶💚🌈💗🙏

Still some spots left for my abstract landscape workshop starting tomorrow at ! In this 3-day workshop we will explore old master artists and their works, discovering what styles speak to you. After that we will break-down their painting methods and you will begin your very own abstract landscape painting. If you're interesting in exploring your own paintstyle click the link below to sign-up 🌈🏞🎨
https://thecochatham.com/shop/art-classes/adult-art-class/

Painting is a titled 'Pinery Daze'

Cosmic Love

Friendly reminder that you don't need to be in a romantic relationship to feel LOVE! Everyday should be about celebrating love and everything that brings us a deeper connection to love. Friends, family, nature, sunsets, even our relationship with ourselves. YOU ARE LOVED and YOU ARE LOVABLE!!! 💚🦄🌈

In honour of Cupid day 💘 here's a work in progress. Haven't worked on this one in a while but wanted to share. It's still in the beginning stages when everything is messy and I have no clue where it's going, but sometimes that's how you get to where you need to go. Much love, you're right where you're supposed to be.

My friend did her first fitness competition last month and she CRUSHED it!! Over a years worth of hard work and dedication coming down to one day.

This was the second photo shoot I've ever done and she made it so easy. Thankful to .360 for letting us use the gym for this, couldn't have asked for a better spot!

If you're looking to get in shape, lose a few pounds or just feel better in general, shoot her a message. She has years of training experience and knowledge and is also an all around amazing human being. Congrats Kristin!! 🔥💪

A couple of my pieces got accepted into Eye 4 Art 2022 at the Thames Art Gallery !!! My pieces 'Eternal Love' and 'In the Stillness' will be there along with tons of incredible work by local CK artists. The opening reception is November 18th from 6pm-10pm and there will be a people's choice voting (6pm-6:50pm) with the ceremony at 7pm.

If you can make it out on the 18th I would love to see you fine folk! If you can't make it don't worry, the show runs from November 18th 2022 to January 15th, 2023. Thank you Michaela Lucio for encouraging me to submit my artwork!

Holy it's been a while! Was an intense summer to say the least. This summer I was out at the lake meditating as an Osprey flew over and landed on a nearby tree. It had been years since I'd seen one so I looked up what it could mean. Divine messenger, symbol of the Sun, sovereignty, Egyptian symbol of the Soul, personal power. Felt like I needed to paint it to feel those energies. When it was almost finished I decided a scarab needed to be in there too. Also a symbol of the sun and a messenger of eternity. A symbol of spiritual transformation, new beginnings. As I was thinking back I realized a scarab-like beetle visited me a few months ago too.

I'm at the end of a decade long cycle where it felt like the fire with-in me was barely there. It's one thing to survive but an entirely different thing to truly live. Sometimes it takes years to transmute all of the s**t holding us back. Many of my paintings recently have fire incorporated in some way, a reflection of what I've been cultivating with-in myself. Is there anything holding you back from shining your inner light? What is it?

If you made it this far thank you! Adult painting classes starting at
in November (painting the Northern lights?) and I have an animal painting day retreat in November too. More info to come. Much love everyone 💚🌈🦄