In the news

[Le français suit après la photo]

A few days ago, I received my 4th acceptance in as many weeks for juried exhibitions.
This time the acceptance notification was for an exhibition at Victoria College at the University of Toronto, as part of the 2025 Art Awards of the Canadian Pain Society (CPS), marking the CPS' Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) there in May.
The CPS is a national organization, of which most members are healthcare professionals and/or researchers, fellows, residents, students, and other trainees - involved in preventing, treating, and understanding pain.
Many focus on chronic pain - often trying to improve the lives of people living with pain, people like me!
As someone with severe persistent pain (from one of my two different rare diseases; CRPS) and a background in bioethics and research ethics, I became involved with the CPS almost a decade ago.
Their work is so important to me that I volunteer as a Patient Partner on the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee as well as on the Art Awards Sub-Committee and other initiatives.
So I can confirm that the Art Jury were not members of the CPS Art Awards Committee, and that the Jury received blinded/de-identified (as much as possible) artworks to view.
And that's why it was decided, with the input of a CPS Board Member, that I could submit an artwork to the CPS Art Awards while also serving on the Art Awards Committee.
That, as an artist - specifically because of my chronic pain - I shouldn't be penalized for volunteering on the Art Awards Committee by not being allowed to participate.
A Jury selected 20 artworks among submissions from across Canada to be shown at Victoria College, while the winner(s) of the contest arm of the Art Awards will be determined by online votes of CPS members; one vote each.
Each vote will take into account both the artwork and the artist's comments on how their piece reflects the theme of the 2025 CPS Art Awards: "Shared Horizons: What do I do for pain?"
Good luck to everyone who entered; artists, caregivers, doctors, patients, researchers, students, trainees, and more!
My watercolour painting "Pain Waves" was conceived and created specifically for this event, then I loved it so much that I submitted it to other arts events.
"Pain Waves" is now appearing in the Society of Canadian Artists' "SCA 2025 Open International Online Juried Exhibition" (through 15 Jun 2025), and in the international "NorthWind Fine Arts 2025 Annual Juried Show" (with a gallery in Saranac Lake NY, until the end of April).
Throughout the month of May it will be on display at the Conseil des arts de Montréal (Montréal Arts Council) as part of "Momentum", the juried exhibition of the historic Women's Art Society of Montréal (WASM).
Stay tuned for details of this exhibition, next week!

Il y a quelques jours, j'ai reçu une quatrième lettre d'acceptation en moins  dedans de quatre semaines, pour une autre exposition d'art avec Jury.
Cette dernière acceptation est pour une exposition au "Victoria College" à l'Université de Toronto, au sein du Concours d'art 2025 de la Société canadienne de la douleur (les "CPS Art Awards" de la "Canadian Pain Society"). La Société présente cette année leur Réunion scientifique annuelle ("Annual Scientific Meeting" ou ASM) au Victoria College en mai.
C'est une Société nationale, de laquelle la plupart des membres sont des professionnel(le)s de la santé et/ou des chercheur(e)s, des stagiaires, des résident(e)s, des étudiant(e), et d'autres impliqué(e)s avec le traitement, la recherche, et d'approfondir la connaissance de la douleur.
Plusieurs édudient la douleur chronique, afin d'améliorer la vie des personnes vivant avec la douleur persistante, comme moi !
En tant que personne vivant avec la douleur chronique (provenant d'une de mes deux maladies orphelines ou rares) et ayant une expérience professionelle en bioéthique et l'éthique de la recherche, je me suis impliquée il y a presque une décennie avec la Société canadienne de la douleur.
Leur travail m'est tellement important que je suis bénévole, une Patiente Partenaire, et membre du Comité de l’équité, de la diversité et de l’inclusion (EDI) ainsi que du Sous-comité du Concours d'art annuel, et je participe à davantage d'initiatives.
Donc je peux vous avouer que le Jury de d'art ne s'agissaient pas de membres du Comité du Concours d'art annuel, et que les oeuvres qu'ont reçues le Jury étaient anonymisées autant que possible.
Et c'est pourquoi, avec l'avis d'un membre du Conseil de direction de la Société, que la décision fut prise que je puisse soumettre moi-même une oeuvre à ce Concours pendant que je siègeais à son Comité.
Que - comme personne devenue artiste en raison de ma propre douleur chronique - je ne devrais pas être pénalisée en raison de mon rôle comme bénévole avec ce Comité par une interdiction à ma participation au Concours.
Le Jury d'art a choisi 20 oeuvres parmi toutes celles soumises à travers le Canada, qui seront exposées au Victoria College, tandis que le/la gagnant(e) du Concours sera décidé(e) par moyen de votes en ligne ; chaque membre de la Société ayant droit à un vote.
Les votes seront non seulement pour l'art, mais également pour le texte rédigé par chaque artiste expliquant comment leur oeuvre réflète le thème 2025 ; "Les Horizons partagés : Qu'est que je fais pour la douleur ?"
Bonne chance à tous ceux et celles qui ont soumis une oeuvre, les artistes, proches-aidants, médecins, patient(e)s, infirmier(ère)s, chercheur(e)s, étudiant(e)s, stagiaires, et d'autres !
Mon aquarelle "Vagues de douleur" fut co'nçue et créee pour ce Concours, mais je l'ai tellement aimé que je l'ai par la suite soumise à d'autres expositions.
Elle fut acceptée à plusieurs expositions et paraît maintenant à la "SCA 2025 Open International Online Juried Exhibition" de la Societé canadienne d'artistes (jusqu'au 15 juin prochain) et le "NorthWind Fine Arts 2025 Annual Juried Show" internationale (une galerie à Saranac Lake au NY, d'ci la fin avril).
Et tout au cours du mois de mai cette aquarelle sera exposée au Conseil des arts de Montréal, au sein de l'exposition "Momentum" présentée par l'historique "Women's Art Society of Montréal" (WASM) ; la Société culturelle des femmes de Montréal, ouverte à tous depuis déjà plusieurs années.
Restez à l'affut pour les coordonnées de cette nouvelle exposition, la semaine prochaine ! 

[Le français suit après les photos.]
Yesterday I tried something completely different, participating in a Linocut workshop at a local arts centre.
It was an introduction to Linocut Printing, also called Lino Printing, a type of block printing using water-soluble ink.
There are three basic steps for a lino print - drawing, carving or etching, and printing - so it wasn't too much for my Mild Cognitive Impairment (due to one of my two rare diseases) to take in all at once.
The artist-instructor offered pages and pages of designs that attendees could use, but I had one of my sketchbooks with me so opted to use my own designs instead.
I'm pleased with how my etched Iris turned out on the softer lino block, for a first attempt, but my daffodil didn't turn out well at all in the harder lino.
It was a lovely afternoon, and fun to be at an in-person workshop with another truly creative group.


Hier j'ai essayé quelque chose de complètement nouveau, un atelier d'Initiation aux techniques d’impression de linogravure à un centre d'arts locale.
Avec trois étapes - le dessin, la gravure ou sculpture, et l’impression - ce n'était pas trop complexe pour mon Trouble cognitif léger (en raison d'une de mes deux maladies orphelines ou rares) au cours d'un seul atelier.
L'artiste-instructrice nous a offert une panoplie d'images à utiliser, mais j'avais avec moi un de mes carnets d'esquisse alors j'ai choisi de travailler de mes propres images.
Je suis heureuse avec ma toute première tentative, un iris gravé dans le linoléum plus mou, mais ma jonquille dans le lino dur n'était pas très réussie.
Ce fut un bel après-midi, et plaisant d'assister à un atelier sur place avec un autre groupe créatif.

Last week I shared that I had two watercolour paintings in juried art exhibitions... well, make that three!
This time it's the Society of Canadian Artists'  "SCA 2025 Open InternationalOnline Juried Exhibition" .
You can visit the exhibition until 15 Jun 2025 here.
~~~~~~~~~~
La semaine dernière je partagé le fait que deux de mes aquarelles furent acceptées pour des expositions avec jury ... et là une troisième fut acceptée !
Cette fois-ci c'est avec la Société canadienne des artistes (SCA), pour le "SCA 2025 Open InternationalOnline Juried Exhibition".
Vous pouvez voir l'exposition jusqu'au 15 juin 2025 ici.

[Le français suit après la 2ième photo.]

There's a saying that good news usually comes in threes, so I should be getting some good news quite soon!
That's because I received two bits of good news this week, within a two-day period.
On Tuesday I received a notification from the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA) that one of my watercolour paintings had been accepted into the juried "2025 Open Online Exhibition" of the Toronto Chapter of the FCA.
You can view my still life "Apple of my Eye" in this exhibition, through April 25, 2025, on the FCA Gallery website.
If you're using a tablet or smaller device, you might have to click the blue "View More" button a few times to see the entire exhibition.
I should mention that, in the arts world, a "juried" exhibition is one with judges (Jurors) who decide which paintings should be accepted.
This is unlike most community-based group art shows, for which each artist decides for themselves on the one or two of their paintings to be displayed.
I've had paintings accepted into juried exhibitions before, but not with a national arts organization.
So this acceptance notification was a big step for me, as an artist.

Then on Thursday I received an acceptance letter for another juried exhibition, the "NorthWind Fine Arts 2025 Annual Juried Show".
This is an art gallery in Saranac Lake that opened in 2011, which I've visited several times with my husband - before I even began painting! - while we were staying in nearby Lake Placid for our outdoor sports adventures in the Adirondack Mountains.
My sweetheart and I spent our honeymoon in Lake Placid NY more than thirty years ago, when I introduced him to summit-hiking, and until very recently we'd return to the area several times a year for our anniversary as well as for hiking in the spring and fall, snowshoeing in winter, and occasionally summer cycling (for my sweetheart only, as the roads there are far too steep for my one-hand-on-the-bars riding technique!).
It's an area with a lot of sentimental impact for us, just a 2-hour drive from our home.
So I'm elated to have an artwork accepted into this particular gallery's annual juried exhibition, as we've been visiting the Northwind Fine Arts Gallery since 2011.
The painting that was accepted, by the way, is my "Pain Waves" watercolour.
This painting was created as part of my #ArtDespitePain initiative, which uses my artwork to raise awareness of chronic pain - while I use my art-learning and art practice as brain-plasticity or neuroplasticity training for my chronic pain and my Mild Cognitive Impairment - both results of one of my two rare diseases; Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), formerly named Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or RSD.
My description for this piece was:
"This semi-abstract watercolor painting on cotton paper features a limited palette of the three primary colours (blue, red, and yellow), reflecting the limited resources available for chronic pain treatment and pain research."
This exhibition, from April 1 through the end of the month, will also be available online - on the Gallery website.
To sum up my week, I received two acceptance notifications within two days for two different juried exhibitions in two different countries.
That's pretty special.

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Je suis fière de partager deux bonnes nouvelles cette semaine, que j'ai reçu en dedans de deux jours.
Jeudi j'ai reçu un avis d'acceptation de la part de la "Canadian Federation of Artists" (FCA) m'indiquant qu'une de mes aquarelles sera incluse dans l'exposition avec jury "2025 Open Online Exhibition", présentée par leur chapitre à Toronto.
Cette exposition est déjà disponible enligne, jusqu'au 25 avril prochain, à la Galerie virtuelle de la FCA.
https://federationgallery.com/exhibit/fca_toronto_2025_open_online_exhibition/3914
Dans le monde des arts, une exposition avec jury signifie que se sont des juges (le jury) qui décident quelles oeuvres seront acceptées contrairement à la plupart des expositions communautaires pour lesquelles chaque artiste décide pour soi quelles toiles seront pésentées.
Mes aquarelles sont déjà parues au sein l'expositions avec jury, mais pas au niveau d'une association nationale d'art.
Cette acceptation est donc quelque chose de très spéciale pour moi, en tant qu'artiste.
Ensuite, jeudi, j'ai reçu une lettre d'acceptation pour une autre exposition avec jury, cette fois-ci pour la "NorthWind Fine Arts 2025 Annual Juried Show".
"NorthWind Fine Arts" est une galerie au Saranac Lake aux États-Unis depuis 2011, que j'ai visitée plusieurs fois avec mon conjoint - avant même que je commence à peindre !
Nous avons passé notre voyage de noces, il y a plus de trente années, au Lake Placid avoisinant afin de faire de la randonnée en montagne.
Depuis, jusqu'à récemment, nous y passons d'habitude plusieurs semaines et fins de semaine par an afin de faire de la randonnée, de la raquette, et du vélo (pour lui, car les routes sont trop accidentées pour moi car je roule avec une seule main sur le guidon).
C'est un endroit que nous tenons à coeur, à rien que deux heures de route de chez nous.
Je suis ravie qu'une de mes aquarelles fut acceptée à l'exposition avec jury de cette galerie d'art, car nous la visitons depuis 2011.
La toile acceptée est "Pain Waves" ("Vagues de douleur"), créee au sein de mon initiative #ArtDespitePain (l'art malgré la douleur) qui utilise mes oeuvres pour fins de sensibilisation à la douleur chronique tandis que j'utilise ma pratique d'art comme outil de neuroplasticité pour ma propre douleur chronique ainsi que mon Trouble cognitif léger.
Cette exposition, du 1er au 30 avril prochain, sera également disponible enligne, sur la site Web de la Galerie.
www.northwindfinearts.com
Cette semaine j'ai reçu deux lettres d'acceptation en deux jours pour deux expositions avec jury dans deux différents pays.
C'est pas pire.

[Le français suit après la photo.]

Advance notice - Save the date! On Saturday August 16, 2025 - or the next day in case of rain - a brand-new community-based arts event will be launched in Montréal's West Island.
I'm able to give you advance notice of this, because I'm founding and organizing this new arts experience; the West Island Art Studio Circuit (WIASC).
If you've been following me at all, you'll know that my #ArtDespitePain initiative uses my artwork to raise awareness of chronic pain whÎle my art practice encourages others living with persistent pain to try creative pursuits to improve their own symptoms and quality of life.
In many ways this event is an offshoot of that initiative, and stems from many conversations that I've had with visitors whÎle participating in art fairs and outdoor arts events: "How do you start a drawing?", "What do you need, to paint?", "How do you decide what to sketch?", "Which kinds of art supplies do you use?", and "What does your home-studio look like?"
So, here's the basic concept of the West Island Art Studio Circuit (WIASC)...

Have you ever wondered what an artist's studio looks like, how an artist works, what inspires them, or how they continue to experiment and learn for their new creations?
Come find out, by visiting local artists in their studios in your community, during the inaugural West Island Art Studio Circuit (WIASC). This is being planned as an annual community arts event, so come out and support this first edition!
On Saturday August 16, a dozen artists right here in our community will open their studios to the public, and several will also be setting up surprises outdoors. That's why there's an alternative date; if it rains on Saturday, the WIASC will take place the next day instead, on Sunday August 17, 2025.
The inaugural WIASC will feature a dozen art studios across the width of the West Island, from Beaconsfield, Kirkland, and Pointe-Claire in the south to Pierrefonds, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Roxboro, and Île-Bizard in the north.
Is there an artist living and working on your block, just down the road, or in your neighbourhood?
We'll provide suggested circuits for bussing, cycling, walking, or driving from studio to studio. It might not be feasible to walk to all of them, but it will definitely be possible to visit them all by bicycle! These artists are opening their studios to the public for free, integrating the arts into our West Island community, and reminding us that human creativity and art can inspire and unite us all - across borders and differences.

Avis d’avance – Date à retenir ! Le samedi 16 août 2025 – ou le lendemain en cas de pluie – un tout nouvel événement communautaire d’arts sera lancé ici dans l’Ouest de l’Île de Montréal.
Je peux vous donner cet avis d’avance car je suis la fondatrice et l’organisatrice principale de cette nouvelle expérience d’arts ; le Circuit d'ateliers d'art de l'Ouest de l'Île (CAAOI).
Si vous me suivez depuis quelques temps, vous serez déjà au courant de mon initiative « #ArtDespitePain » (l’art malgré la douleur) qui utilise mes œuvres d’art pour fins de sensibilisation à la douleur chronique et ma pratique d’art pour encourager les autres vivant avec la douleur d’essayer les activités créatives afin d’améliorer leur propre douleur et leur qualité de vie.
Dans plusieurs sens cet événement relève de cette initiative, et de mes multiples conversations avec des visiteurs à des foires d’art et d’artisanat : « Comment as-tu commencé à dessiner ? », « De quoi a-t-on besoin pour faire de la peinture ? », « Tu décides comment quoi dessiner ? », « Tu utilise quels types de matériaux d’arts ? », et « De quoi à l’air ton atelier d’art à la maison ? ».
Alors voici le concept du Circuit d'ateliers d'art de l'Ouest de l'Île (CAAOI)…

Vous vous êtes déjà demandé de quoi a l'air un atelier d'art, comment travail un(e) artiste, c’est quoi qui les inspire, ou comment ils continuent à expérimenter et à apprendre pour leurs nouvelles créations ?
Venez voir, en visitant des artistes locaux dans leurs ateliers au sein de votre communauté au cours de la toute première édition du Circuit d'ateliers d'art de l'Ouest de l'Île (CAAOI). Le plan est que ceci devienne un événement annuel, alors participez afin de soutenir cette première édition !
Le samedi 16 août, une douzaine d’artistes au cœur de notre communauté ouvriront leurs ateliers au grand public, et plusieurs installeront des surprises à l'extérieur. C’est pourquoi il y a une journée alternative ; s’il pleut le samedi, le CAAOI aurait lieu le dimanche 17 août 2025.
Cette première édition du CAAOI offrira l’accès à une douzaine d’ateliers d’art à travers la largeur de l’Ouest de l’Île, passant par Beaconsfield, Kirkland, et Pointe-Claire au sud jusqu’à Pierrefonds, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Roxboro, et l’Île-Bizard au nord.
Est-qu’un(e) artiste se trouve sur votre bloque, sur votre rue, ou dans vos environs ?
Nous proposerons des circuits pour voyager d’un atelier à l’autre en autobus, en vélo, à pied, ou en auto. Vous ne pourrez peut-être pas marcher à tous les ateliers, mais faire le circuit en vélo sera définitivement possible !
Ces artistes ouvrent leurs ateliers au public sans frais, intégrant les arts à notre communauté de l’Ouest de l’Île, et nous rappelons que la créativité humaine peut nous inspirer et nous unir – à travers les frontières et les différences.

[Le français suit après la photo.]

The 2025 "Spring Art Expo" of the Artists Circle of the West Island (of Montréal) ended late this afternoon. This art show was presented at the Pierrefonds Cultural Centre, housed in what was originally the 1930s O'Connell House (maison O'Connell). The building was later renamed the Edgar-C.-Budge House (Maison Edgar-C.-Budge), in much the same way that the anglophone or English language heritage of Montréal has been whittled away or completely erased over the years. But that's a story for another day!
Back to the Artists' Circle, we hosted the opening night Vernissage for this exhibition on Friday March 7, during the evening.
We had guests attending from the City of Montréal, including a City Councillor for the Pierrefonds-Roxboro Borough, as well as from On Rock Community Services. The latter was because once again this year our organization was donating ten percent of all proceeds from the art show to this local community group - and collecting non-perishable goods for their food bank.
Although it was free to view the exhibition, we asked visitors to donate an item to the food bank if they could.
It was truly heartwarming tonight, when I went to pick up my two watercolour paintings, to see all the boxes of food that we'd collected.
So this post is a big Thank You to everyone who brought in food items to be donated to the food bank! And to Caroline, for all the work she puts into planning and organizing these exhibitions for the Artists Circle!

L'Expo d'art du printemps 2025, presentée par le Cercle des Artistes de l'Ouest de l'île (de Montréal), s'est terminée tard cet après-midi. Le tout s'est déroulé au Centre culturel de Pierrefonds, qui occupe l'ancienne Maison O'Connell, érigée dans les années 1930. Rebaptisée la Maison Edgar-C.-Budge, de la même façon que l'héritage anglophone de Montréal se fait éffacer ou enlever depuis des années. Mais cela, cette une histoire pour un autre moment !
De retour au Cercle des Artistes, notre Vernissage s'est tenue au cours de la soirée du 7 mars dernier.
Plusieurs invitées étaient présentes, y compris une Conseillière de la Ville de Montréal pour l'Arrondissement Pierrefonds-Roxboro ainsi qu'un membre de la direction des Services communautaires On Rock. Ce dernier était présent car - encore une fois cette année - notre organisme d'art versait dix pourcent des recettes de notre exposition à On Rock. Au cours du Vernissage et de l'Expo d'art nous avons également accepté des dons d'aliments non-périssables pour leur banque alimentaire.
La visite de l'exposition était gratuite, mais nous avons encouragé les visiteurs d'apporter des aliments s'ils en étaient capables.
Ce soir, lorsque que je suis allée receuillir mes deux aquarelles, j'étais très contente de voir tout ce que nous avons ramassé pour la banque alimentaire.
Ce message est donc un gros Merci à chaque personne qui a apporté des dons destinés a la banque alimentaire ! Et à Caroline, pour le travail qu'elle fait pour la planification et l'organisation des expositions du Cercle des Artistes !

This watercolour painting, "Pain Waves", was my entry last week for the 2025 Art Awards of the Canadian Pain Society (CPS). The CPS is a national organization of healthcare professionals and researchers who study and treat both acute and chronic pain, along with health sciences students, post-doctoral fellows, and other trainees who are learning about or researching pain. There are also a number of Patient Partners within the CPS, like myself, involved in different projects and serving on various CPS committees.

The annual Art Awards, held since 2021 with a new theme for each edition, are open not only to CPS Members and to Patient Partners but also to the public.
The theme for this year's Art Awards is "What do I do for pain?", requiring a brief essay (of up to 150 words) on how a submitted artwork replies to this question.  There's also space for up to words for a description of the techniques used in the artwork. For my description of "Pain Waves", I took the opportunity to send an additional message to viewers: "This semi-abstract watercolour painting features a limited palette of the 3 primary colours (blue, red, and yellow), reflecting the limited resources of chronic pain treatment and pain research across Canada."
For the submission essay itself, I wrote:
"What do I do for pain? For my own pain, I try to adapt! When I’m experiencing waves of CRPS pain, I try to metaphorically surf through them. My metaphorical surfboard might be any – or all – of my pain-management tools, including my art practice, being with family and friends, cuddling with my husband, cycling and other exercise, mindful meditation, singing (badly) or humming along to music, and spending time in nature.
And for others' pain I'm significantly involved in chronic pain advocacy, awareness-raising, education, research, and support, and am a Patient Partner for several groups and projects.
My #ArtDespitePain initiative, meanwhile, encourages others living with persistent pain to try creative pursuits as a brain-plasticity or neuro-plasticity tool for their pain."
This watercolour painting was created specifically as a concept piece to reflect the kinds of 'pain flares' or 'pain waves' that I experience due to CRPS, and I'm now working on a series featuring waves as representations of perseverance and resiliency in the face of pain. 

This past Friday, February 28, was International Rare Disease Day. Occurring on the last day of February each year, this event is important to me because I live with two very different rare diseases.
This year, I was pleased to mark Rare Disease Day by sharing a profile that had been published a day earlier in the "CanvasRebel" art magazine.

This feature describes my use of art as a neuroplasticity or brain-plasticity approach to managing the severe pain from one of these two rare diseases.
It also describes my #ArtDesitePain initiative, which uses my artwork to raise awareness of chronic pain - and encourages people living with pain to try creative pursuits to improve their symptoms and quality of life.

You can read this rather long feature article at: https://canvasrebel.com/meet-sandra-woods/

This Friday will be the last day of February, a sign here in Montréal that our long cold winter is coming to end. The final day of this month also marks international Rare Disease Day.
Did you know that I paint because of a rare disease?
My art practice evolved directly from two specific consequences of my first rare disease, and I've since been diagnosed with a second one; I now live with two quite different rare diseases.
In 2016, I had a healthcare career that I adored and was doing amateur nature photography & outdoor sports for fun, along with weight training for what I called my "zen relaxation".

Then in March 2016 I slipped on a patch of ice and broke my arm, and that simple fracture triggered a rare disease called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, now renamed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or CRPS.
Unable to do many of my previous for-fun activities, I soon volunteered all my spare time for chronic pain awareness and advocacy activities. I also became a Patient Partner (co-author) in pain research studies  and in projects to improve how healthcare professionals learn about pain.
Then, at the end of 2018, I had to abandon my beloved career after CRPS had resulted in a disturbing disability; a Mild Cognitive Impairment, on top of the severe chronic pain and many other symptoms of this bizarre autoimmune and neuro-inflammatory condition.
As part of my pain advocacy activities, at the end of 2020 I was reading research on the benefits of art practice for pain management - and potentially as brain-plasticity or neuroplasticity training to prevent cognitive decline.
This was the catalyst for my decision – during the pandemic – to nurture my lifelong dream of learning to paint with watercolours.
My Art Despite Pain (#ArtDesitePain) initiative soon evolved, completely intertwined with my own chronic pain snd my pain advocacy, while I continued my previous volunteer activities.

I often say that "I  paint because of pain", and that chronic pain - along with a Mild Cognitive Impairment and many other symptoms - all stem from that one rare disease named CRPS.
My second rare disease is Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD), which has nothing to do with muscles despite having 'muscular' in its name. FMD affects my arteries, causing some of them to look quite pretty in CT scans - like strings of pearls. Unfortunately having "bilateral beaded carotids" - as in my case - isn't a good thing. This rare condition can put me at heightened risk of aneurysm, spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), or stroke.
Luckily many of the 'pain-management tools' - lifestyle choices - that I use to make living with CRPS bearable are also good for the FMD; including aerobic or cardiovascular exercise (cycling, in particular!), eating mostly anti-inflammatory and plant-based foods, mindful meditation and other stress-reduction techniques (which encompasses my art practice), socializing with loved ones, and spending time in nature.
Because although it doesn't cause any obvious symptoms, my second rare disease is actually much more dangerous than the first. But it's the CRPS rather than the FMD that affects my life on a daily basis, causing severe pain, cognitive issues, unpredictable autoimmune fatigue, and problems in my right hand and arm; bone and joint issues, colour changes (of the nails and skin), skin sensitivity called allodynia, spasms, temperature changes, tremors, and more.
"Rare diseases and undiagnosed diseases may seem to affect few people, but in reality, there are more than 7000 distinct rare diseases, and at least half of them affect children.
To give an order of magnitude, the number of people affected by a rare disease in Canada is estimated to be as many as the number of people with diabetes."
So, on Friday, spare a thought for all of us living with rare diseases.

Someone recently asked how long it takes me to finish a watercolour painting, and my reply was: "I honestly can't answer that".
I know, for example, that I spent at least five hours painting this 9" x 11" impression of an apple over the past two weeks.
Before I even picked up a paintbrush, though, I spent about an hour setting up an apple in sunlight and taking reference photos, then sketching my composition onto watercolour paper.
Next, I had to consider the kinds of colours and textures that I wanted to use in this scene - so that I could choose from among my many tubes of watercolour pigments.
For the lighter area to the right of the apple, for example, I knew that I wanted to create an impression of warm candlelight.
To evoke that particular glow, I chose a pigment called Bronzite Genuine, made of an extremely fine-milled mineral of the same name. Bronzite is a semi-precious stone, in a brown hue that often carries a hint of warm orange, known to shimmer; the Bronzite watercolour pigment also shimmers beautifully on the cotton paper.

Once I'd decided on my pigment colour for the candlelit area, I had to consider which colour would work as a dark for the more shadowed side of the fruit. The obvious choice was a blue, as a complementary colour to the slightly orange cast of the Bronzite... but which blue?
At this point, I created several colour-mix swatches to test various blues against - and with - the Bronzite.
These colour-mix swatches are combinations of pigments, in both their wet and dry forms, on a scrap of cotton paper to see how they not only side-by-side but also combined - painted one over the other as glazes, or mixed together as a liquid.
Once I'd selected a blue, I then tried several options for the much darker surface of the table - painting additional colour-mix swatches. Doing all this, simply to choose the pigments I'd use, took at least two hours.
That's three hours, without even touching the actual painting yet!
Beyond that, I don't know how much time I spent actually painting this still life because I tend to lose track of time when I have a paintbrush in my hand.
If my husband is out, I'll often forget to eat, not realizing that it's hours past lunchtime or dinnertime until I start getting a headache or my rumbling tummy disturbs me.
This is what researchers refer to as the "flow state" or "Flow Theory"; when a person becomes so wrapped up in a challenging but pleasant activity that they completely lose track of time.
Flow Theory is also part of what helps me manage my chronic pain from a rare disease named CRPS. When my brain is so engaged with painting, it is in some ways distracted from the pain signals - which means that I feel slightly less pain.
The pain is still there, but it's somehow pushed more into the background of my mind - of my brain.

Given that I began learning to paint in 2021 as a way to help manage both my chronic pain and my Mild Cognitive Impairment - both resulting from CRPS - losing track of time is exactly what I want!
Back to this still life of an apple, I know that I spent at least five hours painting it only because my husband happened to go out - once for two hours and once for three - just after I'd picked up my paintbrushes. And I was keeping track of time more closely, for a virtual meeting, when I was selecting the colours.
So beyond the three hours of preparation and at least five hours of painting, I have no idea how much time I spent painting this still life. And that's just fine with me!