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After running an Instagram poll, obtaining comments from several local artists during the February meeting of the Artists Circle of the West Island (thank you!), and getting feedback from the organizer of the exhibition, I'm thrilled to show you the final poster for my upcoming solo show! There's also a bilingual version, with French first as required under Québec law for businesses, but as I'm not a business I've opted to share the shorter unilingual version here.
The show will be fully accessible, with no entry fee or appointments required. There's an elevator to the 2nd floor of the building, although you may have to ask the information desk staff to 'unlock' or 'wake' it up - apparently the elevator sometimes becomes inactive because the escalator tends to be more popular.
The MCLL Lounge at McGill University is open Monday through Thursday from 0900 to 1700 and on Fridays from 0900 to 1500. If you'll be in the downtown Montréal area between April 15 and June 21, 2024, feel free to drop in for a visit. I won't be there every day, as it's a three-month show, but will definitely stop by anytime I'm in the city-centre area.
"Watercolours on Two Wheels" will be presented in the The MCLL Lounge of the McGill Community for Lifelong Learning, housed in the University's School of Continuing Studies. The displayed paintings will all be in some way associated with my bike rides around the northwestern area of Montréal Island. There will be some plein-air pieces, painted during my cycling rest-stops in nature preserves and waterfront parks, as well as studio watercolours based on plein-air sketches completed during my rides.
By next week I should be able to share with you the Exhibition Introduction, which will be posted at the entrance to my solo show. That poster-type document is being prepared by the event organizer, using their own specific format, with a photo of one of the watercolours that I've decided to include.
As you can probably tell, I'm already quite excited about this; my first solo show. I've been a bit surprised at how much preparation is required so far in advance, but then again it is almost March.
Stay tuned for more about this and other upcoming art shows, as well as for my Rare Disease Day activities and artwork for this year's Leap Year February 29th event. This is important to me, as I began learning to paint and to sketch in 2021 as a direct result of my first rare disease. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS, formerly called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or RSD) is an autoimmune and neuro-inflammatory condition, and I turned to art creation as a form of movement-therapy and pain-management for my severely-affected right hand and arm - and as brain plasticity or neuroplasticity training for my CRPS-related mild cognitive impairment.
Some of this will be highlighted in the Exhibition Introduction, as part of my Art Despite Pain (#ArtDespitePain) chronic pain awareness initiative; using my art to raise awareness of CRPS and other pain conditions.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a lovely weekend!
