In the news

Several of my paintings will appear in magazines this year, not as ads

(posted on 9 Jul 2023)

I’ve just received some fantastic news! Several of my watercolour paintings will be featured in upcoming issues of two different magazines, and not as paid advertisements. As an emerging artist, this is a real honour.
First off, there should be a brief profile of my artwork in OT Now – the online magazine of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT). The focus will be on how I use art to raise awareness of chronic pain, through my “Art Despite Pain” initiative (#ArtDespitePain).
This piece will also highlight the ways in which I’ve adapted traditional art practices to account for my chronic pain, cognitive disability, and other outcomes of my rare disease. Three or four of my watercolours will be included, as the Managing Editor and her team are still deciding on the final layout.

The second magazine is a local print and online publication, also in the area of healthcare. An upcoming issue will include a two-page spread on one of my chronic pain awareness paintings, for which I created a companion 3D model of one of the imaginary figures in the artwork. I also provided the text for this article, as a kind of How-To for artists and others who are curious about trying the 3D printing services available at several Montréal-area libraries.
Another of my watercolour paintings will also be featured in this issue, as the backdrop for a poem by a local amateur writer.

I can’t share images of any of these layouts until the magazines have been published, but I’m too happy about this news to keep it to myself any longer.

When I began learning to paint and sketch in 2021, I had three basic goals which were all intertwined with my patient advocacy for chronic pain as well as for my own rare disease; CRPS or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. My first goal was to use painting and sketching as movement therapy for my right hand and arm, which are significantly affected by a long list of CRPS symptoms. My second aim was to treat artistic skills-learning as a form of brain-plasticity training for my CRPS-related ‘mild cognitive impairment’, to hopefully prevent any further decline in my cognitive function over time. Finally, I wanted to use my artwork to raise awareness of chronic pain – and as an integral facet of my patient advocacy and Patient Partner activities.

It will be lovely to see these three goals come to life, in two different upcoming magazine issues!