In the news
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a blessed Kwanza, a joyous New Year! Whatever you celebrate - or don't - I wish you a comforting holiday period.
I've opted to 'close' my at-home art studio for the holidays, to spend time with loved ones who're off work, so I'm going to share with you what I've been painting over the past couple of weeks.
These aren't very good photos of my latest watercolours, snapped with my phone, but they'll still give you an idea of what I mean...
I painted several similar historic buildings in our almost-European Old Montréal district, using two different watercolour approaches, based on MANY photos I've taken in and around the city this year.
My aim is more for the style of the first watercolour, a 'looser' and less detailed take on these gorgeous domed buildings.
For certain iconic local landmarks, though, I find myself still wanting to add detail - as in the second painting.
It's a delicate balance of simplifying a composition, while providing sufficient visual clues for a specific building to be recognizable.
You'll probably be seeing more historic sites in my paintings, throughout 2023. There are many historic buildings along my cycing routes, set in forests and gardens, so I'll still be doing plein-air nature paintings next summer - off the back of my bicycle - while occasionally integrating a historic site.
As I looking through my photos of historic buildings, to plan these paintings, I realized just how thankful I am to live in a city with such beautiful architecture.
We have buildings dating back to the 1600s, some of the oldest on this continent.
I'm reminded once again how lucky I am, to have such fantastic opportunities for painting right here in my hometown; I'm within cycling distance to forests, farms, island shorelines, beaches, even a a vineyard!
On that note, my theme for the holidays this year is Thankfulness. For my loved ones - family and friends, for all the beauty around me, and for the opportunities I've been granted this year... More on that will follow on New Year's Day!
In the meantime, all the best for ths holiday season.
This week I picked up some treats for myself, while helping others at the same time.
My local Artists Circle holds an auction at our annual holiday get-together, to raise funds for a local community organization.
Members can donate extra or unused art supplies, art books or magazines that they've read, new or nearly-new household items, and more - things that other members might find useful.
My bids won several old watercolour books, donated by a long-time artist and instructor who recently retired.
It'll be a while before I get to any of these, as I already have quite a backlog of art books to read, but I just couldn't pass these up.
Isn't this a lovely way to raise money for our community, and to re-house books and other objects?
On that note, I'd like to wish you a happy and healthy holiday period and all the best for 2023!
Are you someone who loves surprises, good ones of course? I received a very nice surprise today, when I went to pick up my winning watercolour at the closing of an exhibition.
This painting wasn't for sale, as it's a gift for a loved one's milestone birthday, even though I entered it in a City of Montréal art contest.
The"Pierrefonds-Roxboro Art Contest" is named for the neighborhood where this contest began, thirty-six years ago.
My painting won First Prize - in the amateur artist category for Watercolour & Gouache works - and I'd already received a framed certificate at a "Gala Art Awards" ceremony on December 2nd.
What was the surprise?
This little award plaque, with adhesive strips on the reverse, that "the artist can affix to their winning painting or keep to display elsewhere if the painting has been sold."
This was such a nice surprise, at the end of the art show, and I was truly touched.
The City of Montréal has just launched a webpage featuring the winning artworks from the 2022 Pierrefonds Art Contest, including my surprise First Prize in the Amateur Artist category for "watercolour & gouache" paintings.
This art contest was open to all residents of the Island of Montréal, with several categories for youth, seniors, professional artists, and amateur artists; over 2 million people.
The art exhibition for this Contest is still on display at the stunning Pierrefonds Library here in Montréal, until December 18th, but if you're not in the Montréal area you can view all of the honourable mentions and other prize-winners here:
Winning artworks from the 36th edition of Pierrefonds Art Contest
This morning I headed back to the award-winning Pierrefonds Library, to get some daylight photos of the exhibition for the 2022 edition of the Montréal-wide Pierrefonds Art Contest. As you can see from these photos, this building is a fantastic locale for a temporary art exhibition with its white walls, skylights, and architectural design elements.
It was also nice to get a selfie with my surprise First Prize watercolour painting, in the Amateur Artist category for Watercolour & Gouache paintings. The 3-layered cotton mask that I'm wearing in the last photo could almost be considered a work of art in itself; I sewed almost 200 of these for family and friends at the very start of the pandemic, after creating several prototype designs. My final design, in two sizes, has space for a coffee-filter insert as extra filtration, an adjustable strap, and fully covers the mouth and nose. I made these in a variety of fun fabrics leftover from craft and sewing projects that I'd done before a rare disease significantly impacted my right hand and arm in 2016.
If you're in the Montréal area, there's still time to see this free exhibition during regular library hours. Continuing through Sunday December 18, 2022, this art show includes works by both amateur and professional artists from across Montréal Island - from youth to seniors - featuring a wide range of artistic styles and techniques.
The address of the Pierrefonds Library is 13555 boulevard de Pierrefonds, in Montréal, and it's part of the Ville de Montréal library network.
If you plan to drop by to see these artworks, feel free to let me know so that I can try to meet you there!
I have some fantastic news to share, as an emerging artist! Last night I was presented with a First Prize at the Art Contest Gala awards ceremony for the long-running Pierrefonds Art Contest. Open to all residents of Montréal – of the entire island, not only the City of Montréal – this contest covers a multicultural population of just over 2 million people. So it’s kind of a big deal, despite its unpretentious name.
The awards Gala for the 36th edition of this annual art competition took place at the historic Pierrefonds Cultural Centre, after which the artists, dignitaries, and other guests all walked next door to the Vernissage at the award-winning and much more modern Pierrefonds Library.
The companion art exhibition, featuring works accepted by the Jury for the Pierrefonds Art Contest, is open to the public at no charge. The art show begins today and will continue through December 18, 2022, during regular library hours; Monday 1300-2100, Tuesday-Friday 1000 to 2100, and Saturday-Sunday 1000-1700. The Pierrefonds Library is at 13555 boulevard de Pierrefonds, and is part of the City of Montréal library network.
If you’re in the area and plan to stop by this exhibition, let me know and I can try to meet you there '-)
Note: My husband took some phone-photos for me at the Gala and art show, but there was a professional photographer for both events; I'll post better photos when I receive those!
This is one of several photos that I took at sunset this past weekend, to plan a watercolour painting of the historic Marché Bonsecours (Bonsecours Market) building in Old Montréal. I love the way the buildings on either side of this cobblestoned street form almost a canyon effect, pointing towards the silvery Market building and its curved dome - interrupted by one of Montréal's innumerable church spires. And the light, of course, that gorgeous warm almost-sunset "golden hour" glow when these grey stone buildings temporarily reflect the warm hues of the setting sun.
I'll probably use some artistic license to edit out the scaffolding at the end of one of the buildings, along with the cars parked along the right side of the street. The distracting holiday lights in front of the Market building itself will likely be omitted from my painting as well, as they wouldn't add anything to the composition.
I may not have time to start this painting until the New Year, but I couldn't resist sharing my excitement as I sort through my photos in this initial planning stage of the composition!
I'm happy to share the news that one of my watercolour paintings will be on display as part of an upcoming art exhibition at the award-winning Pierrefonds Library. This annual exhibition features both amateur and professional artists from across Montréal, with a variety of artistic styles and techniques.
The exhibition will run December 3 through 18, 2022, during regular Library hours.
Although the exhibition is free to the public, the Vernissage - which will take place during the evening of Friday December 2nd - will be by invitation only through the City of Montréal.
The Pierrefonds Library is located at 13555 boulevard de Pierrefonds, in Pierrefonds, and is part of the Ville de Montréal library network.
If you plan to drop by this exhibition, please let me know so that I can try to meet you there!
(This is one of the photos that I took at last year's exhibition at the Pierrefonds Library.)
Another 'challenge' art project, an almost 12" x 17" collage. The concept was to show why my personal motto remains "Art Despite Pain", and that my CRPS rare disease and chronic pain impact pretty much every aspect of my life - and my husband's as well.
My art practice is truly intertwined with my chronic pain patient reality, in part because I began learning to paint last year as a form of movement-therapy for right hand/arm CRPS - and as brain plasticity training for my CRPS-related 'mild cognitive impairment'.
Every aspect of our lives is affected by this medical condition... From what we eat as part of my mostly anti-inflammatory diet, to the extra rest and wellness requirements of an autoimmune and neuro-inflammatory chronic illness, to changes in how we exercise and which outdoor sports I can still do.
As an example, I ride my bike using only one hand, but haven't (yet!) figured out a good way to cross-country ski that way.
There's also the difficulty of traveling with a rare disease (not that we've gone anywhere since the start of the pandemic!), and my personal need to find beauty and joy in every day.
We also find ways to integrate nature into our lives, even on days when my disease is at its worst, because our shared love of nature is at the very roots of our relationship - and of our shared well-being.
Collage is usually fun to do, but this one took much longer than I'd expected. It also carried an emotional toll, although I am glad of the experience. And for the opportunity to visually link my art practice and my chronic pain patient advocacy activities, much more directly than usual, in this piece.
I'm pleased to have created it, but now feel a need to hide this collage away for a few days before taking another look at it.
Is there anything in YOUR life that you'd like to express, in a collage format? This is something that almost anyone can do, without any of the more 'technical' art supplies that I used. Start with a blank page, a pair of scissors, a stack of magazines or other pieces to cut up, a good-quality glue stick - and some imagination!
Thanks so much to the Canadian Pain Society (CPS), for this feature in the Fall 2022 edition of the CPS eNews newsletter!
I'm a CPS member who has been combining my art, my experiences gained through a previous career in bioethics, and my own chronic pain and rare disease patient journey to help raise awareness of chronic pain since 2016. Last year I won the inaugural Art Awards of the CPS, with the watercolour painting shown in this excerpt of their fall newsletter.
My art practice is so heavily intertwined in my chronic pain reality that it's impossible to separate the two. Although I had previously done amateur nature photography, my rare disease has affected my right hand and arm to the point that I struggle to use a real camera.
Last year I began painting as a form of movement-therapy for my own pain condition - Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). I chose watercolours, generally considered the most difficult medium, with the hope that learning and applying difficult artistic skills might help prevent any worsening of my CRPS-related 'mild cognitive impairment' over time.
This is why I often say that my art practice is intertwined with both my reality as a pain patient and my volunteer activities in the area of pain - as a Patient Partner in research and quality improvement projects, as a mentor to others living with persistent pain, and as a presenter or speaker to groups of medical students, residents, and healthcare professionals...
The motto of my art practice is "Art Despite Pain", so it's lovely to see my art-as-advocacy featured in this national newsletter for healthcare professionals, students, trainees, and researchers in the area of pain.
Here's a link to the article mentioned - in The Suburban newspaper (based in Montréal, it's the largest weekly newspaper in the province of Québec):
"Sandra Woods will be one of 12 emerging artists whose work will be on display Aug. 7 at the What the Pop! Art Pop-up Exhibition in Hudson"
