Don’t you just love that feeling – when the doorbell rings, and you open the door to find a package there waiting for you? I don’t actually buy much online, except art supplies, so when this happens at my place it’s usually some kind of art-related ‘gift’ to myself… or something that my sweetheart ordered for cycling!
Today my delivery really was a surprise, because it’s something that wasn’t scheduled to arrive until the end of next week. Are you wondering what kind of delivery is so important that I’m blogging about it? I’ll give you a hint – it combines my advocacy and awareness-raising activities for CRPS rare disease and chronic pain with my art practice. Regular readers of the blog will know that that these two activities are intertwined in my life…
Raising awareness of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) – and of chronic pain in general – is something that I’ve woven into my cycling, my volunteer activities, my art, and pretty much every aspect of my life. Because this disease, and its symptoms ranging from neuropathic pain and joint problems in my hand and arm to a ‘mild’ cognitive impairment and other full-body issues, are also intertwined in every single aspect of my life.
Awareness cards
With my first-ever festival-style outdoor art event coming up in just a couple of weeks (more on that below!), I realized that this would be a great opportunity to do some larger-scale one-on-one awareness raising! So, I ordered a batch of CRPS and chronic pain awareness cards – a nice 4” x 6” postcard size – to hand out at this one-day art event.
Maybe I’ll also keep a few in my bike-pack, to hand out whenever anyone asks about my little awareness-raising buddy/bunny, Max, while I’m on a ride. Or while I’m painting off the back of my bicycle. The cards are in orange, the disease-awareness colour of CRPS, and I added a happy little banner in blue, yellow, and white, to make it livelier… because, as always, my message is about hope and joy.
There’s a large headline on each card, a paragraph of text, and then the full name of CRPS at the bottom left (with an asterisk, because I put a star beside the acronym or initials CRPS in the paragraph). My art-related contact information on the bottom right. Here’s the main message of these cards; I hope you like it!
Art despite pain
In addition to the regular challenges of painting with watercolours, I also cope with a mild cognitive impairment, chronic neuropathic pain, and other symptoms of CRPS* rare disease”
If part of that seems familiar to you, that’s because you might have read it here first – right on the blog. My Artist Statement has been the landing page of my blog for quite a while now, and ends with this paragraph:
In addition to the regular challenges of painting with watercolours, I also cope with a mild cognitive impairment as a result of my CRPS along with its chronic neuropathic pain in my right – dominant – hand and arm. I create art despite pain; happy, playful paintings and photographs that celebrate life and the beauty of nature.” (1)
With Montreal being such a bilingual city, with an almost European vibe, I had these cards printed up back-to-back with English on one side and French on the other. The French term for CRPS is Syndrome douloureux régional complexe (SDRC), so that’s what I used in the French version of the text with the same asterisk or star and then the full name at the bottom left of the card:
L’art en dépit de la douleur
Outre les défis habituels de l’aquarelle, je fais également face à des troubles cognitifs légers, la douleur neuropathique chronique, et autres symptômes de la maladie orpheline SDRC*”
What the Pop! 2022 pop-up art event
On August 7, 2022, in just a couple of weeks, I’ll be one of twelve emerging artists featured in a pop-up art show at a local microbrewery. If you’re in the Montreal area, please feel free to stop by and say hi – I’d love to see you again, or to meet you for the first time!
It’s the “What the Pop!” 2022 one-day art show, outside Microbrasserie Cardinal Brewing (2) from noon to 1700, at 466 Main Street in Hudson Quebec. The organizer of this art event is YES Montreal (3), a local not-for-profit group that helps artists and others.
Why have these disease awareness cards at an artist’s table? Because I switched up my art practice from amateur nature photography to watercolour painting as a form of DIY (do it yourself) movement-therapy for my CRPS-affected right hand and arm. Also as a pain management technique, and to – hopefully – use learning to paint as a form of brain plasticity training for my CRPS-related mild cognitive impairment.
Research has shown that brain plasticity can help with pain management in some ways, by distracting and retraining the brain, and there’s also a hope that it might help prevent worsening of cognitive impairment over time. (4) The cognitive issues from CRPS stole my beloved career in bioethics, but there are still some things that I can do – with help. For this event, my husband will be my right-hand person, literally!
This is another way in which painting is intertwined with my chronic pain, disease awareness, and patient advocacy. As the title of my little printed cards says: “Art despite pain”. That’s pretty much my motto now.
Come say hi, and pick up your very own awareness card!
- When: Sunday August 7, 2022, from noon to 1700
- Where: Microbrasserie Cardinal Brewing, 466 Main Street, Hudson QC
- Cost: It’s free!
As always, thanks so much for stopping by. If you’re living in one of the many places now experiencing extreme heat, I wish you cooler days ahead – but no snow yet, particularly not here in Montreal. Take care, and week well, and look after yourself.
References
(1) Sandra Woods, Artist Statement. BioethiCanada Blog (website). Undated. Accessed 22 Jul 2022. Online:
https://bioethicanada.ca/
(2) Microbrasserie Cardinal Brewing. Craft beer, brewed proudly in Hudson, QC (website). Undated. Accessed 22 Jul 2022. Online:
https://cardinalhudson.com/en/
(3) Yes Montreal. Meet The Artists Of What The Pop! A Free Art Pop-Up Exhibition. Press Release (web version). Undated. Accessed 22 Jul 2022. Online:
https://yesmontreal.ca/artists/meet-the-artists-of-what-the-pop-a-free-pop-up-exhibition/
(4) Norman Doidge. The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. Penguin Group (Canada). Book, hardcover edition. Toronto. 2007. Page 87. Information about the book:
https://www.normandoidge.com/?page_id=1259