Last month, in the hectic midst of my week away volunteering as a chronic pain Patient Partner with the North American Pain School (NAPS), at the stunning Fairmont Le Château Montebello, I received some good news for my Art Despite Pain initiative (#ArtDespitePain). What was that good news?
Another one of my chronic pain awareness paintings was accepted into an international juried art exhibition, presented by a prestigious national arts organization! My watercolour “Eruption of Pain” will be on display at the Vancouver gallery of the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA), from August 18 through September 7, 2025, as part of the “AIMAE” Exhibition.
The Opening Reception or Vernissage at the FCA’s “Federation Gallery” will take place on August 22, 2025 from 1500 to 1700 PT, although unfortunately I won’t be able to attend… because I’ll be busy here in Montréal with the inaugural edition of the West Island Art Studio Circuit (WIASC, or CAAOI in French for Circuit d’ateliers d’art de l’Ouest-de-l’Île), a new annual – and free! – arts event that I’m founding and organizing (as a Disabled artist) starting August 16, 2025.
My painting “Eruption of Pain” is based on the often-burning pain sensations of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), one of my two different rare diseases. I’ve often described this combined neuropathic, bone, and joint pain as though my right hand and arm had been soaked in a vat of gasoline for weeks – down into the bones – and then set alight. Another CRPS patient recently told me that he uses a volcano as his analogy, feeling as though his leg is being engulfed by burning lava… that was the inspiration for this painting.
If you’re in the Vancouver area, please feel free to stop in to see this entire exhibition (on Granville Island, near the intersection with Johnston Street), at the Federation Gallery [Federation of Canadian Artists]: 1241 Cartwright Street, Vancouver BC V6H 4B7.
Enjoy your summer – and take the time for some creativity, if you can. Keep well, and thanks so much for stopping by!
