First off, thanks so much to everyone who reached out over on social media to be sure I was okay! I haven’t posted anything here in almost a month, but that’s because I was busy with some fun activities – not because I was back in the hospital or had received bad news. What fun projects was I working on?
Well, there were a couple. This year I participated for the first time in the virtual Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference, hosted by renowned naturalist John Muir Laws in partnership with the Foster Art & Wilderness Foundation. This live online event took place from September 14 through 18, and I still haven’t finished watching the recordings of all the sessions I missed!
Back in 2018 my rare disease resulted in a mild cognitive impairment, and some of biggest challenges I face from this are my concentration and focus; it’s really hard for me to follow along with anything – a book, conversation, text chat, TV show, video – for much more than an hour at a time. After that, I have to let my brain rest for at least an hour. I knew that each session of this online conference would be recorded, and that I’d have until next April to view them, so I decided to join in this year.
I should mention that I don’t actually do any nature journalling yet! Instead it’s something that has interested me for a long time, and that I’d like to start doing. At this point, though, I’ve decided to wait until next spring or summer as the weather here is already starting to turn colder. This online conference was fun, educational, and inspiring in terms of the kind of nature-inspired watercolour painting that I want to do. Wild Wonder is:
an annual event that gathers people who are passionate about nature, art, science, curiosity, and wonder to share ideas, learn from each other, support each other, inspire each other, and have fun together in nature’s beauty.” (1)
Another attraction for me was the involvement of British watercolour artist and wilderness explorer Tony Foster, whose natural landscape paintings are absolutely stunning. He paints en plein air, outdoors, in some of the most inhospitable terrain imaginable; on painting journeys that have included 15 countries over a period of 40 years. (2) I watched his presentation live, rather than waiting for the recording!
After that online conference, even though I’d tried to watch only a few sessions each day, my brain needed a bit of a rest so I took a break from blogging. After a week or so, I was ready to tackle my next fun little project… and then it was time for our Canadian Thanksgiving holiday!
And then on to the next project, once again something to do with art. Whenever my work is on display at an art show or exhibition, using my paintings or nature photos to raise awareness of chronic pain and of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), folks ask me if I have a website. I mention the blog, but they were looking for a more traditional art website… so I decided to create one! With help, of course. That’s not something my ‘impaired’ brain could manage anymore, sadly.
I’ll spare you the details, but do want to mention that the goal of my new art website was to build what’s called an ‘art inquiry’ site, rather than a sales site. There would be no way to buy anything, or donate, or for any funds to change hands by any means, on my new website. Just like here, on the blog.
Well, I’m very happy to say that my new art website launched yesterday! It’s live ‘-) It was very time-consuming, having to rest my brain after every hour or so of writing text, selecting paintings, organizing photos of paintings, and more. But I’m happy with the end result. And yes, the blog is here to stay too!
Feel free to stop by the new website, at SandraWoods.art. (3) You can read more about my plein-air painting (painting outdoors) – while cycling – or why my motto is Art despite pain – or why I was featured in The Suburban newspaper in August. Hint – that might all have something to do with my rare autoimmune and neuro-inflammatory disease that causes severe neuropathic chronic pain and a whole lot of other symptoms.
As always, keep well, stay safe, and thanks for stopping by. I wish you success with whichever projects you’re working on these days, and many moments of joy throughout your day. It’s too hard for me to manage the Comments feature here on the blog, so it was disabled a while back. Feel free to reach out over on Instagram or Twitter, though, because I do love hearing from you.
And best wishes for a belated Canadian Thanksgiving!
References
(1) John Muir Laws. Fourth Annual Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference. Webpage. Accessed 12 Oct 2022:
(2) Foster Art & Wilderness Foundation. The Artist, Tony Foster. Webpage. Accessed 12 Oct 2022:
https://www.thefoster.org/artist-biography