I’m thrilled to share that my watercolour paintings have been juried into three different exhibitions of the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA), taking place this month and next!
The FCA is one of Canada’s two preeminent national arts organizations, “dedicated to raising artistic standards by stimulating participants to greater heights of knowledge and achievement by offering what is believed to be the first completely artists’ sponsored gallery in Canada.
Currently the Federation is the only national-level visual arts organization that manages their own full-time art gallery.”
It was an honour when I was accepted as an Exhibiting Member of the FCA earlier this year, based on a juried review of my body of work, and each additional jury acceptance into an FCA exhibition feels like a reward; recognition of how far I’ve come since first picking up a paintbrush in 2021, as a neuroplasticity approach to my chronic pain and Mild Cognitive Impairment (both effects of the first of my two rare diseases). A lover of art history and a lifelong museum-goer, it’s a privilege to be a Professional Artist within an organization associated with such esteemed Canadian artists as Emily Carr and members of Canada’s Group of Seven!:
The Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA) is a registered charity founded in 1941 by professional Canadian working artists including Group of Seven luminaries Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer, and A.Y. Jackson… Other notable founding members included Emily Carr.
You can see my painting “The Waltz (Echinaceas)”, based on scenes from my gardens last autumn, appears in the FCA’s “2026 Open National Juried Exhibition” from March 11 through April 10, 2026. My watercolour “Rainforest Royalty – Douglas Fir”, inspired by my November visit to Vancouver, is in the “2026 Annual International Representational Exhibition” (AIRE) – already online in advance of the official exhibition dates (March 17 through April 5, 2026). Finally, “Near Loch Coruisk, Scotland” will be on display at the Federation Gallery on Granville Island in Vancouver from April 7 to April 19, 2026 for “2026 Landscapes” (the virtual gallery has not yet opened for this show).
Stay tuned for other upcoming exhibitions, or sign up for my seasonal newsletter over on my arts website for those and a weekly blog about my #ArtDespitePain journey!
As always, thanks so much for stopping by! Take care, keep well, and feel free to follow me and my journey from bioethicist to artist – after Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) ended my healthcare career with a Mild Cognitive Impairment – over on social media! On Instagram I’m at SandraWoods_creative_arts and on Facebook at Sandra Woods Creative Arts.