3 of my #watercolour paintings will be in "2026 Abstracted" exhibition of the Federation of Canadian Artists in May, at the Federation Gallery in Vancouver & online 🖼
Details to follow 🎨
In the meantime, they are:
. Reflections (Treefrog)🐸
. Tulip or Wine Glass🌷/🍷
. Sheltered Sands🌊
#ArtDespitePain

Started painting in 2021 as a #neuroplasticity approach to my #ChronicPain & Mild Cognitive Impairment from a rare disease, fell in love with #watercolours, & became a professional artist 🎨
Shipped a painting 4500 km (2800 mi) today, from Montréal to an #art gallery in Vancouver 🍁
#ArtDespitePain

A watercolour painting by www.SandraWoods.art of a stylized brain, separated into six puzzle pieces with neuron-shaped elements trying to enter from its outside edge

Thanks to the @canadianpain.bsky.social Art Awards jury, for selecting my #watercolour painting "Disconnected by Pain" as one of 20 artworks to be featured in a pop-up art show at the 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting! 🎨
This year's Art Awards theme: "How We Feel Pain"💥
#chronicpain #ArtDespitePain

A watercolour painting titled Pain Waves, showing a semi-abstract wave hitting a shore

Fun flashback to when my #watercolour painting "Pain Waves" was juried into the pop-up art show at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the @canadianpain.bsky.social, at Victoria College on the University of Toronto campus last year 🎨
Stay tuned for 2026 art show news!
#ArtDespitePain #ChronicPain

Sandra Woods - Blog - This Thursday! | Jeudi cette semaine ! In a world seeming full of bad news recently, I'm thrilled to be able to share something happier. This coming Thursday, artists around the world will be giving away artworks - one piece, two, five, or more! - as part of "International Art and Found Day". Begun as a community-based initiative in 2015 by Canadian artist Courtney Senior in Toronto or Tkaronto (from the Kanien'kéha/Mohawk Tkarón:to), there are now si many participating artists that there's an interactive map showing where to find them all.  If you check the Art & Found Day "Find an Artist Near You" page, keep in mind that it doesn't show where an artist will be dropping off free artworks as part of this treasure hunt-style event; the map only indicates the city hall or town centre of each participating artists' community: https://artandfoundday.com/artists-2026/. As an example, I'll be giving away ten small artworks - already framed, because they're mostly watercolour paintings - in ten different locations across my 27.1 sq km (10.5 sq mi) borough of Montréal or Tiohtià:ke (in Kanien'kéha/Mohawk) or Mooniyang (in Anishinaabemowin). Within such a large area, amidst a population of almost 70,000 in the Pierrefonds - Roxboro Borough, how can you find out where I'll be dropping off free artworks on March 12th? The answer is part of the fun of this event; artists are meant to take a photo of the location of each "art drop", then share it on social media - at least on Facebook and Instagram (I'll also post mine on BlueSky and the former Twitter) - with the hashtag #ArtandFoundDay2026. Or you can be more proactive, by finding the artist(s) in your area on the interactive map and following them on social media to get hints about where they plan to 'drop' their gifted artworks on Thursday. Then, if you snag a free artwork on the 12th, you can post a photo of you and your find with the same hashtag. And feel free to tag @ArtandFoundDay on Instagram, if you're willing to get a global 'share', as they'll be reposting some from around the globe. Keep an eye out on Thursday, around my own Pierrefonds community (and across my social media), for these brightly-labeled packages!

This Thursday, keep an eye out for free artworks as part of the treasure hunt-style #ArtAndFoundDay2026 🎨
#ArtDespitePain #ArtAndFoundDay
www.sandrawoods.art/blog/this_th...

This Thursday, around the world, #artists (including me!) will be giving away artworks in a kind of community-based treasure hunt as part of #ArtAndFoundDay2026 🎁
Look for specially-labeled #ArtAndFoundDay packages, or check the map:
artandfoundday.com/artists-2026/
#ArtDespitePain

Painting Through Pain: My Journey to Art and Advocacy - OutdoorPainter Exploring art therapy for chronic pain: how watercolor painting helped one woman cope, heal, and raise awareness.

"Painting Through Pain: My Journey to Art and Advocacy" #ArtDespitePain
#ChronicPain
www.outdoorpainter.com/art-therapy-... via @pleinairmag.bsky.social

What's so rare that its original awareness day fell on February 29th?
#RareDiseaseDay, of course!
You can read about my #RareDisease & #ChronicPain experience, and how it led me to learn to paint and become a recognized professional artist
#artdespitepain
bioethicanada.ca/rare-disease...

DYK?  | Le saviez-vous ?
"International Art and Found Day" is coming up in just over a month! 🧭 🎁 🖼
~~~~~~
La Journée "International Art and Found Day" s'en vient d'ici quelques semaines ! 🧭 🎁 🖼
#ArtAndFoundDay #ArtDespitePain
www.sandrawoods.art/blog/an_art_...

Fabulous memory from 2 years ago, filming an episode of a TV show on #ChronicPain for the short-form documentary You Can't Ask That 🎬
#ArtDespitePain

Obviously unfinished, I started these 2 #watercolour paintings at lunchtime as part of the #iwswinterblues challenge 🖌
Today's prompt: "Sunny" ☀️
To see the finished versions of this egret at sunset, at 2 different distances, follow me on Instagram at SandraWoods_Creative_Arts 🎨
#ArtDespitePain

If you're in the Montréal area, these two #art shows are on now & continue until January 🖼
#ArtDespitePain

Celebrating #WorldWatercolorDay with a look back at some 2025 media coverage! 📰 📺
This journalist reached out for my #ArtDespitePain initiative; to raise awareness of #chronicpain & encourage others living with pain to try creative pursuits to improve symptoms ✨️
montrealguardian.com/montreal-art...

How does chronic pain impact an artist’s style and craft? Check out this conversation between @napainschool.bsky.social Patient Partner @sandrawoodsmtl.bsky.social and Science Communicator @shirinshs.bsky.social discussing the creation of #ArtDespitePain bit.ly/4onsZMW #PRF #NAPS2025

It's the final week of the inaugural #art show at the new Viva Vida Gallery in Vaudreuil, just outside of Montréal! 🎨
Two of my more experimental #watercolour paintings were juried into this exhibition;
. a Tree frog contemplating its reflection in a pond 🐸
. "Tulip or Wineglass"🌷🍷
#ArtDespitePain

STAT Mini Crossword STAT MINI As a part of STAT's 10-year anniversary, we’ve launched a limited-edition crossword — the STAT Mini! With a new puzzle posted every Monday, join

I solved the STAT Mini Crossword on #healthcare in 1 min and 56 seconds ⏱️
Can you beat my time? 😉
There's even an #art question 🎨
#ArtDespitePain #ChronicPain
www.statnews.com/stat-mini-cr... #STATMini

Ever wondered how a #watercolour #painting in progress looks? 🖌
The large unpainted echinacea or coneflower, most obvious in the 3rd photo, will be the focal point of this mostly circular 12" x 12" composition ... so I'll paint it last, after I've finished all the background 🎨
#ArtDespitePain

The Great Canadian Art Show - Art Exhibition The Great Canadian Art Show (Oct 1 - Oct 31, 2025). IT'S SHOW TIME!The Great Canadian Art Show 2025 is a juried Art exhibition on Artists in Canada.

Two of my #chronicpain paintings in "Great Canadian Art Show" as part of my #ArtDespitePain initiative 🎨
🎯 Page 16, for the Ws! 🎯
People's Choice Award ⤵️
Vote online, once/week, to Oct 31!
- Choose 3 artworks/week & VOTE
- Images reshuffled Sunday = VOTE again!
artistsincanada.com/art-show/the...

Last chance!🎯
If you're in #Vancouver, stop by the Federation of Canadian Artists' "Federation Gallery" on Granville Island - before the AIMAE exhibition of small paintings ends tomorrow (Sept 7) 🖼
Keep an eye out for my #ChronicPain painting Eruption of Pain, near the front door!
#artdespitepain

"Eruption of Pain" is part of a series of my #ChronicPain paintings, as part of my #ArtDespitePain initiative 🖼
It's on display through Sept 7 at the Federation Gallery in Vancouver, after being juried into an international exhibition presented by the Federation of Canadian Artists ✨️

"A Day in the Life" with: Visual Artist Sandra Woods Sandra Woods turned to painting to manage chronic pain and became a nationally recognized watercolour artist.

WIASC artist @sandrawoods_creative_arts is featured this week in the Montreal Guardian news for her #watercolour painting & her #ArtDespitePain initiative 🗞 📰
You can read the profile at:
montrealguardian.com/montreal-art...

An unfinished watercolour painting by SandraWoods.art, of 4 egrets (large water birds) at dusk

An unfinished watercolour painting by SandraWoods.art, of 4 egrets (large water birds) at dusk

An unfinished watercolour painting by SandraWoods.art, of 4 egrets (large water birds) at dusk

An unfinished watercolour painting by SandraWoods.art, of 4 egrets (large water birds) at dusk

This #watercolour painting isn't finished yet, but it's a good example of my #ArtDespitePain initiative - using art to distract my brain from my #chronicpain due to #crps 🧠
What creative activities would YOU try, for pain? 💥
DYK? When I started in 2021, I couldn't even draw a stick-figure!✏️

The Pain Issue UofTMed Magazine

Nice summary of pain research news in "U ofT Med" from @uoftmedicine.bsky.social & @uoft.bsky.social 💥
This is why I do so much volunteering for #chronicpain, created my #artdespitepain initiative, and more!
uoftmedmagazine.utoronto.ca/2025-summer/

Painting Through Pain: My Journey to Art and Advocacy - OutdoorPainter Exploring art therapy for chronic pain: how watercolor painting helped one woman cope, heal, and raise awareness.

WIASC artist Sandra Woods is the Profiled Artist for June 2025 on the website of an art magazine dedicated to plein-air (outdoor) painting 🎨
You can read the profile on her #ArtDespitePain initiative on the PleinAir Magazine (outdoor painter) website, at:
www.outdoorpainter.com/art-therapy-...

Last week, WIASC artist Sandra Woods won 2nd Prize at the 131st annual exhibition of the historic WASM art society🎉
This FREE show, in the stunning Montréal Arts Council heritage building, runs to the end of May 🖼
Keep an eye out for her #ArtDespitePain watercolour "Pain Waves" when you visit 🌊

A handheld art carving tool beside a block of soft linoleum that has been etched with a stylized image of an Iris flower

A block of soft linoleum that has been etched with a stylized image of an Iris flower, beside a pencil drawing of an Iris in a sketchbook

A lino print of a stylized Iris flower

Ink being rolled onto a carved block of linoleum, to create a lino print

Today's #ArtDespitePain adventure ⤵️
Attended an "Intro to Lino Printing" Workshop 🎨
I'm quite pleased with this one, an Iris from my #sketchbook, etched into a lino block with carving tools, then rolled with water-soluble ink to create my first-ever lino print 💐

A sofa in a corner of a room, with shelves above it displaying two rows of watercolour paintings on both corner walls

An old-fashioned apothecary cabinet with small drawers. Some drawers have been opened, to show tubes of watercolour paint inside - organized by colour

An easel with several unfinished watercolour paintings, behind a small work-table holding an in-progress painting, palette, and paintbrushes. There's a rack of greeting cards in the background, by a window.

A bookcase holding art books, sketchbooks, and other art supplies, with a watercolour painting hanging above

A few random shots of my home studio 🎨
Where I try to harness the power of neuroplasticity to distract my brain from #CRPS #chronicpain 🧠
#ArtDespitePain

Unique pain research office eliminated in HHS purge Pain is the most costly chronic health problem in the U.S. In latest RIFs at NIH, an entire division devoted to pain research was closed down.

Bad news for those living with, researching, or treating #ChronicPain ...
"Last week’s layoffs across the DHHS left a significant casualty in the vast ecosystem of government-backed science: an entire division focused on researching pain"
#bioethics
#ArtDespitePain
www.statnews.com/2025/04/08/n...

A poster for the the "2025 Open National Juried Exhibition" of the Federation of Canadian Artists, March 28 through April 25, 2025

A poster for the the "2025 Open National Juried Exhibition" of the Federation of Canadian Artists, March 28 through April 25, 2025

A description of this painting, by Sandra Woods: "An apple day keeps the doctor away! This piece provides extra nutrients, as it was painted primarily using Primatek pure-mineral pigments."

A watercolour painting of an apple, by Sandra Woods

This month, I have #watercolour paintings in 3 different juried exhibitions 🎨
This one's the "2025 Open National Juried Exhibition" of the Federation of Canadian Artists 🖼
#ArtDespitePain #ChronicPain #ArtForPain
artists.ca/show/fca_tor...

A screenshot of the website of the Society of Canadian Artists that says "Fostering the visibility of visual arts in Canada"

A screenshot of an acceptance letter from the Society of Canadian Artists addressed to Sandra Woods

A screenshot of the website of the Society of Canadian Artists, noting that they have about 500 members across Canada

A poem on the SCA website: Our work is beautiful. Our work is unsettling. It explores darkness. It illuminates. It tells of history, rooted in our land and experience. It imagines the future, fearsome or dazzling In a country so creatively diverse, art is an anthem. The Society of Canadian Artists wants the world to know the tune.

More good news! 🎉
One of my watercolour paintings was just accepted into the "2025 Open International Juried Online Exhibition" of the Society of Canadian Artists 🎨
That's my 3rd acceptance letter in a week, for juried art shows 💥
Stay tuned for details ✨️
#ArtDespitePain