We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sandra Woods. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sandra below.
Sandra, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
My most meaningful project is definitely my ongoing #ArtDesitePain initiative. Why “Art Despite Pain”? Once upon a time… Okay, seriously, let’s start again! In 2016 I had a healthcare career that I adored, working in bioethics – also called healthcare ethics or biomedical ethics – and was learning nature photography as a hobby. My work, including research ethics and protecting patient privacy, centered on ensuring that the rights of patients were being respected. That’s central to my identity, being someone who helps others.
One wintry evening in March, I slipped and fell on a patch of ice after leaving my gym. I knew from my years-ago military First Aid training that my right arm was broken. Two pieces of bone were sticking out, but luckily neither had broken the skin. It was painful, and I understood that the pain would subside once the bone was set – I’d broken bones before, as a child involved in competitive sports.
It was a simple broken wrist, a Colles’ fracture of the radius, that didn’t require surgery. The hospital put a cast on my arm, and I was on the mend, or so I thought. Within ten days of the fracture, I woke one night feeling as though someone was holding a blowtorch to my fingertips. I ran to the washroom, expecting to see blisters or burns on my hand as I turned on the light. My fingers were swollen and red, but there were no blisters. The pain was excruciating, and it marked the start of a new and unwanted chapter in my life. A chapter about pain, grief, loss, love – and then hope; hope is where “Art Despite Pain” comes in. Not only for myself, but for others living with persistent pain, through art.
Sandra, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
That new chapter in my life got a title when I was diagnosed later in 2016 with a rare disease; Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), now called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). I had to learn to live with a long list of bizarre symptoms, because CRPS is both an autoimmune disease and a neuroinflammatory condition. I now have bouts of ‘autoimmune fatigue’ and localized issues in my right hand and arm, including bone loss (osteopenia), joint rigidity, spasms, swelling, twitching, and constant pain – in the bones, joints, nerves (neuropathic pain), and skin. The pain was often so severe that I’d vomit, so I carried zipper-lock bags in my pockets to avoid making a mess on carpeted floors at my office.
But with a career that I loved, support from my sweetheart, and the help of a world class pain-medicine team at a larger university-hospital, I kept working in healthcare. I also became involved as a volunteer in chronic pain advocacy projects, with organizations and medical schools across the country. My background in healthcare made me an ideal Patient Partner for research projects, while my military instructional training meant that I was able to help train healthcare professionals (physicians, occupational and physical therapists, etc.) to improve their skills in diagnosing and treating chronic pain.
Then, at the end of 2018, I was struck with a CRPS-related ‘Mild Cognitive Impairment’. This stole my beloved career, my life-plans with my husband, and in many ways my identity. I still grieve for the person that I used to be, for the person I thought I’d be by now. It took a while to adapt to this new chapter of my life, to scheduling an hour of ‘brain rest’ for every hour of reading, for using exercise to temporarily boost my concentration and focus when I want to tackle a complex task or learn a new skill. By integrating frequent ‘brain rests’ into each day, I’m staying involved in chronic pain advocacy – but still struggle to say “no” more often.
I’m an optimist by nature, someone who always seems to find a silver lining. This time, it was finding art. I’d had a dream, since childhood, of someday learning to paint with watercolours. I clearly recall my grandmother taking me to an exhibition of watercolour paintings at a museum, to celebrate finishing kindergarten when I was five, and being completely enthralled by the luminosity and transparency of the pigments. Of course, I didn’t know how to express this back then; it was like magic to me. I instantly became a lifelong museum lover, a passion my husband shares, and took art history courses whenever I could in college and university. But I couldn’t draw a stick-figure!
That’s why I’d taken up nature photography, focusing on macro-level photos of plants and less timid wildlife, learning about rules of composition, lighting angles, and such. With CRPS affecting my right hand and arm, a camera was too difficult to use, yet I desperately missed being creative, so I began taking smartphone photos to create awareness images for CRPS and chronic pain. As a joke, one day I did a smartphone photo-shoot of my chronic pain awareness buddy/bunny Max during a cycling break; he’s a small plush rabbit toy who fits into the pocket of a cycling jersey. Several cyclists asked what I was doing, sparking a post-injury pain discussion, then when I posted photos of Max on social media he sparked more chronic pain conversations. Max now joins me at pain conferences and events, even posing with others!
Meanwhile, as part of my patient advocacy, I was reading research showing that the arts could have a positive impact on chronic pain. That was the push I needed to finally pursue that childhood dream of learning to paint with watercolours, in early 2021. It always surprises people when I say that “I paint because of pain”, but it’s true. The moment I first touched pigment to wet cotton, I fell absolutely in love with watercolours. Soon I noticed that while I’m painting, watching pigments dance across a surface, my pain somehow doesn’t seem so bad. [I’ve recently been involved in research explaining how this happens; to learn more, search for ‘flow theory and pain’.] It didn’t take long to realize that I’d need to learn to draw if I wanted to paint even impressionistic scenes, so I devoted some ‘brain time’ to learning that skill as well.
From all my reading on the benefits of the arts for pain, I came up with the idea of sharing my art-learning with others in pain. That was the catalyst for my #ArtDespitePain initiative, and it’s what I’m most proud of as an artist. It’s fun to win art awards, to have my creative works accepted into juried exhibitions, but my passion has always been helping others!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Yes, and what a fabulous question! My #ArtDespitePain initiative has three goals, flowing into one overarching mission. When I decided to learn to paint in 2021, I set these goals – each intertwined with my patient advocacy for chronic pain and stemming from my background in bioethics – as part of my mission to help improve the lives of people living with pain.
The first goal was to show – largely through social media – that painting and other creative activities could be a kind of DIY (do it yourself) movement-therapy for chronic hand or arm pain. I was reading research showing that it’s important to continue using a painful limb; as many physical therapists say, “Motion is lotion”. But it’s one thing for a patient to be told to do that, and another to see someone like them actually doing it.
My second goal was rooted in military history (I am a veteran, after all!) and modern brain-imaging research into neuroplasticity and neuroaesthetics. Did you know that art therapy grew out of creativity-based recovery programs for injured WWI veterans? “Pre-dating art therapy even, therapeutic art interventions were used by occupational therapists (OT), artists, and volunteers to treat the physical and psychological trauma faced by military servicemembers during and after World War I (WWI). In 1917, the first OT was hired at Walter Reed Medical Center and evidence of the art used in those early sessions – which included ceramics, arts and crafts project kits, and art activities – is still on display in the National Museum of Health and Medicine”.
[https://scholarworks.indianapolis.iu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/484ef2d6-9b57-4f23-a4d3-2f103d196258/content]
That second goal was to share my art skills-learning as a form of neuroplasticity training for chronic pain – and for the ‘Mild Cognitive Impairment’ caused by my CRPS – showing that even someone who “couldn’t draw a stick-figure” could do this. It was scary to show my failed experiments, but failure is part of learning.
The last goal was to integrate resulting creative works into my chronic pain awareness and advocacy activities. This ranges from using my allotted text in an exhibition space to highlight chronic pain, creating artwork specifically to portray aspects of living with pain, speaking about my art and pain experiences in public settings, helping to research the effects of the arts and creativity on pain, and more.
Learning to paint, sketch, and draw was specifically because of my pain, so the hashtag #ArtDespitePain was perfect to represent these goals and my mission to encourage others to try creative pursuits for pain – and even for other health issues. The reaction has been more positive than I could ever have imagined; discussions at exhibitions, an appearance in a television show episode on chronic pain, co-presenting a TEDtalk-style session on pain research, having #ArtDespitePain featured in a magazine for healthcare professionals, and more.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist isn’t the awards, its the human connections that art can create. In addition to group exhibitions in galleries and public spaces – and one three-month solo show so far – I try to participate in at least one table-based arts event each year. I display smaller paintings, often my plein-air watercolours which are usually painted off the back of my bicycle when I need rest breaks due to CRPS. Art fairs are fantastic opportunities to chat one-on-one with people who are interested in the creative practices of individual artists, yet who likely wouldn’t visit an art gallery.
It’s so rewarding to see someone looking at a piece and be able to ask: “What is that draws you to this painting?” or “Does this one remind you of anything special?” One young woman wanted a painting of a daisy, because they were the favourite flowers of her mother who had recently passed away. That was such a powerful moment, and yes, hugs were exchanged! Another – happier – memory is from an outdoor art fair, when a young girl fell in love with a painting of a sailboat and asked me all about how I’d painted it. She was so engaged with the process that I suggested she take art courses herself, “And someday you’ll be standing here with your own paintings!” She wandered off, and to my surprise returned a few minutes later with her mother. She agreed with her mom to do extra chores in exchange for the painting, so I gifted some hand-painted bookmarks and greeting cards and encouraged her to start drawing.
Even though I aim for an impressionistic style of landscape paintings, florals, and other nature scenes, it’s such a thrill when someone tells me that “this looks just like my grandmother’s garden” or “it reminds of a trip I took with my parents when I was child”. Those human connections are priceless.
As part of my #ArtDespitePain initiative, I always reserve a section of my art table for chronic pain information so many people who stop by want to talk about pain – and how art can be beneficial for people living with chronic pain or other health challenges. Sometimes just a glimmer of interest in the arts or creative practices can create hope for a person in pain, enough to positively alter their outlook – and being part of that is an incredible feeling as an artist.
For readers interested in the awards side, to-date my watercolours have won a national award (CPS; 2021), 1st prize in a City of Montréal art competition (for amateur watercolour & gouache; 2022), and an Honorable Mention from the historic Women’s Art Society of Montréal during their 130th anniversary exhibition (WASM; 2024). And in 2021 one of my smartphone photos received a 2nd place Honorable Mention from The [Robert] Bateman Foundation, in a national nature photo competition. All of this, every piece, is #ArtDespitePain.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.SandraWoods.art
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SandraWoods_Creative_Arts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552637116201
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandrawoodsmtl
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SandraWoodsMtl
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sandrawoods
Image Credits
André Lecourt; Marika Allaire; Robert Derval; André Lecourt; André Lecourt; Sophy Cee; Sandra Woods; Sandra Woods; Sandra Woods