Sandra Woods, Montréal 🍁

Opinion: In the MAID debates, the patient’s voice must take precedence As Canada’s medical assistance in dying regime is expanded, those who want it shouldn’t be silenced

"The state should ... respect patient choice in how they live and how they die." ✔️
By @picardonhealth.bsky.social in @theglobeandmail.com ✔️
#bioethics #healthcare #medicine
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

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

🐦 Early bird rates for members until March 15th

🔗 Learn more at canadianpainsociety.ca/asm

🍁

🐦 Les billets à tarif réduit sont offerts aux membres jusqu'au 15 mars

🔗 Pour en savoir plus, visitez canadianpainsociety.ca/fr/asm

#CanadianPain26 #DouleurAuCanada26

#CanadianPain26 is Canada’s hub for international collaboration in pain science. Register now!

🔗 Learn more at canadianpainsociety.ca/asm

Annual Scientific Meeting
📍 Québec City Convention Centre
April 29th — May 2nd, 2026

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

A tiny spring plant poking out under a snowbank; almost springtime in Montréal Canada

Sending pain-free hugz from Canada, as another person finding beauty in life in spite of #ChronicPain - and disability 🍁
Oh, and despite more than a metre (over 3 ft) of snow still covering our gardens 🙄

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

The seventh femicide in Quebec this year alone.

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...

Great news last night!🎉
One of my #watercolour paintings was "Recognized" by the Federation of Canadian Artists & will appear in virtual 2026 Annual International Representational Exhibition:
"a worldwide competition of excellence of artwork in the representational & semi-representational style"🎨

'We have failed them': studies overlook sex, gender in veteran pain care | CBC News A recent study on chronic pain management for Canadian veterans has uncovered a critical flaw in decades of research: Not a single one examined the impact of sex or gender on treatment effectiveness.

"A recent study on #chronicpain management for Canadian #veterans has uncovered a critical flaw in two decades of research:
Not a single one examined the impact of sex or gender on treatment effectiveness"
#bioethics #research #medicine #healthcare
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

#GoCanadaGo 🇨🇦 Overtime!

More for the "Meanwhile in Canada" files! 🍁
Shareable eCards for the Valentine's weekend, from a government office 🇨🇦

Liam Neeson's Cupid Audition YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Happy Valentine's Day,
Via a video from Liam Neeson & @colbertlateshow.bsky.social
youtu.be/T9NzhjcPsQQ?...

Deadline this weekend, at midnight (23:59) on Sunday February 15th!

Date limite le dimanche 15 février 2016 = En fin de semaine ! 💥

‘What I see in clinic is never a set of labels’: are we in danger of overdiagnosing mental illness? Our current approach to mental health labelling and diagnosis has brought benefits. But as a practising doctor, I am concerned that it may be doing more harm than good

"We have developed a tendency to categorise mild to moderate mental and emotional distress as a necessarily clinical problem rather than an integral part of being human" 🩺
by Gavin Francis, MD
#bioethics #mentalhealth
www.theguardian.com/news/2026/fe...

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_...

Only a week left, to submit your creation to the 2026 Art Awards of the @canadianpain.bsky.social ✨️
The deadline is Feb 15th, before midnight ET ⏰️
Submit in 1 of 3 categories:
. Scientific visualizations/images
. Classical art forms
. Photo, video, and/or music

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

2026 Art Awards | The Canadian Pain Society Created to better understand pain through an artistic lens. With a new theme each year, we showcase submitted artwork from a variety of mediums to promote scientific curiosity and build a gallery of ...

Only 2 weeks left, to submit your #pain related creation for the CPS Art Awards of the @canadianpain.bsky.social 🍁
. Theme: "How we feel pain" 💥
. Deadline: Feb 15, 2026 ✨️
. Free ✔️
#chronicpain
www.canadianpainsociety.ca/artawards

His paintings sell for millions, but who was E.J. Hughes? New doc tells the story of enigmatic B.C. painter | CBC Arts Shortly after the film's premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival last fall, the Hughes painting Entrance to Howe Sound broke records at auction, becoming the fourth most expensive Canadi...

A new documentary about Canadian artist E.J. Hughes (1913 - 2007) is set to begin a Canadian screening tour next month 🎬 🖼
www.cbc.ca/arts/his-pai...

Today's #earlymorning project = Making chocolate frosting for the #chocolate #cupcakes I baked last night 🍫
All for an elder family member's 95th birthday - and for the nurses & #hospital team looking after him this week 🧁

Snow covered trees

Monday morning in Montréal, for anyone who needs a moment of calm & tranquility ✨️

Also, it's -25°C/-13F out there 🥶

Through art we illuminate what words can’t express.

📅 Submit by February 15th, 2026
➡️ canadianpainsociety.ca/artawards

🍁

Par l'art, nous illustrons ce que les mots ne peuvent exprimer.

📅 Envoyez votre oeuvre jusqu'au 15 février 2026
➡️ canadianpainsociety.ca/fr/artawards

3+ weeks to go!📅
Submit 1 creative/artistic work - about #chronicpain - to @canadianpain.bsky.social Art Awards 🍁
. "How we feel pain"
. Feb 15, 2026 ✨️
. e.g. dance, drawing, music, photo, poetry, painting, etc💥
. ORIGINAL, no AI or group work 🎯
Details:
www.canadianpainsociety.ca/artawards

At the University of Guelph, in the College of Arts, Philosophy is hiring in AI ethics.

#philsky

careers.uoguelph.ca/job/Guelph-A...

Change has never been easy. It takes persistence and determination, and requires all of us to speak out and stand up for what we believe in. As we honor Dr. King today, let’s draw strength from his example, and do our part to build on his legacy.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated his life fighting for equity and justice. He taught us that even in the face of intimidation and discrimination, we must never stop working towards a better future – a lesson that feels especially relevant today.