This painting is one of the many possible material products that results from a Spiritual Fine Art Process known as "Creative Arts".
During my life and Creative Arts & Fine Art Practice I have been blessed with Addiction, Lung Cancer, Surgery, ADHD, Divorce, Financial, Betrayal and serious Family issues where for my well being and recovery, I had no choice other than to learn how to apply Professional Creative Art training and a Professional Fine Art Degree & training specializing in Art As Healthcare and as Consciousness Meditation. I found and completed an excellent BFA Degree and many Art diplomas and Certificates from the University of Ottawa and Ontario College of Art & Design University that included theory and Creative Arts training and subsequent full time employment as a Creative Arts Instructor at the Perley & Rideau Veterans Health Centre in Ottawa. Since retiring from Perley Health I have continued to deliver this programming to children, adults and seniors and provide activity and training in the process of "Creative Arts", Creative Arts is a process, not a commercial activity intended to produce marketable products. Shaun McNiff, one of my workshop instructors, who was the former Chair of the Art Therapy program & former Dean of Cambridge University in Cambridge, Mass, is credited with being the founder of ART THERAPY.
((Art Therapy intends to work with one at a time very specific ( like PTSD) sometimes deep issues on a short term basis while Creative Arts intends to deal with every day living issues such as well being.))
Shaun's many professional texts aim to amplify the impact of art on well being and mental health under his book title "TRUST THE PROCESS". (SHAUN makes a subtle suggestion that ART's IMPACT on health is not from selling products, but from the PROCESS of working at the trained activity within a Fine Art Practice and it's application in ArtTherapy.)

Therapeutic Recreation and Creative Arts (TRCA) at Perley Health (a long term care facility in Ottawa with 450 beds for Veterans, injured police personnel and seniors) state on their website that their service "includes a range of activities that promote well-being and quality of life in the following five domains of health: physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual. Our creative arts studios are fully equipped for pottery, silk-screening, painting, and woodworking, and our therapists and artists work directly with residents. The TRCA program also includes music, dance, and horticultural therapy, along with activities such as games, concerts, singalongs, special events, pet visits, and fun and fitness groups.
The TRCA team provides specialized services to residents who are isolated, depressed, anxious, or palliative, as well as to those who lack the necessary motor or speaking skills. These services are sometimes delivered at the bedside.
Veterans Affairs Canada pays for TRCA programming delivered to Veteran residents, while donations to Perley Health Foundation support TRCA programming delivered to community residents."
"Creative Arts" Artists need to be trained professionally to know how to deliver the important PROCESS of creating and experiencing creativity that provides well-being. Untrained "Creative" artists should not practice without professional training as harm can occur.
Professional training in Fine Art and Post Graduate Professional Training and Supervision in Creative Arts magnifies the significance art and culture can have on our mental heath and the human experience. CVCAS (RFA) is partnering with CVRD Arts & Culture, South Cowichan Arts Guild, Arts at Cowichan Lake, Arts Council of Ladysmith & District & Cowichan Valley Arts Council. The Recognition & Recollection Exhibition will be in the lobby of the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre (CPAC) Jan. 8 – Feb. 28, 2026. CPAC expects about 8000 patrons during that time.

This Recognition and Recollection Exhibition aims to amplify arts council funding for impact of art on mental health. Professionally trained Artists and professionally trained Creative Artists know how important creating and experiencing creativity is for well-being. This exhibition and initiative magnifies the significance of the Professional Training required to SAFELY DELIVER a process where art and culture have a positive impact on our mental heath and on the human experience.

I am a full time working Fine Artist and Creative Arts Instructor who submits one work that explores the following themes that I have been trained to deliver:
Mental Health Challenge
Memory, Consciousness & the Self
Alzheimer’s & Cognitive Decline
Art as Health Advocacy
Mental Health & Complex Social Issues
States of Being
The Spiritual Revolution of Art at the Bauhaus