Writing, Art & Heart Blog

2020-2023: Drawing exhibited in AGO online tribute: It was fun to celebrate with my Quain cousins and Brad at the #ArtGalleryofOntario. My “Covid Selfie, Left Handed” #selfportrait drawing is one of 3000 artworks in the AGO’s “I AM HERE” 2022 major exhibition and in the AGO’s online exhibition “Portraits of Resilience” (2020 to present). Search under “Karen Joan Watson” or see Portfolio.

07/06/2022, Book: Dive in to my “Swimming Trilogy” – in the Writers Collective of Canada anthology, Front Lines: Courage, available on Amazon

03/2022, Article: Follow my path through books and libraries – free online pp. 56-59, my article “For the Love of Books” in ON SITE REVIEW 40: the architect’s library

2022: Caregiver strategy INTERVIEW, Author Interview with WSA’s Gail Watson

02/22/2022, BOOK: Learn Care for the caregiver in Voices5 anthology Voices of the 21st Century: Conscious Caring Women: new entry in my blog tells you about “Memory and Acceptance, Lessons from my mother” (02/02/2022)

PURCHASE Voices 4 and 5

02/27/2021, A beating Heart story in Voices4 book: Voices of the 21st Century: Resilient Women Who Rise and Make a Difference; PURCHASE

In my Heart Blog, you’ll find stories shared by my Heart sisters of Women@Heart of CWHHC, about Bicuspid Aortic Valve – Open-heart surgery survivor at UOHI, Heart genetics, Caregivers, living with uncertainty

01/2021, Heart story video: I was convinced to tell my story of open-heart surgery and living with uncertainty for 27 years, and learn to thrive, in the Video interview with publisher of Voices of the 21st Century, Gail Watson (11 mins)

See NEWS for new writing and art projects

Genetics

I continue my twins research and art installation ideas. Connected to genealogy are the Generations art installations (see Portfolio page)

08/2021, Writing video: Why do I write? Karen Joan Watson – Interview “on writing” (20 mins) by Canadian Military Spouses Book Club 

Belonging – Genealogy/family genetics – comparative DNA testing plus life-long genealogy research of mostly Celtic, French and Québecois (See “Watson Family Tree” on MyHeritage.com; “Watson Family Tree” on Ancestry.com; and DNA tree on 23andme.com) – August 27, 2021, RIP Cousin Margaret Mary Salome O’Neill Timmons (a proud 100 years and 10 weeks old); June 23, 2021, RIP Uncle Redmond Charles Hamilton Quain (93 years young).

Still kicking – Aunt Mary Watson Hayes Burns, turned 95, Happy Birthday, MAMIE!; Mum, Joan Wendy Lynn Quain Watson, turned 88 in early July 2022.

See NEWS for new writing and art projects

Geography

On the Eco-art page, I tell you about making these installations like “Crown of Thorns,” “River Stone Work, Ireland,” with environmental awareness, a sense of place and belonging, language, geology, growing awareness of indigenous peoples’ history and culture (see also About)

03/2022 and 01/2022: As an enthusiastic artist-participant featured in Tree Songs 3 and 4 – tree festival, here is my video presentation about growing up in the Gatineau Hills in the summers, making things, and the “Crown of Thorns” (1o mins)

On the Portfolio page, you can see photos of my Eco-art/landart, and other artwork like Generations art installations

2021, Eco-art and heart story video: Over the years, this international arts video interviewer has taped me making eco-art in the Gatineau Hills. Here she interviews me from her home in Europe: Video interview by artsvlogger-Multiple Arts: “Karen Joan Watson, Eco-Artist and Author, Ottawa, Canada” (45 mins)

2003, Book: My “Crown of Thorns” installation around a majestic old maple on trail #5 at the Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area is featured in Art for Earth’s Sake: The Millennium Project. I love this eco-art (ecoart) book, which explains the philosophy of landart and eco-art.