Art Transforms Space: A Show at Strong Hands Massage Clinic

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Art show at a St. Peter's clinic explores the healing power of art and nature’s beauty.

You might think that Strong Hands Massage Therapy Clinic is an unlikely place for an art show named Quickening Light. But RMT and owner of the clinic, Cameron Ringland, says, “Art is healing.” The open, light-filled space which faces due south out across the water has a breathtaking view.

Andrea Querchfeld (left) and Elaine Mandrona have very different styles but a similar reverence for nature and fear about its future.
Andrea Querchfeld (left) and Elaine Mandrona have very different styles but a similar reverence for nature and fear about its future.

The clinic, which opened last November, had lots of empty wall space until a client offered to loan her large, ethereal abstract paintings to fill up the space. Her name was Andrea Querchfeld and shortly after, she teamed up with me, Elaine Mandrona, a fellow painter, sculptor, and writer. I was writing an article about Andrea for The Scrape, an online magazine I started with my husband. Community kismet was at work!

Though Andrea and I work very differently, we both were interested in environmental themes. An art show seemed a natural extension of the personal connections being formed and Cameron was enthusiastically supportive.

Cameron Ringland, the owner of the Strong Hands Massage Therapy Clinic, believes that “Art is healing.” This belief is reflected in his support for the art show named Quickening Light held at his clinic. The clinic is located at 9943 Grenville St. in St Peter’s.
Cameron Ringland, the owner of the Strong Hands Massage Therapy Clinic, believes that “Art is healing.” This belief is reflected in his support for the art show named Quickening Light held at his clinic. The clinic is located at 9943 Grenville St. in St Peter’s.

The name of our show, Quickening Light, has many layers of meaning. The earliest use of “quick” in the English language meant “alive”. In terms of nature, it is the life in everything in the interconnected living world. On a personal level it can also mean a moment of sudden inspiration, realization or enlightenment– a new understanding, or awareness that propels us forward on our path embodying the ideas of growth, transformation, and the emergence of new possibilities.

Through the art exhibited in this show, we are celebrating this light and hope to kindle an awareness of a different way of seeing and interacting with nature. And, along with Cameron, we want to demonstrate that art and healing are indeed connected.

The show is on Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19, 2024, from 1-4 pm.

Elaine Mandrona seen here doing a watercolour in her studio.
Elaine Mandrona seen here doing a watercolour in her studio.