This P.E.I. Artist is a 'Curator of Beautiful Words'

Tania Pendergast has been collecting words for more than 30 years. A hand lettering artist, calligrapher, and illustrator, Tania started collecting quotes in high school and considers herself "a curator of beautiful words".

Most recently, she created beautiful words for CBC East Coast's Waves of Change art project. Tania's recipe for an East Coast life was inspired by the rich connection East Coast folks have to the ocean — and our responsibility to protect it.

Check out the Waves of Change art project here.

Originally from Newfoundland, Tania crisscrossed Canada working for the Canadian Army as a Signals Officer for many years. Eventually, she and her husband landed in his home province of Prince Edward Island. "I love the kinder pace of life here —  it's been so rejuvenating for me," Tania says. "I love that the water is never too far away, and that the beaches are beautiful."

Tania's educational background is in electrical engineering. Aside from a calligraphy class and some online workshops, she's a self-taught artist. The mom of two launched her Etsy shop, Bright Spot Papier & Arts, back in 2016. It evolved from her art therapy, which is a significant part of Tania's recovery from depression and management of chronic pain.

"I was diagnosed with both in 2014. In 2015, when I was able to do a little more, I challenged myself to a year of being creative. My goal was to try and be creative each day and to share on social media for support and accountability."

"Coming from a competitive athlete background as a teen and a military background as a profession, I was not initially prepared to accept my diagnosis," she says. "I found it very difficult to accept that I was so debilitated. I also found it very difficult to talk about openly. The early stages were fraught with extreme fatigue, brain fog and pain."

Tania says getting immersed in the creative process was both motivating and meditative. "I started out with finding my painting supplies, then rekindled my love of quotes, and then discovered hand lettering as a means of bringing them to life, and then calligraphy," she says. Eventually, friends and family began asking how they could purchase her work and commissioning custom pieces.

Working as an artist with chronic pain means Tania must pace herself. "If I become too focused on advancing my business and hustling harder and ignoring my health, then my body will react by flaring up and slowing me back down."

"When I'm creating, I need to remember to get up and move around and not sit for hours in creation mode at my desk."

Tania always remembers to keep an element of art therapy in what she does, even now that art is her career. Thanks to the benefits art therapy has had on her life, she's ready to nurture her business even more.

Catch more of Tania's work on the CBC East Coast Instagram page.