B.C. painter Sandra Meigs is among the eight Canadians who received a Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts this morning. On the heels of the honour, Meigs joins guest host Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss her lifetime of artistic achievement and how the creative process helped her cope with the loss of her husband. 

Meigs has won many accolades over the course of her 40-year career, but her most recent series, The Basement Panoramas, has been widely praised as her most striking. Her work has been shown widely in Canada, including at the National Gallery in Ottawa. 

"You have to actually walk with the work," she says of her sprawling pieces, adding that mindful walking helped her through the grieving process. "Everything becomes heightened in that state of slowing down and feeling your senses." 

WATCH: Canada Council's short film about Sandra Meigs