This hanging went to Ruth Bieber to represent her incredibly innate connection to the world around her. Ruth was an absolute dream to work with. One of my biggest tasks at the start of any painting is figuring out why symbols to use. However, back in July when Ruth first contacted me about doing a painting for her, she stated she already knew exactly what symbols she wanted, as her and her 2 sons had all visited a local Shaman outside of Calgary.
We did have one more symbol to come up with to even out the painting. Ruth is the Artistic Director of the Inside Out Theatre based in Calgary, Alberta. In short, this program enables participants with disabilities (mental, physical, sensory) an opportunity to benefit from an innovative training program involving the Theatre Arts.
This was done as a house warming present for friends Jenn and Jeff. Trying to blend deep taupe walls with a shockingly bright blue leather couch was my biggest challenge. Luckily Jenn was wearing this great maroon sweater when I went to the house to measure the size of the hanging, and saw how well it went with the wall, and made that my dominant colour.