When Art Speaks to You

Craft lover Shannon Neuman went home today with a beautiful piece by Simon Wroot of the historic John Walter House. She fell in love with it due to its uncanny resemblance to her family’s historic homes. Looking at the age-tinged photos, the resemblance is remarkable, from the whitewashed walls to the two chimneys with the family posed out front.

Shannon’s family first immigrated to Canada from Scottland to a simple homestead in Thornhill, ON pictured in the photograph below taken in 1893. They migrated from there to Montana for a short period. Put off however by the rough and tumble lifestyle of the cowboys there, they then relocated to a home in Sunny Slope, AB sometime around 1907 shown in photo 2.

There’s just something about the way that a great artwork resonates with our own unique experiences, memories and moods that makes it seem that it is truly speaking to us. A beautiful, fortuitous, unspoken collaboration between the artist and the acquisitionist that brings meaning and significance to our lives in a way no mass-produced product can compare.

-Melanie Archer, Gallery Assistant (Calgary)

Shannon with her new Simon Wroot artwork John Walter House

Simon Wroot’s John Walter House with Shannon’s family photos.