Interior Handrail

with First Nations design

The Cripps’ family have worked on the B.C. northern coast, closely connected to the first nations peoples. Edith Cripps had previously painted a heron in first nation style and approached me, wondering if it could be etched on glass. They were looking for a custom, three piece handrail for their loft. It was a beautiful heron design so we just had to figure out what to fill in around the heron. I have always admired first nation style designs and was looking forward to customizing the heron for glass. In the past I have experimented with sandblasting totem pole images. Between us we found a totem pole that would lie on the beach and a sun mask, and we used background scenery from the Queen Charlotte Islands to connect the three separate first nations images.