Canada 150, oil on canvas, 24" x36", Steven Rhude Some history behind the sweater: In the 1950’s, my mother Margaret Rhude knit the sweater for my father to wear outdoors (I consider this to be somewhat prescient since our current Canadian flag had yet to be designed and approved by parliament). Later on I inherited the sweater and wore it through art school. I also wore it throughout Europe and while studying renaissance art in Florence, Italy. I even loaned it to a friend who wore it hitchhiking through Germany. Some how it always made its way back to me. Back in Canada, it was worn and modelled by Simone Labuschagne, my wife, for my painting Woman and Dog painted in 1995 . Unfortunately, later on the sweater was inadvertently lost through a clothing drive for the Diabetes foundation. (I hope whoever owns it now is warm!) Strange how things work out. In the fall of 2016, I was contacted by Sally Melville, a knitter, who saw the painting of the woman and d
