THE AMAZING MASKED MURAL MAN

When we first saw the eye-popping colours and super-clean builds of Rit Schellenberg on Instagram, we knew we had found a passionate mask maker with an incredible eye for detail. This prolific, imaginative builder was also doing something unique to his surroundings in beautiful Vancouver, BC, Canada that we had not seen before. Like some sort of urban chameleon, Rit started building masks to match the vivid murals that beautified his area.

"My motivation really came from this dreadful pandemic. ‘New normal’ has been difficult for all of us. I found joy in little things. Street murals make me smile and I find the colours and designs fun, and they give me a pause, a mental escape. Then one day I had an idea I wanted to be ‘in’ a mural and I found you! Your mask collection inspires me." - Rit

"The murals and masks all come together. My first mask was Skull that I did with the skull mural last summer. Also, I wanted to send out positive vibes to the world with my caption. A photoshoot with a mask is just a little fun thing to do whenever I have some free time from my hectic work schedule.” - Rit

ART DOWNTOWN WITH VERNA BROWN

"I found Rit because he did a photoshoot with one of your masks that he built in front of a mural here in Langley. Our city has over 20 murals in a core area and you can actually walk to each one. I loved his concept and reached out to him to find out about the masks because I thought they were wild. That's when he invited me to be part of the shoot for my/our mural. I say 'our' mural because it was a commissioned piece that I did for Forever Yours Lingerie, so I always share ownership with them. Their goal was to help beautify the downtown core as well as represent their company values. We certainly did that!" - Verna

"I love what Rit does with the masks matching the murals and was super honoured to be invited to participate in a shoot with him with 'our' mural. Then, I just got hooked on making your masks and I think I will be making a few more. I made a few bird masks to match my Murder Series and put them on manikins in the Forever Yours LIngerie store and WOW! what an amazing display we created there too!" - Verna

There you have it folks, two amazing artists who found each other through their creativity. We hope this inspiring story has brought some light out of this lockdown period and we can't wait to see all of your masked adventures unfold as the Spring sets in. If you enjoyed these eye-popping masks and murals, why not check out Rit and Verna's Instagram handles by clicking the names linked here? Happy Springtime everyone!