Divine Lamb and Taos Blue Sky

Rebecca Salsbury James worked with unconventional media for much of her career, including colcha embroidery. James was inspired by the local artforms she found in her adopted home of Taos, New Mexico and learned embroidery from a group of Hispanic women who still practiced the centuries-old tradition. Though not Catholic herself, she often incorporated decorative motifs and religious symbols from northern New Mexican embroidery into her work like the cross, Lamb of God, the dove symbolizing the Holy Spirt, and Sacred Heart.