Description about the painting:

Bob Hiltermann is a true success story.  He was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, the 10th of 11 children.  
Spinal meningitis left him deaf at the age of 4, but without that knowledge, his family just assumed he was “slow”.  
They moved to Canada when he was 5, making communication even more difficult for Bob.  His parents finally discovered he was deaf when he was 10 years old!  But it wasn’t until Bob was 18 and went to Gallaudet University that he learned American Sign Language, and it changed his life. 

Bob was raised in a family of classical musicians, which inspired his love for music.  He gravitated toward performance, and is well known for his pioneering work in the award-winning American Sign Language musical theater, MUSIGN. Bob learned to play the drums when he was 16 years old and now he is the drummer for the internationally famous all-deaf rock band “Beethoven's Nightmare. He starred in several award-winning documentary films including “See What I’m Saying” and “Heart of the Drum Machine” which were released in many film festivals around the globe.

As an actor, he has starred in many TV shows including “All My Children,” Cold Case,” and “Sirens,” and was featured in films “Children of a Lesser God” and “The Hammer.” Bob was co-founder of Deaf West Theatre and has performed in many stage productions including “Cyrano,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Aladdin,” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Bob also stars in the crazy new Sign Language educational series “Shut Up and Sign” which he inspired and helped create. He has learned to ignore and overcome overwhelming obstacles to live his dream.