By GAIL LOWE
MARSHALLTOWN, N.S. — On her death bed, Maud Lewis asked for paint.
This tiny woman, now an acclaimed artist known throughout
the world and diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis in childhood, was 67
years old at the time. She had been admitted to Digby General Hospital in southwestern
Nova Scotia for treatment of pneumonia, but in 1970 medicine was not what it is
today and the illness claimed her life.
Now, 47 years later, Maud Lewis is the subject of a movie
titled “Maudie” starring Ethan Hawke and Sally Hawkins. First released across
Canada early this summer, the film has received numerous accolades for its
depiction of Maud, whose paintings bear a striking similarity to those created
by Grandma Moses. Since the movie’s release in Canada, it is now being shown at
selected theaters in the U.S.
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| A replica of Maud Lewis's tiny house |
When I was a child about seven years old I lived in Digby
and though I never met Maud I can still recall her husband Everett wandering
throughout the town. He is said to have been abusive toward his wife, but Maud
was an overcomer. In spite of the abuse, she found happiness in life’s simple
things. People who knew the couple continue to talk about the cheer Maud’s
artwork brought to the region, but they also talk about the darkness that
befell the Lewis’s home.
Like Maud, Everett, or “Ev” as he was known to locals, grew
up on a poor farm just outside Digby, and most days he dressed in cast-off
pants and shirts he found at the local Salvation Army or other charity. But the
Everett Lewis I remember occasionally dressed up in a suit jacket, shirt and
tie before heading out for a day on the town. He was a small, wiry, dapper gentleman
who acted as if he were mayor of Digby. His outward appearance certainly belied
his hardscrabble life.
Maud, his better half, was born on March 7, 1903 in South
Ohio, a small village outside Yarmouth, and had her own challenges to deal
with. Her multiple birth defects caused her arms to shrink in toward her body
and shoulders to slope, making her look like a hunchback. Her chin rested on
her chest, and her fingers curled in toward her palms. Little was known about
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the time, and many thought it to be contagious.
As a result, as a child Maud kept to herself and was often isolated from her
peers and others who feared they might catch her “disease.”
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| What Maud Lewis's kitchen might have looked like |
Maud’s mother, Agnes Dowley, was her first art teacher, and
when she was old enough to venture out on her own she sold Christmas cards
bearing her paintings door to door. Her father, John Nelson Dowley, sold
harnesses from a shop he set up in Yarmouth.
In 1914, Maud left school at age 14 after completing grade
5, and between 1935 and 1937 she lost both her mother and father. After their
deaths, she went to live with her Aunt Ida Germaine in Digby.
When Everett made his exit from the poor farm around 1938,
located only a few minutes from downtown Digby, he tacked up a notice on the
town’s bulletin board that he was looking for a woman to keep house for him and
one who might be willing to provide carnal pleasures. In other words, a wife.
When Maud heard about Everett’s quest, she walked four miles from where she was
then living to see if they might be compatible. At first, Everett sent her away
because of her deformities, but when no other women showed up at his doorstep
he reconsidered and about a month later they were married. He then built a tiny
house no bigger than 9x10.6 square feet for them to live in.
Everett, a fish peddler, apparently had a few good points. He gathered and brought home oil paints left over from houses and boats, which Maud used to create scenes on particle board, Masonite panels, cardboard, wallpaper and Eaton’s catalogue art board.
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| Maud Lewis might have slept in a bed like this one. |
Maud may have suffered from an arthritic condition, but she
didn’t let it get her down, even though locals who knew the couple say she
walked into an abusive relationship when she married Everett Lewis. Like most
other women of her time, she stood by her man while decorating their living
space with pretty curtains, flowery dishware and colorful bric-a-brac. This
diminutive woman (she was shorter even than Everett) then became bold and
painted the exterior and interior of her home with colorful scenes from nature
and the seasons. Flowers, birds, white and black cats, a sleigh pulled by a
team of horses over a blanket of snow and a cow drinking from a stream are only
a few examples.
Maud continued to paint throughout her adult life on anything
she could find, including scallop shells, beach rocks and her own tiny home,
but in spite of her growing reputation as an artist worthy of note, she did not
view her paintings as art, nor did she view herself as an artist.
In 1968, she fell and broke her hip, which eventually led to
her death on July 30, 1970. She was buried at a small cemetery in North Range,
a rural area just outside of Digby.
After Maud’s death, Everett lived alone in their little
house for a number of years. Then, in 1979 a young man broke into his home,
hoping to steal his cash box. Everett Lewis died in the struggle to save his
money.
In Maud’s final days of hospitalization, she requested jars
of paint to continue her work but the attending nurses and medical aides
thought paint would turn her bed sheets into a sprawling, messy canvas, so she
was denied her request. Instead, these compassionate caregivers bought a set of
Magic Markers so she could create new scenes. It could be said that Maud died
with a paint brush in her hand.
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| Artist Murray Ross also built a replica of Everett lewis's workshop. |
Maud’s paintings now hang in art galleries throughout North
America and Europe, and Digby resident and artist Murray Ross was so taken with
her artwork that he built a replica of the tiny home she and Everett lived in
as well as Everett’s workshop. Ross also decorated the home with his own
artwork and furnished it with products and décor specific to Maud’s time.
When I stopped by his home to learn about Maud, he welcomed
me onto his property so I could see the replicas of Maud’s home and Everett’s
workshop and learn all about this now famous artist. Cash donations are
accepted to maintain the home and workshop but there is no admission fee.
“Maudie” is receiving
great reviews, from the acting to the beautiful film locations in Newfoundland.
(Nova Scotia lost out because the film tax credit was axed). It’s a wonder that
the shy Maud Lewis, who never considered her artwork anything special, has
become an international art icon. There are now Maud Lewis coloring books, Maud
Lewis calendars and Maud Lewis blogs. There’s also a book about her titled “The
Heart on the Door” by Lance Woolaver.
Perhaps it’s best that Maud doesn’t know any of this. The
fact that she died after leading such a humble life was, and still is, a big
part of her charm.
Interested in knowing
more about Maud Lewis’s life? Google her name and many sites about her and
Everett’s life will pop up. And so will examples of her heartwarming art.
