Maud Lewis: The life of an artist

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.