Maud Lewis “A world without shadows!”

“You know how you keep a lid on your childhood inside you, a place to go when things aren’t going right? right, that is what you see when you look at one of Maud’s paintings. Is that world from when you were a child with no shadows in it.”

Documentary by National Film Board Canada “A world without shadows“

How great are Maud Lewis’ paintings? They are full of joy and colour!

I recommend spending some time on the Thunder Bay Art Gallery page and appreciate Maud’s art and life.

Born Maud Dowley, Lewis was raised in the town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, the daughter of a blacksmith. Until her final days, she would revisit in her paintings the happy scenes of her childhood, depicting as well the birds and animals remembered from that time. Hers was an art of unbridled joy, despite the many harrowing setbacks she faced: her rheumatoid arthritis, which worsened as she progressed toward adulthood; the early deaths of her parents; the loss of her baby daughter born out of wedlock (and placed secretly with another family by Lewis’s father); and the difficulties of her later marriage. Her desire to make art was the driving force in her life.