Mary Lou had a great Maud Lewis surprise to show us at R.U.G. on Saturday.
But I’m jumping the gun a bit. First for some background. For those not familiar with the name Maud Lewis….she might be described as the Grandma Moses of the Maritimes, undoubtedly Canada’s most famous folk artist. …and patterns of her paintings are very popular with rug hookers.
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia has this information about her life….
“Early Years
Maud Lewis (1903-1970) was born to John and Agnes Dowley in South Ohio, Nova Scotia. As a child, Maud spent most of her time alone, mostly because she felt uncomfortable about her differences around the other children. She had been born with almost no chin and was always much smaller than everyone else. However, Maud seemed to be a happy child who enjoyed the time she spent with her parents and brother. Maud’s mother started her painting Christmas cards to sell and thus her career as an artist began.
Her life and only experience of the world extended to an area between her birthplace in Yarmouth County and her married home in Marshalltown, Digby County. In 1935 Maud’s father died and in 1937, her mother followed. As was typical at the time, her brother inherited the family home. After living with her brother for a short while she moved to Digby to live with her aunt. There she met Everett Lewis, an itinerant fish peddler, and married him shortly after in 1938.
Life in the House
Maud spent the rest of her life living with Everett in their house in Marshalltown. The two had what has been perceived as a formidable companionship, despite any character flaws neighbors found in Everett. Because of Maud’s worsening rheumatoid arthritis, she was unable to do housework. Everett took care of the house, and Maud brought in money through her paintings. The two were a pair that Maud was proud to be a part of.
The home they lived in was tiny in stature but large in character. Despite the lack of modern amenities like indoor plumbing and electricity, the house shows that Maud’s life in Marshalltown was full of enjoyment through her art. Those who stopped after seeing her roadside sign, “Paintings for sale”, found a quiet woman with a delightful smile. Her pleasure didn’t come from the pride of having done a painting, but the creative act itself and the enjoyment others seemed to get from her work.
Through newspaper and magazine articles, as well as television documentaries, Maud became well known and a reputation grew that’s still growing today.
The House
After the death of Maud Lewis in 1970, and subsequently of her husband, Everett Lewis, in 1979, the lovingly painted home began to deteriorate. In reaction, a group of concerned citizens from the Digby area started the Maud Lewis Painted House Society; their only goal was to save this valued landmark.
After a number of years of fundraising, the society realized that the project was going to take more resources than they could gather. In 1984, the house was sold to the Province of Nova Scotia and turned over to the care of Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
In 1996, with funds from the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and from private individuals, the processes of conservation and restoration began. The final, fully restored house is on permanent display in Halifax at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.”
Her house was only 10′ x 12′
Well….Mary Lou Justason is the tireless director at large for RHMNA (Rug Hooking Museum of North America) , and as it turns out has been able to acquire five Maud Lewis paintings for the museum. Here is her story…..
So happy that five of Maud’s paintings found their way to the museum. We were fortunate to have parents and grandparents who lived in NS and were able to stop by Maud’s house to buy some of her paintings. They are gloriously timeless and are treasured by our family. I have yet to buy a pattern to hook one of her designs but it is on my bucket list. Just can;t decide which one!
Deciding which one to hook would indeed be a dilemma Joni. You are so lucky to have some originals in your family.
Highland Heart Hookery has the exclusive right to produce patterns for rug hooking based on Maud Lewis paintings. We sell them to individuals, teachers, and to suppliers. The Rug Hooking Museum of North America carries the Maud Lewis designs. Our website is http://www.hookarug.com. We have several new patterns that are not yet on our website. If you visit the Museum this summer, you will find them there.
I remember when I was just introduced to rug hooking and was in a mall in Nova Scotia – in a book shop I saw this lovely book of her work – before I Knew about copying, and copyright. I bought it for my friend Gayle thinking it would give her some great ideas for hooking – little did I know. Both she and her husband met and talked to Maud and Gayle wanted to buy one of her paintings but her husband did not – imagine if they had and it’s worth now – but such is life and it’s no use saying – if only! Wonderful work all round. X
The whole copyright question can indeed be dizzying! The value is now a very long way from the twenty-five cents she asked for them in the 1940’s.
It was wonderful to see the paintings at RUG. Thanks for sharing this story. Bonnie Leslie
Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 16:25:38 +0000 To: bonnieleslie_2@hotmail.com
I think we were all very grateful to Mary Lou for thinking of us before she shipped them off to Nova Scotia.
Hello,Thank you for posting this wonderful story. My adventure with Maud Lewis and rug hooking is also a labour of love. I am one of the licensed vendors by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia to sell patterns of four of her paintings/drawings. The license covers rug hooking, embroidery, and appliqué. I purchased four original Christmas Cards by Maud Lewis from an Art Gallery in Toronto and subsequently applied to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia for a license to sell the patterns of the four images. They are sold in my Etsy Shop called DanalouInspirations and you can also see them on my website, barbaralukas.com Winter Hauling was hooked by Pam Langdon of Ottawa; Covered Bridge was hooked by me, Barbara Lukas of Ottawa; Winter Visit by me, and Full Mailbox by me.Thanks for sharing her story. It is truly inspiring.Barbara
Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 16:25:13 +0000 To: barbaralukas@hotmail.com
Lucky you Barbara to have the licence to sell those four. Thanks too for explaining how the licensing works. I’ve amended the text of the blog to reflect your information.