Maud Lewis (1903-1970) was a Canadian folk artist known for her vibrant, naive paintings of Nova Scotia landscapes and everyday life, despite facing significant physical challenges due to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Maud Lewis was born with a condition that resulted in physical deformities and later developed into juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, which caused her significant pain and limited mobility, especially in her hands. Maud's mother introduced her to painting by teaching her to make and sell Christmas cards. She married Everett Lewis, a fish peddler, and they lived in a small, one-room house in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, where Maud continued to paint and sell her art.
Maud was uniquely creative, self-taught, specialized in painting everyday rural life, loved animals and appreciated the beauty of nature. I've seen her work when I visited Halifax- you can also visit her original house which is now housed within the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. It's so adorable and charming with almost every surface painted in flowers!
Grade 4-6 students started off by looking at her flower still life paintings and discussing the colours and composition.
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| Flowers in Red Pot, 1967 |
I started by doing a demonstration. Students then sketched out their bouquet on
brown kraft paper.
Then they practiced using tempera paint sticks on scrap paper- it was our first time using them. The kids enjoyed them but realized pretty quickly that they aren't ideal for colouring small details.
I love the wide variety of artworks created- we are holding onto these for Mother's Day!
2 comments:
Beautiful paintings! I love the vibrant colours!
Thank you Linda :)
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