Maud Lewis (1901-70) is one of Canada’s most beloved folk artists. Born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, she spent her entire life in the surrounding area. When Lewis was a child, her mother encouraged her to paint Christmas cards depicting festive winter scenes which she sold door to door. Despite living with arthritis, her innate talent allowed her to paint vibrant scenes of rural Maritime life. Lewis’ house, which served as her main canvas, is on permanent display at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
Maud Lewis Painted House Aug-22 copyright Steve Farmer, Raw Photography.
When you live in Nova Scotia, you may know someone or someone’s mother or grandmother who used to visit Maud Lewis in rural Digby County and buy her paintings on the side of the road for $5. It is an iconic story that grew out of her meteoric rise in the art world and the increased value in her work. It is a good story. I think though, to focus on that story is to forget the real story of Maud Lewis. She was a woman who, when faced with difficulty and harshness, continued to see the beauty in the world around her. She painted the flowers, the birds, the oxen, the horses, the houses and the people in her world with tenderness and love. When I look at Maud’s work I feel she must have had a deep well of kindness within her. And I believe, like many maritime women, she did the very best she could with what she had. That to me is her real success. When I visited her house at the Art Gallery, this is what I saw. She made the world around her beautiful in any way she could. Along with the hooked mats on her floor I saw this deep drive to paint, to make, to “create beauty everyday” and it moved me. The story of Maud Lewis and her little house is a love story about art and creating. She showed up to paint in spite of everything and she made the world a little more tender and beautiful for all of us.
This project was done in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and is also available at the AGNS Gallery Shop.
- A hand drawn pattern on linen or burlap
- All the yarn and wool cloth you need to complete the kit.
- A rug hook.
- A colour key to tell you what colours go where.
- A colour picture of the completed rug.
- An illustrated set of instructions.
Please note this kit is handmade with hand-dyed yarn and wool cloth so colours and textures will vary.
Included in the pattern option:
- A hand drawn pattern on burlap or linen
"My first kit was 18 by 30, and I finished it in a week! I was so excited. I have designed all of these kits so you can teach yourself, even if you are a beginner. We choose our hand-dyed and specialty colours carefully so your kit will look as much like the picture as possible. We add plenty of wool, but should you run short of anything or need some help with instructions, you can just email us to help you. We want you to finish your rug & love rug hooking as much as we do." - Deanne
You may need to purchase a hoop or a rug hooking frame to stretch your pattern here.
