Maud Lewis

I spent much of my rainy day in Halifax at the Nova Scotia Art Gallery.

They have a large exhibit of the work of Maud Lewis, a folk artist from Nova Scotia. I'd never heard of her until a few months ago, when I happened upon the movie Maudie, with the always wonderful Sally Hawkins as Lewis, while channel-surfing. Lewis developed rheumatoid arthritis as a child and was never able to work, but she always painted. She made hand-painted Christmas cards with her mother, and later her husband sold her cards and paintings when he made his rounds peddling fish.

This is the tiny house where they lived for more than thirty years -- only twelve feet square, with no electricity or running water.