Staff Picks: Maud Lewis

For the final instalment of our Staff Picks, founder and editor of Selvedge Magazine Polly Leonard writes about her new favourite film...

I was on a very long flight recently when I discovered to my delight my favourite film of the year, Maudie, and learnt of a previously unknown folk artist called Maud Lewis (played by the great Sally Hawkins). The premise of the film comprises of an arthritic Nova Scotia woman who works as a housekeeper while honing her skills as an artist. Eventually, she becomes a beloved figure in her community throughout this charming, sensitively portrayed story.

The director, Aisling Walsh, has a light touch and tight budget, but the film shot in Newfoundland and Ireland tells a convincing Canadian story. The tiny house (10 x 12 feet) Maud inhabited with Everett Lewis (played by Ethan Hawke) was accurately reproduced for the film, with Maud Lewis herself painting some of the flowers that decorated the interior herself.

This film will tug at your heart strings and introduce you to the work of one of Canada’s more renowned folk artists. Maudie has stimulated a resurgence of interest in Maud's work, whose house has now been relocated to the The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and whose paintings now sell for upwards of $45,000.