Conference Agenda

Maud Lewis née Dowley (1901-1979) has become one of Canada’s most renowned artists. Born with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, she lived in a protected home environment till her thirties. Many adversities followed, including the worsening of her health and a married life in poverty. But Maud managed to preserve a positive outlook to life, as depicted in her paintings that have the atmosphere and style of joyful child drawings. The present psychobiography study explored her life from the prism of narrative identity with its origins in external dialogues between parents and young children. A specific self-defining memory can often encapsulate the whole process of identity construction. Maud had a memory of painting with her mother and selling cards that later defined her existence. We analyzed this memory based on four life story constructs linked to well-being: agency, communion, redemption, and meaning making. We then traced these constructs to her whole life. The analysis revealed a narrator who found redemptive meanings in suffering and adversity, justifying Maud’s high levels of happiness despite hardship. In terms of clinical implications, there are known benefits in encouraging persons with disabilities and chronic illness to explore all forms of creativity with lasting resilience effects.