b-b-bonus this week in outsider art // august twenty-third

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✌️ every wednesday morning, this bonus newsletter with bonus outsider art content, including show listings, personal collection highlights, and news of the week, will be sent to paid subscribers. The weekly ‘This Week in Outsider Art’ newsletter that goes out every Sunday morning continues to and will always be free of charge — enjoy ✌️

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As I head back to school today for the first day of classes, I just wanted to give a special shoutout to all the teachers out there.

FIND OF THE WEEK

Songbirds in Spring, Oil on Clam Shell; 5.5 x 5.5 in

In my humble opinion, it is quite impossible not to love Maud Lewis, the petite Canadian painter from Nova Scotia who packed quite the punch in all of her works from the 20th century. In efforts to continue to be humble, when you’ve seen the same works by the same artists for years and years, it’s an absolute delight to stumble upon a new work that is in a new unique style. See this rare oil painting on clam shell by the late great Maud Lewis. One in a series of three painting clam shells, it brings a smile on my face to imagine seeing Maud pick up this shell and start envisioning the beautiful scene she is going to lay upon it.

This work may be available for purchase via MaudLewis.ca

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B-B-BONUS

This Week in Outsider Art

Since I stumbled upon this fun little wire odd fellows floral arrangement this past spring at a flea market, I’ve been low-key obsessed and super fascinated with the International Order of Odd Fellows. Naturally, the American Folk Art Museum in New York has a splendid collection of artifacts from the past hundred and fifty, which I present here.

Independent Order of Odd Fellows Grave Marker, 1875-1925

Odd Fellow Mask, n.d. // Paint, fabric and wire mesh

Independent Order of Odd Fellows Summer Spread, 1975-1900

“The maker of this quilt, which is technically a summer spread because it does not enclose a middle layer of batting, intended it for use in the home of an Odd Fellows member. Most probably stitched by a woman, the textile demonstrates that female family members were familiar with fraternal symbols.”