“Maudie” the Movie

Last night we picked up a movie based on the true story of Maudie.It is a heart wrenchingly beautiful story. I was struck by how moving it was. Maudie is a true artist at heart, she never, ever, gives up on her art. She says in the movie she knows all is well, when she has a brush in her hand.

Painting is not easy for her. In fact nothing is easy for Maudie as she has had rhumatoid arthritis since she was a child. She is twisted and contorted from her disease. Her hands and fingers are stiff. She is slight in build and a cast away even to her own family, who sees her only as a burden, treating her like a child.

When she has had enough she decides to move out and takes a job as a live in housekeeper to a fisherman or jack of all trades by the name of Everett. They have their disagreements, yet Maudie holds her own. When she is not cleaning or cooking she is painting. She paints the walls, the little pieces of furniture and goes through Everett’s wood pile painting pictures on flat wooden canvases. Suddenly, his world looks brighter. As their life together unfolds, new developments begin to emerge. Maudie is written up in the newspaper for her art work.

Maudie gains a new respect, yet never gives up her simplicity in either art , life or love. She is indeed a force to be reckoned with as a truly devoted artist. Not only will she steal your heart, she will also break it, as her life is indeed rich beyond words.