The team of colourfully decorated oxen is one of the few serial motifs spanning three decades of Maud Lewis’ practice. Painting one of her most requested subjects, the artist depicts a pair of yoked oxen pulling a logging sled in the foreground of a hilly, snow-covered landscape dotted with trees. Lending her painterly touch to the animals’ ornate halters and bells, Lewis renders a scene familiar to rural Nova Scotia, where these livestock were integral to the agricultural development of the region. Lewis painted from memory and imagination, as well as from popular sources; images of ox teams were common in print representations of Nova Scotia. Whether hauling hay and lumber or grazing leisurely in their pastures, Lewis’ painted animals charm in all seasons.
