Gladwyn K. Bush, MBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (1914 - 24 November 2003), also known as Miss Lassie, was a Caymanian

Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...

 folk painter

Folk art

Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....

.

Paintings

Bush began painting at 62 after an experience she described as "visionary". Her work is strongly simplistic, and many of her paintings depict Christian themes. She painted mainly in oil on canvas

Oil painting

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...

. She also decorated the walls and furnishings of her home with her work.

Awards

Bush was awarded the MBE in 1997, receiving it as part of the celebrations surrounding the Queen's Birthday on 15 June 1998. She was also awarded the Heritage Award of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation

Cayman National Cultural Foundation

The Cayman National Cultural Foundation is the official arts council for the Cayman Islands.The Cayman National Cultural Foundation manages the F.J. Harquail Cultural Centre and the US$4 million Harquail Theatre....

. The foundation also published a book of her paintings, My Markings...the Art of Gladwyn K. Bush, and she has been profiled in numerous books of outsider art

Outsider Art

The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...

. Her paintings are in private collections worldwide, and may also be seen at the American Visionary Art Museum

American Visionary Art Museum

The American Visionary Art Museum is an art museum located in the Federal Hill neighborhood at 800 Key Highway in Baltimore, Maryland and that specializes in the preservation and display of visionary art...

 in Baltimore, Maryland.