Wood Flowers

Acrylic on board, 50 x 40 cm, 700 NZD

One of the ways Romanichals made a living was “hawking” handmade items, sometimes pegs, sometimes wooden flowers carved with a pen knife. This painting is of two flowers made from elder wood. Women also hawked lace, small kitchen items, and sometimes bunches of cut flowers. (Growing up in New Zealand, all jam was made in AGEE jars.)