“Although the mud of the road is their carpet, the sky is their ceiling.”
Laura Knight
Laura Knight began painting the daily life of traveler communities in 1933 on Iver Common in Buckinghamshire. He also made drawings, many of which he returned in 1952 to incorporate into a study for Early Morning in a Gypsy Camp. Invited to the camp by resident Lilo Smith, Knight was welcomed and got to know the people intimately. He depicted them on numerous occasions. Knight credits his time in Iver as one of his most inspiring life experiences, while acknowledging the community’s struggles: “Though the mud of the road is their carpet, the sky is their ceiling.” A beautiful painting by him on the “walkers” is in the York Art Gallery.
