Eva Schubert was born in the northern German part of the former Czechoslovakia in 1922. After World War II, Eva and her husband settled in Bavaria, where he practised his trade as a woodworker. Eva began to assist him with his work, which was principally carving for tourists. They found it quite difficult to earn a living as they had to compete with the local woodcarvers.

In 1955 they migrated to Australia, first living in a boarding house in Mont Albert before moving to their own house in Nunawading. Eva began carving animals for the Arts and Crafts Society and continued to assist her husband with larger pieces. When her husband passed away in the 1970s she took on the outstanding orders and began to think of herself as a professional woodcarver.

She has worked with a variety of different woods and her work follows the German tradition of using flora and fauna motifs. The gradual incorporation of Australian flora and fauna motifs into her work coincided with her feeling more at home here.

References
Deborah Tout-Smith & Anna Malgorzewicz (1992). Contemporary Craft and Cultural Identity Project. MoV and Monash Uni History Dept

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