I stopped building six years ago. I do my own painting and other peoples, although I'm a bit choosey who. The younger generation are building now. one of the Lee's and also some of the Vairey's. One of the Vairey's is painting, but not particularly well. The Jowett Brothers are still building to an alarmingly high quality, with an alarmingly high price attached. In wagon days you did not flash up your wagon unless you had done well with carpets or horses.
Jimmy Berry or Tommy Gaskin are the great originals and the painting style is derived from Circus/Fairground painting, and Victorian Curlicue wildly overdone. There is only one British Family still in a Wagon fulltime, albeit with a vinyl canvas, and that's Dave Rawlins. He's married to Queen Caroline Hughes niece. He sang an interesting version of 'Hares in the old Plantation', with a Romany verse in it.
(For Jim and Mike)

Mandi lelled Jackmarr and Dewey too
Mandi lelled him in my Poshni
I penned to me Juk it's arras to jall
The Weshenengro do pivvi.

(Quick translation ( Come on Dogs I'll put the Hare in my Pocket and lets get out of here! The gamekeepers coming!)
I'll stop there because I don't want to start dominating this thread in case it's not what Jim had in mind when he started it.

That said I work best when you ask me questions.
kind regards
Nick