Flora Wood was born into a family of musicians in Edinburgh. She began her art training in Florence in the mid 1920s followed by a period in Paris in the studio of André Lhote where she met Picasso. On her return to Scotland she studied at Edinburgh College of Art under Sir William Gillies and John Maxwell.
Never completely abstract, her work both as painter and sculptor was strongly influenced by Picasso. She was awarded the Lily MacDougall prize for sculpture and the Lander Award for painting.The Scottish Arts Council and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow hold her work.