Brushmen Of The Bush. 

Twenty years before Lawrence Beck brought the Sculptures Symposium to town, Broken Hill was blessed by the collaboration of five local artists,  Pro Hart, Eric Minchin, Jack Absalom, John Pickup and Hugh Schutz.  These five wonderful human beings held  44 exhibitions, always staged for charities, mostly for children and the Royal Flying Dr. Service.  Donations of painting to auction and raffles and commissions along with dealer and civic events bringing the total to over 50, raising  $1 million + , six hundred and forty thousand dollars in 'today's money'.  They disbanded in 1989

In 1999 he painted it with the history of Australia and drove it to Canberra amongst other places to show his support for the monarchy at a time many were calling for a Republic

Pro Hart reminds me of our Lancashire hero,  L. S. Lowry, whom I remember as a curmudgeonly old man with a twinkle in his eye who in spite of his classical training had no time for the art establishment and painted just what he pleased.  I think he might have found a kindred spirit in Pro,  who is quoted as saying:

 "If I said what I thought sometimes, I might get sued so I paint to show what is going on, to bring out the truth and make people aware" Pro Hart

Some of Pro's work has shades of Grandma Moses, Lowry and Van Gogh and many more, through it all shines the Outback.  Varied as they are, I don't think I have seen a painting of his I didn't like.   Among my favourites are his masked faces such as 'The Discussion' the Lowryesque "Change of Shifts & The tradesmen's Cage" and scenes like "Country Race Meeting"  I wish I  had bought one while they were still within my budget 

We spent an interesting hour with Jack Absalom in his studio, watching him turn a dollop of maroon paint into a magical moonlit crag but my heart belongs to Pro Hart who sadly died within days of our visit to his gallery.  As I write this in 2019, John Pickup is the only surviving founding father, but the thriving art scene in Broken Hill will always trace it's roots back to the Brushmen of the Bush

We were very taken with the medicinal chest.   Station owners pay for the chest and the government supplies and replaces the contents which are all numbered

Should we need medical care in the outback we were told we could we could find the nearest station and request they place a call to the Doctor, medicine would be supplied free of charge from the chest.  There is access to regular clinics, a 24 hour on call service and dental treatment, which according to what we read in the newspapers means you are better off in the middle of nowhere than in the middle of Melbourne if you have a toothache.   Fortunately I can't confirm this from personal experience as we had no need of their services

Silverton

The once prosperous mining center of some 3000 inhabitants is now a virtual ghost town.  By the time we got here it boasted a few historic buildings, several art galleries and museums and a very popular pub.  The 2006 census put the current number of residents at 89,  so it is still pretty much a ghost town but one that has been redeemed by artists, filmmakers, donkeys and a steady supply of tourists covering the 24 km of pretty awful sealed road

There have been donkeys in Silverton for years, originally there were seven, succumbing over the years to old age.  Eventually only Dollar remained to make his rounds of the town, poking his head into air conditioned buildings to cool off, and begging tourists for food, ice cream being his people food of choice,  Town Council, seeing the light purchased Penny, Jenny and Degs to everyone's satisfaction.  Not to be outdone the Silverton Hotel had a white horse tethered outside to attract tourists.  When Silverton became the Hollywood of the Outback, the Mad Max lookalike replaced it

The Mundi Mundi Plain with a view so vast and unobstructed, they say you can see the curvature of the earth. I must remember this next time I visit Fogo Island, one of the four corners of the flat earth in Newfoundland Canada