The Blow-in’s Demise

It’s a familiar tale in the outback. A city slicker, rolling into a mining town with dreams of striking it rich, only to be met with the brutal reality of life in the desert. Brian Maloney’s cartoon satirically depicts what Lightning Ridge locals refer to as ‘Going Gougin’,’ reminding us that opal mining isn’t for […]

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Pride of Place

After more than a decade of fundraising and planning by the Wee Waa Historical Society, the Namoi Echo Museum, located on the lands of the Kamillaroi people, opened in 2006. In a section of the museum which highlights the local history of sheep farming, a five-panel mural takes pride of place. Conceived and painted by […]

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A Place of Peace and Companionship

The peaceful setting depicted here is painted in oils directly onto the east wall of the old Rockley Mill. The artist, Edmund Ernest Edgar (c.1872–1965), completed the mural in October 1932 in readiness for the first meeting of the Rockley Branch of Toc H, a Christian social organisation and movement. Although the first Toc H […]

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Serene Scenes

With razor blade in hand, working on a small section, the heritage painter carefully removed the outer layers of paint on a column in the chapel at Maitland Gaol. It was 2005, and Gordon Sauber, the Gaol Museum’s Coordinator was curious to identify the room’s original colour scheme. Built in 1867-8, the chapel remained in […]

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