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If you would like to know more about life and leisure in the Australian outback, From River Banks to Shearing Sheds: 30 years with Flying Arts  is about a Brisbane artist, Mervyn Moriarty, who flew his art school to rural Queensland in 1971.  As well as the history of the school it contains articles from women living on farms and station properties who brought up families and helped their men with mustering and other chores, but four times a year they left their homes and their families to drive, sometimes for hundreds of kilometres, to Mervyn's workshops to meet with other people who were also interested in expressing themselves through their art.

Queensland, one of the seven States of Australia, contains 1, 730, 648 sq km more than seven times the size of the United Kingdom it is a vast state where, in 1971, poor roads made distance a major obstacle for people living in regional Queensland, and flying a small aeroplane was the most efficient way to travel.

From River Banks to Shearing Sheds has been written by Queensland historian Marilyn England.

30 Years with Flying Arts...

Excerpts from Flying Arts...

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