Sam Byrne
Born in the Barrosa Valley of South Australia in 1883, died in Broken Hill, New South Wales in 1978.

Within two weeks of his birth, the Byrne family moved to Broken Hill. Orphaned at the age of nine, Sam Byrne and his siblings were reared by his mother’s sisters.

At school, Sam Byrnes showed promise as a draftsman however he did not have the means to purse his interest. At the age of 15 he entered the mines and worked there until he was 66.

He began to sketch after his retirement. He developed an interest in the geographic beauty of the Broken Hill district and an appreciation of local flora. ‘ In good seasons the hills around Broken Hill…. are covered with the hop-bush…. And you’re looking at a real red hill.. Where there’s patches of Salvation Jane we have that blue colour. That looks nice. Violet. Sturt’s pea and hop-bush are native…. The everlasting too is lovely. You see a lot of everlastings growing, the red everlastings, the yellow everlastings, sometimes white ones.’

After four years of sketching in and around Broken Hill Sam Byrne, at the age of 70 decided to paint them.