Sandy McLean, from Blackall, Qld, believes art is for everyone.
Story Cecilia Moar Photo Sabrina Lauriston
By the time you reach the edge of Blackall, where the Mitchell grass plains stretch to the horizon, you’re in Sandy McLean country. It’s a landscape that has shaped her life and art. From May it will be home to the Sandy McLean Outback Artist Studio, a new chapter in a remarkable journey that has always been as much about people as paint.
“I’ve always painted what I know,” Sandy explains. “The animals, the birds, the people – they’re part of who I am. I paint anything with eyes. I chase the expression of my subject’s personality. If I see someone look at my painting and begin to smile, then I know I’ve done okay.”
Sandy’s connection to this country runs deep. At 17, she was one of the first women to work as a jillaroo on properties around Blackall, breaking into a world that was previously the domain of men. Once married, Sandy and her family ran sheep properties at Emmet and Augathella, where they experienced the wool price crash of 1990 and catastrophic floods that same year.
Then, in 1994, as the drought started to bite and the wool industry was on its knees, her husband took work off the farm, leaving her to run the family property and look after the children. In desperate need of more income, Sandy began making calendars featuring detailed drawings of outback homesteads. The calendars resonated widely, selling almost 20,000 units over three years, connecting Sandy with people across Australia and around the world.
“People would write to me, telling me how much the calendars meant to them – how they reminded them of home or their childhoods. It also gave them a way to support farmers doing it tough with drought,” she says.
This story excerpt is from issue #166
Outback Magazine: Apr/May 2026
