Spray painting in the dark to brighten the day of local shoppers, Indigenous contemporary artist Eddie Longford recently completed a wall mural inspired by the name given to the area by the traditional owners - area of many crows.
But for Mr Longford, his murals represent more than most, breaking down barriers to increase inclusivity in the community.
Unable to work during the day due to the artwork's location at the northern entrance of Cooleman Court Shopping Centre, Mr Longford, a Wiradjuri man born and raised on Ngunnawal country, painted for 12 hours over two nights to perfect his most recent work.
Mr Longford said he had always been interested in drawing and had painted many smaller works on canvases but never considered painting murals until four years ago.
"It's a bit of a challenge," he said.
"What I try to do is mimic my canvas work and the finer art stuff onto walls really using different tools."
Mr Longford said mural painting can be a bit of a juggling act between the needs of the client and the local people.
"They [Cooleman Court] wanted a design that depicted the land where they sit on, Ngunnawal country."
He said the centrepiece of the mural, featuring the circles of dots, is a meeting place which represents the shopping centre.
The wavy line across the top illustrates Cooleman ridge with the sky above and the blue circles running through the centre portrays the Murrumbidgee River.
"The U shapes are people because that's the shape you leave in the ground when you sit," Mr Longford said.
"You've got people facing in all different ways coming and going into the centre and the community."
Rarely getting to paint anything with a design brief, Mr Longford said the commissioned art industry is a funny business.
"But I feel my best work comes when the brief is really simple and easy to hit," Mr Longford said.
"When you're restricted to colours and designs, it's a lot harder."
With the mural being installed in time for NAIDOC week, held from July 3 to 10, he said it's the best time to get the message out there, although the story history tells is not the best for Aboriginal people.
"But by having it [the mural] on the main entrance into a shopping centre, it's breaking down the barriers and making us feel more included in the community."
A spokesperson for Mirvac said they intend to fill the rest of the northern entrance wall of Cooleman Court Shopping Centre with the work of other Indigenous artists.
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