Already a local favourite, the Croppa Creek General Store is on the way to cementing itself as a national icon with some very eye-catching murals now adorning its exterior walls.
Channeling the spirit of the now world-renowned Australian silo art, owners Todd and Carolyn Bellman knew they wanted something special for the much-loved store.
“After we finished the most recent round of renovations, we knew that we wanted to paint the plain white walls,” said Carolyn Bellman. “It just so happened that I’d been following the work of the Mural Nomad, Patrycja Hannagan (PJ), and I saw that she was going to be in the Narrabri area.”
“We reached out initially but then got busy and let it fall to the side for a couple of months and then as it happened, two of their bookings in Narrabri cancelled so they got in touch and from there it all fell into place.”
PJ and her husband Ben, have now become famous for travelling around the country painting large scale murals on fences, silos and buildings. They were on a mission to paint 100 murals, with Croppa Creek becoming the 79th on the list.
“I knew from the get go I wanted something that really encompassed our local community – the collaboration between us and agriculture, where we’ve been and where we’re going,” said Ms Bellman.
“We decided to feature the basket of produce, a nod to our feedlots and cattle, and our agricultural technology in the stump jump plough, tractor and harvester.”
The decision-making process was far from over at that point though.
“It wasn’t until I started talking to PJ that I then realised well ok we’re having a cow on there, but what kind of cow?”
“We ended up with two because I always love the seeing the Brahmans in the feedlots, and then we’ve always worked very closely with Texas Angus, so we got an Angus on there too,” said Ms Bellman.
“And the tractor colour was chosen by our 17-year-old grandson – believe me that was a huge decision too!”
The painting of the store took 10 days, but this delay was largely due to less-than-ideal weather conditions slowing down the process.
“PJ and Ben were so fascinating to watch, they do pretty much all the painting via a spray can, only using brush strokes to create finer details and texture,” said Ms Bellman.
“I can’t thank them enough, they were just so wonderful to work with, they really took their time and made sure that we were happy with the finished product.”
When asked what the response to the new murals had been so far, Ms Bellman said, “Phenomenal.”
“Not only have we had an amazingly positive response from the local community but we’ve also had nationwide interest. We’ve had people tagging us on social media and asking for us to be added to the Australian Art Trail, and heaps of phone calls asking how to reach us off the highway – it’s just amazing.”
The Bellmans have been running the Croppa Creek Store for 20 years now, operating a true one stop shop, with groceries, spare parts, fuel, gas, animal supplies, excavator hire, accommodation and a food and catering business.
In the time they’ve been there, they’ve come as integral to the community as Ms Bellman ensures us the community is to them.
“Really the mural is all about giving a gift to the community, to thank them for their support and to recognise how wonderful and beautiful our region really is,” said Ms Bellman.
“And we want to encourage others to come and see its beauty too – yes it can be rugged and harsh but it’s also really beautiful.”
This is far from the end of large-scale artwork for Croppa Creek with Ms Bellman telling us there’s more in planned for the store in the near future.
“Our next project is going to be to re-do the undercover eating area and so once that is done, we’re going to extend the mural further,” said Ms Bellman.
“The first stage celebrated the region and its agriculture but I want the next stage to celebrate the other thing that’s special about us, and that’s our community – our fire brigade, rugby and bowling club, school – all the identities that define us.”
“And I haven’t given up on our silos yet either, it’s always trickier getting public buildings painted but I’m working on it so watch this space.”
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