A New York-based street artist, whose graffiti drew detention in high school, has returned to the Riverina to create public murals of famous faces in Finley.
The idea began when artist Damien Mitchell, who grew up in Wagga Wagga, decided to take up the offer from family friends.
They own a local pub in Finley, and asked him to paint one of their walls.
"We figured while we're here it's probably a good place to be at this time, why not splash a bit of paint around," Mr Mitchell said.
After word got out about his work, others soon came knocking.
"Once there is one mural in town everybody else sees it and I ended up doing a good half a dozen," Mr Mitchell said.
The designs include local celebrities such as former AFL footballer Shane Crawford, and rock band Spiderbait.
But there is also a tribute to a local mechanic, and depictions of Clydesdale horses at the local bowling club.
Mr Mitchell said he enjoyed creating the murals while he was back in Australia.
"I had a great experience in Finley painting the walls over there, I got to have a couple of mates help me out as well and meet all the people in town," he said.
From Wagga Wagga to the Big Apple
Mr Mitchell left Wagga Wagga when he was 18 and lived in Prague for 10 years.
He worked there as an artist before moving to New York with his wife.
His earlier work as a teenager growing up in Wagga Wagga was not always appreciated, especially at his local school, where he more than once received detention for graffiti.
"As my Grandma once said 'art is different things to different people' and I think that people at the school I went to probably didn't see eye to eye with the stuff I was creating at the time," Mr Mitchell said.
He now makes a living traveling the world creating street art with spray paint, something neither he nor his family thought possible when he was younger.
"It's crazy it's turned itself into a job," Mr Mitchell said.
"I don't think my Dad was really expecting this to happen when he caught me scribbling around town."
Mr Mitchell will return to the US next month, but has plans to come back to Australia to create more pieces.
