Warragul artist collaborates with community in latest work
What are you grateful for? Customers invited to contribute to cafe mural of a yellow-tailed black cockatoo.
Jaci Hicken
March 25, 2025
Warragul artist Nicole Smith's latest public-ish artwork is a story of joyful gratitude.
We call it “public” art in the sense that it’s a mural and collaboration for all to see, and “-ish” because it’s inside That Yellow Door Cafe on Queens St, Warragul.
“It was basic, boring, timber particle board and the new owners of the cafe decided they wanted to put a mural on it,” Nicole told the Gippsland Monitor.
The cafe put out a call on Facebook for an artist to paint the wall, with Nicole being the most tagged person on the post.
At the same time, Warragul North Primary School art teacher Jo Draisma approached the cafe in person to use the wall to create a community gratitude mural.
“Gratitude is very important to Jo,” said Nicole.
“So, they asked if I was willing to collaborate, which I was.”
Jo contributed to the design of the flower silhouettes that Nicole included in the finished artwork.
Warragul resident Meryl Cracknell writing what she was grateful for on the wall at That Yellow Door Cafe.
The mural is painted onto a blackboard and locals are invited to write what they are grateful for on the mural and decorate the flowers as they see fit.
“It is a fluid piece of art owned by the community,” said Nicole.
“The owners told me that they really liked yellow-tailed black cockatoos and if I could incorporate that into the mural, that would be great.
“But the rest was left up to me.”
To Nicole, the yellow-tailed black cockatoos symbolise joy, culture, and resilience.
“We only get the yellow-tailed black cockatoos in this area,” said Nicole.
“I found while painting them that every second person had a story about them, that they are good, and everyone thinks they are good.”
Each of the birds in the mural at That Yellow Door has a unique personality, with none of the birds looking the same.
Nicole Smith's mural is a collaboration with the community.
Nicole, a trained illustrator, built up each bird using layers of paint to create texture, giving the viewer a feeling of flow and energy.
The yellow line in the monochrome mural was used to create a feeling of movement and to give the black bird depth from the wall.
Nicole is inspired by native birds, painting scenes and stories from daydreams and nature, but she is not opposed to painting non-native wildlife, having recently finished a private mural inside a house in Newborough of camels.
You can see other murals and works by Nicole scattered through Gippsland, including at Andrews House Aged Care in Trafalgar, Trulli’s Pizza in Meeniyan and Kelly’s Bakery in Korumburra.
