"It's captured her down to a tee," daughter Linda exclaimed, her eyes welling up with emotion as she gazed at her mother, Aunty Elizabeth Connors, now immortalised on Evans Street.
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The hat, the jewellery and the smile - hallmarks of an Indigenous Elder not only loved by her devoted family, but respected by the town and community of Inverell.
The mural was completed on Monday by artist Claire Foxton, and four generations of Connors gathered to see the end result.
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"That face! That smile - that's mum, she always smiled in every photo," Linda added.
Another daughter Priscilla, was "very emotional", lost for words gazing up at her mum.
"It's beautiful. So life-like, and it brings back so many great memories," she said.
A stickler for the rules with an unshakeable belief in always doing the right thing, son Simon remembered getting in trouble more than a few times when he'd "stepped out of line".
He recalled the moment he saw the competition to choose the face of Inverell come up on Facebook: he was amazed then, but didn't really realise how emotional it would be until he saw her there, "lighting up the whole street".
"I was amazed when it came up on Facebook, and was even more amazed when she got chosen, especially considering the competition, who she was up against, such great members of the community," he said.
"This means the world to us. We love her, and she loved us so much."
While he laughed when thinking about what her reaction would have been, granddaughter Sharnee Connors said she would have been "very proud".
"It means a lot to see her there," Sharnee said.
"I think she would have had a great sense of pride, seeing that her work for the Inverell community was valued, and she'd have hoped it would be a reminder to continue that work."
She remembers Aunty Elizabeth as a great story teller and to see her larger than life on the wall next to the art gallery, she said the mural tells her story in a single image.
"She was always full of stories," she laughed.
"But she instilled in us to always look after family, and children - that's what she was about."
The process
Artist Claire Foxton was plagued with delays thanks to the patchy rain and biting wind interrupting her work, yet said the process was "incredibly rewarding".
"I'm ecstatic, just really proud - not just of the paint job but of the subject - who she is and who she was - a very respected member of the Inverell community," she said.
"Although I'm not used to working in such cold weather!" she added, laughing.
The family gifted her a card and flowers, in gratitude for her talent in doing justice to their matriarch.
While the first few days people had left her alone to do her work, when Aunty Elizabeth started coming to life, people would stop to chat, take photos, and the family would come up and tell stories of her.
"I think it really struck a chord with people, and that's heartwarming."
As soon as she saw the plans, she put in an expression of interest to Inverell Shire Council.
"This job just spoke to me," she explained.
"It's so rewarding - to leave my mark on a community, and to have Aunty Elizabeth to carry on a legacy, it's a really nice addition to the town."
When she was given a number of photos to use as inspiration, one photo from Michelle Jedlicka really stood out to her.
On Aunty's shirt, Claire incorporated flowers native to Goonoowigall - "her place".
As part of Inverell Reconciliation Group, Aunty Elizabeth assisted with many projects including the development of the guided walking track at Sheep Station Gully camp at Goonoowigall, which is now a popular cultural asset to the Shire.
The reason
The Public Art Committee chose Mrs Elizabeth Connors as the subject for the mural.
They said she'd worked in her quiet but determined way for inclusion and reconciliation, "and thus contributed to the social cohesion of our community," Cr Anthony Michael said.
"She was a dignified lady who was a recognised community leader."
Described as "a woman of immense generosity and compassion who supported an inclusive and caring community", Elizabeth Connors, better known as Aunty Elizabeth, was an Indigenous Elder in the Inverell community.
She was instrumental in forging strong relationships with many groups in the community which prompted her and other community members to from the Inverell Reconciliation Group.
Aunty Elizabeth's ability to move between cultures with ease stayed with her right up until her death in 2020 at the age of 94.
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