A pleasant surprise.

I came home from shopping the other day to find this card from the person who reads our electricity meter stuck in my front door. It put a big smile on my face. It is always nice to receive compliments, especially about my art.
Usually meter boxes are placed on the front or sides of homes in Australia so they can be read by the service companies. We have a gas and electricity meter on the porch near our front door. Normally they are painted a plain colour to blend in with the house.

About 10 years ago I kept looking at that big blank square, every time I entered our home, thinking it would be a great place to do a painting. Then one day I got out my paints.  I first painted the bricks on to blend in with the real bricks and then added the birds and animals. Over the years a lot of people have commented on them because it is very unusual but because I painted them so long ago and have seen them hundreds of times I tend to forget how unique they are.

 

 
The photos don't really show how well the fake bricks match the real ones but I have seen one meter reader look at the porch area then go around the side of the house to find the meter, only to come back to the porch with a confused look on his face. Now that I am looking at them again I think I would do a much better painting if I did them today but for now I am happy to leave them as they are.