One local artist has succeeded in making a living of sorts from the city council. John Noakes recounted how it started. “On one pelting wet day I saw all these kids crouching in a leaky bus shelter on the peninsula and thought that we should do something about it. I offered to paint it if others would repair it. Within days, someone from the next bay asked whether I could do their bus stop. After I’d done three, the council noticed, and ever since we’ve had a wonderful arrangement whereby I paint what­ever I like and they pay for the paint and my time.”