returning them to their doorstep reveals herself
For months now, they have provided a daily doorstep puzzle for mystified homeowners.
When they go to pick up their milk, they find extra bottles.
The bottles are empty. But etched on them are pictures of animals, often cows or mice, carefully carved into the glass in astonishing detail.
Mystery revealed: Charlotte Hughes-Martin engraves milk bottles and then randomly delivers them to houses in the West Midlands
The free artwork has been puzzling and delighting residents in Stourbridge, West Midlands, and surrounding villages since the bottles started appearing in the spring.
But the identity of the artist behind them - nicknamed the 'bottle Banksy' after the secretive graffiti artist whose work appears overnight on buildings across the country - remained a mystery.
One resident said: 'My son has been trying to get up really early to catch the artist at it. But it's like Santa - you never see them.'
Mystery artist: Jackie Dimock, 55, discovered a decorated bottle on her doorstep
And Jackie Dimock, 55, who discovered one of the bottles on her doorstep on Monday, said: 'I had heard something about this from a friend, but nobody knows who is doing it.'
She added: 'The milkman came to collect the bottles, but I didn't want to give him the one with the picture on it, I'm going to keep it. It might be worth something one day.'
Now, however, the Daily Mail can identify the person behind the milk bottle creations as Charlotte Hughes-Martin.
The 30-year-old artist said she had been motivated by a desire to show how 'domestic, everyday objects can be things of beauty too'.
The ex-lecturer, who works from a studio in a former glass factory said she had been dropping off batches of her work at random addresses for months.
Bottle Banksy: Some of the works of art which have been left on doorsteps
'I like to give people a surprise and make them do a doubletake when they step outside their front doors in the morning to pick up their pints of milk,' she said.
'I've been etching the bottles for months, then, every so often, I'll head out one morning and drop them off at random houses all around the area.
'Everyone should be able to enjoy art in their everyday life and I just love the idea that my designs could bring a smile to someone's face as they make a cup of tea in the morning.'
Detailed etchings: Neighbours were baffled when Charlotte left artwork on their doorsteps
Some of the bottles are left out for refilling and then distributed to other homes, but many have been kept as souvenirs or artworks by delighted homeowners. A few have even been traded on internet auction sites.
Miss Hughes-Martin said she buys the bottles from local shops - where they are sold containing orange juice - and then works on them in her spare time.
She has completed between 30 and 50 milk bottle engravings to date.
Mysterious: The milk bottle etcher has been compared to enigmatic graffiti artist Banksy (picture in Portobello Road, London)
Source: Daily Mail UK., September 23, 2008 
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