My 42nd birthday is coming up and a fellow August birthday friend phoned me to tell me about a piece of art she saw in downtown Royal Oak. Now Royal Oak is a hip and trendy suburb of Detroit, complete with the coolest restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, and galleries. I was flattered to find out that she was pretty sure she saw my art in one of the windows in the front of a Royal Oak establishment. She thought she recognized my micropointillist style in a painting of a torch or something. I recalled one of my earliest micropointillist paintings I did of a smokestack belching fire and smoke inspired by one I saw near Alma, Michigan that I first sketched over 15 years ago. Perhaps that was it?

I thanked her and made a point of checking it out on my lunch hour later that day. Sure enough, it was my painting and prominently displayed in the right hand corner of the window front. You may be wondering what fine gallery was able to obtain one of my early works and put it for sale without notifying me for my commission? It was none other than The Salvation Army!

Immediately, I entered and bought it. The price tag listed it for $14.99, but thanks to a sale they were having on all art, I got it for only $11.91. What a bargain! I wish I could tell you there are more micropoints there for you to rush and save money on, but that was all I saw. (Of course, you can always notify me of a micropoint painting you like on my gallery, and I could tell you my price. I highly doubt it will be only $14.99, though. Sorry.)

So how did my art end up at The Salvation Army? I have no idea. Apparently, I must have sold or gave it to someone many years back and (s)he decided (s)he didn’t want it anymore. Sensing it deserved more than a trip to the trash, it must have been donated to The Salvation Army for resale purposes. I wonder if the former owner was able to get a large tax deduction from donating it?

Anyway, here’s some photos I took about all this:

The sunlight shines from above as though signaling where great art can be found.

Here’s my painting shining prominently in the window front where the cool citizens of Royal Oak could ooh and ahhh at it to their heart’s content. That is, until I bought it and took it home.

That’s the price on the back. I never thought I could find one of my paintings relegated to a reduced section.

As though $14.99 isn’t cheap enough, I happened to buy it on an art sale they were holding. How lucky can I get?

Thank you very much, Salvation Army, for reuniting me with one of my paintings.

(By the way, see that woman in the photo next to the car? She’s giving the car a ticket for letting the meter run out. Let that be a warning to any of you who visit Royal Oak — always make sure your parking is paid up.)

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