PORT TOWNSEND — A local gallery got its “Christmas miracle” a little late when a painting reappeared on the wall last week after having been taken by someone who apparently thought its title was the same as its price.
“Free,” by local artist Jesse Joshua Watson, was returned to the Undertown Cafe on Thursday, said Artisans on Taylor owner Anna Nasset, whose gallery supplies art for the cafe.
Nasset said that a person who identified himself as a friend of the thief returned the painting, which had disappeared from the cafe earlier this month.
That person told the employee that the thief was “embarrassed” about his actions, Nasset said.
“It was a mistake,” Nasset said.
“He took it literally.”
Returned without fanfare
No one involved was identified. Nasset said that the painting appeared on the wall without fanfare and that information about the thief was secondhand.
In her blog, Nasset wrote that the thief was “mortified beyond belief and very sorry.
“Jesse and I were both thrilled that we believed in the irony of the situation and handled it calmly, and look at the wonderful results,” she wrote.
Nasset had not filed a police report about the theft. She said she would if the painting was not returned.
“We are hoping for a Christmas miracle, that someone will just return it,” she said on Dec. 22.
Painting still for sale
The painting is still for sale, and Watson has said he will accept the best offer.
Anyone wishing to put in a bid is asked to stop at the gallery at 911 Water St.
If it doesn’t sell, Watson said he would be willing to give the painting to the person who stole and returned it.
The painting, rendered in ink and acrylic on a 32-by-28-inch piece of particle board with a chipped corner, began its association with Watson as a sign advertising free items.
The items had been taken away, leaving only the “free” sign by the side of the road.
Watson picked up the sign and painted a background and a surf scene along the bottom, which he called “an expression of freedom.”
‘Free’ letters intact
He left the original “Free” letters intact, using them as the centerpiece of the painting.
Watson said he was not surprised when someone took the painting but wasn’t ready for the reaction from his friends.
“There were some people who said I was ‘asking for it’ and that I should have expected that it would get taken,” he said.
“But if there is a piece of art hanging on the wall with a tag on it along with a lot of other paintings, you assume that it has a price.”
Watson said he would have been willing to let the painting go but it was out of his control.
“The painting just came into my life, and it would have been OK if it had gone out the same way,” he said.
“But once it was in the custody of the gallery, it was a different matter.”
Watson wasn’t surprised that it was easy for someone to walk off with the painting and not be stopped.
“If someone looks like they are supposed to be doing something around here, then everyone goes along with it,” he said.
“Port Townsend has a real edge, and a lot of people just do what they want.”
________
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.