From Nov. 2019 to Nov. 2024, I painted and gave away 500 paintings.
What started in Sheffield, UK slowly spread around the globe. My paintings have been left for people to find in places like park benches, playgrounds, paths, shop windows—and they have found homes in Japan, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Middle East, United Kingdom and the USA from the east coast to the west, including Hawaii.
Why?
This project started with an idea to celebrate my 33rd birthday with a random act of kindness. I decided to paint, package and distribute 33 canvases to celebrate the day.
I loved doing that project, and the response to that first art drop was so positive that I decided to keep going.
Now, I know what some of you may be thinking… Are you MAD?
Maybe a little bit, but in reality I was responding to a constraint.
I was in a unique situation where I couldn’t technically sell my art because I was on a work visa as a tech worker in the UK. Work visas come with stipulations—they’ve granted you the right to live and work here, so the stipulation was that I was only allowed to generate an income through my visa-granted tech work.
So while I’ve always done art and sold pieces here and there, collecting an income from art was strictly off limits for me for those years, until my visa advanced to a “settled” status. But the fact that I couldn’t really sell my art was never going to stop me from practicing my art. And because people like art I was sure to find homes for each and every piece I created without having to worry about my home turning into an artists’ hoard.
As an optimist — I tend to look at constraints and challenges as opportunities, and this was an opportunity to practice my art without any thought or worry about selling it, and it was a great outlet for me while I was focussed on building my career in technology as a UX designer and manager.
My goal for the paintings quickly grew from 33 to 100, to 300, and eventually 500. I loved doing the project so much I just kept going! Once I set my heart on 500 I was completely invested in finishing it. And I’m so proud — That’s 500 real, human-made paintings. Done with love. All given away to complete strangers. Hidden like Easter eggs in cities across the globe for finders to find and keep (or gift to a friend).
It was bitter-sweet for me when the project came to an end! But despite the challenge of it, it gave me so much and helped to shape me as an artist. The 500 Project gave me space to explore my art, to hone in on my process, to find real meaning in my work. It taught me that you reap what you sow. When we give our gifts to the world, we get gifts back. And it’s inspired so many people to share their gifts too. I believe this is really important.
I’ve been so grateful for the messages I’ve received from finders throughout the years. Those responses kept me going at times when I felt like giving up. So thank you to everyone who reached out!
If you want to dive deeper into this story, you can read more here in this article, “How a small act of kindness became an act of prolific giving” and “The 500 Project: Complete.”
Below is a catalog of original paintings I’ve created and dropped into the world. Each one is an 8 x 10” canvas, mostly acrylic on canvas. Thanks to a few duplicate numberings, I actually completed 506, all featured here. Throughout the entire project, I posted regularly on my Instagram too!