Fireweed (Acrylic on Canvas)

Going for a Van Gogh style here. At first, I didn’t think much of this. But on further consideration it’s kind of…okay. A little more effort on the leaves and stems would’ve helped a lot. Still. It’s probably better than I could do 🤷‍♂️

Cartoon Characters (Acrylic on Canvas)

Since these all showed up on the same day I think we can safely assume they are all by the same person. Probably a kid (I would hope so, at least) so I won’t be too unkind. They look like what they’re supposed to look like but other than that? Not great…

Marbleized Canvases (Latex Paint? on Canvas)

Well we’ve had a couple more of these things show up here I guess. These were small, on a kind of plastic-coated (from the feel?) canvas. Not great, not awful. Just kind of…eh. 

Christmas Tree in the Middle of Nowhere II (Acrylic on Canvas)

Gotta love these Paint Night suggested topics. That’s almost certainly what this (and the previous painting) is/are. 

Imagine: at some random local restaurant one night fairly recently (and we know it must have been “fairly recently” because who in their right mind would have kept this horrid painting for very long?) in between the Pizza Shooters, Shrimp Poppers and Extreme Fajitas, a bunch of wine-drunk Soccer Moms painted this stupid, boring, pointless Christmas scene.

The most horrifying part? There are probably 15 or 20 more of these things out there somewhere, all showing varying degrees of incompetence, staggering/shambling towards Value Village like zombies. Brrr….

Christmas Tree in the Middle of Nowhere (Acrylic on Canvas)

We have yet another not-very-good one on our hands here, and it is almost certainly the result of a recent Paint Night.

Honestly this is just more a picture or a drawing than it is a painting. It’s like if a little kid drew a picture. And I don’t mean that as an insult to the artist: I’m not saying he or she has the talent of a little kid. I’m saying, as a relatively-incompetent painter myself,  that I too have often caught myself painting something without any depth or dimensions or shading or anything that makes a painted image organically alive on the canvas. Like a kid drawing something on construction paper.

That’s what this is like. And the next one too.

Flowers? Maybe? (Acrylic on Canvas)

There’s another painting rather like this one that we installed a couple of months ago. I wonder if it’s by the same guy:

https://valuevillageartgallery.blogspot.com/2026/05/flowers-acrylic-on-canvas_02086044744.html?m=1

White paint on a white canvas always feels a little weird to me. These flowers (if they actually are flowers) aren’t bad but they’re a little too imprecise for my taste. This doesn’t feel Impressionist to me: it feels more…gimmicky. Anyway. It’s not bad but it’s not what I’d call good either.

It just is…

Believe (Acrylic on Canvas)

Awful. Just awful.

Hearts (Acrylic on Canvas)

Yeah, it’s kind of dumb. But a kid or teenager probably did it and maybe this was all he or she could come up with. We won’t be too unkind. 

If all the white areas of canvas here had been filled with paint that contrasted well with all the red, blue, pink and plum, this would look a lot better.

(“Teenager’s Room” better, that is. Not “Normal Human Being’s Wall” better.)

Dogs and Saying (Acrylic on Wood Plank)

These are actually sort of cute dogs. Especially the white one: he or she has a derpy little look on his or her face. I don’t absolutely hate this. For what it is (semi-kitschy, semi-cloying, “Kountry Kitchen”-type art), I mean. Not all art has to be Important. It just shouldn’t be stupid or ugly. This is neither of those things.

Dogs make this world a better place. They deserve our support.

Eyes and Clouds? (Acrylic on Canvas)

I know I sometimes wind up saying this a lot but yet again: I have no freaking clue what this is supposed to be about. In this case we have eyes, some things that either look like clouds or maybe (?) pieces of brain matter flying through the air? Combined with the speckles/spatters of Red Mist (also blue mist?) maybe this is a crime scene of some kind?

I dunno man…

Drips (Acrylic on Canvas)

The existence of this…thing… perfectly sums up why certain paintings get discarded/abandoned at Value Village…

What In God’s Name Is This?!? (Acrylic on Canvas)

This…whateverthehell it is…is strangely repugnant.

Is this a manga or anime thingie of some kind? Are they those doggone Transfarmers or Ponkemons I keep hearing about? Is this a sex/fetish deal? A moose/pie/bee Furrie cult? I’m asking these questions but in all honesty I really don’t want to know. Just make it stop…

Desert Scene (Acrylic on Canvas)

Nondescript and thoroughly average.

Still: it’s a solid 4 on my “1 to 10” scale. Definitely not the worst we’ve seen.

Colorful Bird (Acrylic on Canvas)

This is…really not bad.

I am a sucker for brightly-colored Art. I actually kind of like this. Good job, anonymous artistic-type person.

??? (Acrylic on Canvas)

 Really not very good…

Winter Landscape (Acrylic on Canvas)

Again, pardon the glare: this was framed and behind glass. A slightly-odd way to treat a painting but pfft what do I know?

This is well done but really kind of…blah. Isn’t it? Not trying to be mean. It’s just kind of…”eh.” I could easily see this hanging in my grandmother’s parlor. If I had a grandmother with a parlor. But I don’t. Nevertheless, someone held on to this for a long time so it must’ve really meant something to someone. For close to half a century. 

1979 was a very good year. I remember it well.

Nude Study (Acrylic on Canvas)

This came very very very close to making it into the illustrious (Value Village Art Gallery Favorite) club. Because it is classically artistic. No nonsense. No gimmicks. Just legitimate talent and effort expended to create something good. I really do like this a lot. But then there’s…that head. It looks a little bit like Peter Cushing to me. And it was really hard for me to get past that. I could live with the slightly-wonky feet and hands, but that head. Brrr.

Regardless, this is a good painting and we are glad to have it here. For realz.

 

Daisies? (Acrylic and Plaster on Wooden Box Frame?)

A little out-of-the-ordinary. And only marginally interesting. I almost didn’t include it. But it IS art after all, so 🤷‍♂️

On second thought: As paintings of flowers go, this is actually a pretty nice one. We have some legitimately flower-like perspective, depth, drooping and shape. I’m a fan of amateur flower paintings when they’re done well. This one was.

On a different subject: we are getting close to the end, folks. I am going to try (?)) to call it quits when we hit our one thousandth painting. Which should be sometime before the end of this month (July of 2026).

It has been a lot of fun, for sure 🙂

Girl (Acrylic on Canvas)

Really nice. And somewhat unusual I think. I’d love to know the backstory on this one: who painted it, who was painted, and why it wound up discarded/donated at Value Village.

Home (Crayon and Pencil on Paper)

I like this very much. Not just because it’s feels like it’s from another time, and is cute and may (!) have been done by a little kid. It’s just…decent. A decent example of representational art. It’s not annoying or stupid or pointless. Someone made this and it was worth making.

Good job!!!