I’ve been in Melbourne, Australia for a few days, mixing business with pleasure. In addition to my consulting work and catching up with a few friends, I made and placed a few art drops.
I started with a couple of small pieces of kindness, which are a pencil and water colour note on the reverse of a postcard with a Winged Heart print on the other side. I noticed racks and racks of bicycles in the city and I used a couple of these as temporary easels to place the art.
I also painted a piece of Winter Ice plus an untitled piece – a kind of floral/plant like abstract.
I left the Winter Ice on Bourke Street and when I returned to the scene of the crime about 90 minutes later, it had gone. I Instagrammed the second piece, which I placed on the other side of the city at the Shrine of Remembrance, and on this occasion – the finder contacted me to let me know they had the art. I really appreciated that.
I made one last piece, which I forgot to place so I’ve brought it back to London to leave locally later in the week.
I often find it difficult to place the art and walk away from it, letting go is hard. I felt this very strongly when the project first started (self doubt – who is going to want one of these…?), and I really noticed this feeling returning strongly while I was away. I guess that at home, people now know about the free art drops. They seek them out, often letting me know when they’ve been discovered, whereas on unfamiliar territory – they are once again unfamiliar. Will anybody want them?