Guy Finds His Teenage Artwork On Shelf At Goodwill

Jacob Hansen in Denver was at a local Goodwill when he noticed a painting that seemed oddly familiar.

When Jacob and his wife, Quinn, were at the Goodwill around the corner from their house, they were on the hunt for a casserole dish for a friend with cancer, which they found. In addition, they also found a painting he made 21 years before for a high school art show.

“I look back at the backside of the store, and I see this painting and said to myself, ‘ah, that looks familiar. That looks a lot like the picture I did," Jacob told 9News.

Now an interior painter, Jacob Hansen painted the piece of art when he was 14 years old and a freshman at Golden High School in Denver, for an art show. After the show, he sold the painting for $150.

“I think it was the first piece of art I had in any show,” Hansen said. “It’s always been a fun memory to look back on something that I actually created and sold.”

“As we got closer and closer, I saw the sunflowers and the tin and the light brown colors that I remembered,” he told 9News. “I saw my signature on the bottom and then it was like, 'wow, this is unbelievable.’ And I immediately FaceTimed my mom.”

Get our free mobile app

Jacob and Quinn were in disbelief about the find, and how random it was that it'd be in the store that day.

“We could not believe it,” Quinn said, according to 9News. “He goes, ‘remember that painting I told you about that I sold when I was a kid and my mom never forgave me? I think this is it.’”

For $20, they bought the painting from the Goodwill, and they hope to sell it online now for a donation toward breast cancer research.