On a June-gloomy morning this week, Gary and Joan Bloomfield took a walk on the Huntington Beach Pier to celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary.
Propped against a wall outside Ruby’s Diner peered the abstract face of “Sad Man.” Dozens of people had passed by the painting without notice. But Joan Bloomfield stopped in her tracks.
“I love this!” she gushed.
“Turn it over,” prompted a nearby man holding a video camera.
On the back was a note: “Congratulations, you just found an original painting by Octopus/Caveman. I only ask that you give this painting a good home.”
Bloomfield squealed in delight. “Are you kidding?” she asked. “Oh my God! I’m an artist, too, and this is fantastic! Thank you, thank you!”
Westminster artist Anthony “Octopus/Caveman” Pedersen drops off his “Sad Man” painting for someone to find and keep at the Huntington Beach Pier, on Monday, June 17, 2019. “It always ends up with the person who was meant to have it,” he said. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Westminster artist Anthony Pedersen is dropping off free paintings at various sites around Southern California, giving clues to their whereabouts on his Twitter account. Pederson paints abstracts, including his series of “Sad Man” faces. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Pedersen)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
Anthony Pedersen adds a message to the back of his abandoned art explaining that it’s the finders to keep. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Dozens passersby pay no attention to Westminster artist Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting that leans on the Ruby’s restaurant at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier. Finally it was spied by Joan Bloomfield who was overcome when she realized it was hers to keep on Monday, June 17, 2019. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Westminster artist Anthony Pedersen is dropping off free paintings at various sites around Southern California, giving clues to their whereabouts on his Twitter account. Pederson paints abstracts, including geometrical shapes. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Pedersen)
Westminster artist Anthony “Octopus/Caveman” Pedersen drops off his “Sad Man” painting at the Huntington Beach Pier on Monday, June 17, 2019. Whoever finds it gets to keep it. “It always ends up with the person who was meant to have it,” he said. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
After being ignored by dozens of passersby on the Huntington Beach Pier, Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting catches the eye of Joan Bloomfield who was overcome when she realized it was hers to keep on Monday, June 17, 2019. Bloomfield was also celebrating her 41st wedding anniversary. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Westminster artist Anthony Pedersen is dropping off free paintings at various sites around Southern California, giving clues to their whereabouts on his Twitter account. Pederson paints abstracts, such as this surreal rabbit. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Pedersen)
After being ignored by dozens of passersby on the Huntington Beach Pier, Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting catches the eye of Joan Bloomfield who was overcome when she realized it was hers to keep on Monday, June 17, 2019. Bloomfield was also celebrating her 41st wedding anniversary. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Joan Bloomfield ended up with artist Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting after he left the canvas at the Huntington Beach Pier for someone to find and keep. Pedersen started giving his art away as part of an effort to help him out of depression. He usually doesn’t stick around, but on Monday, June 17, 2019 he did while being filmed for a documentary. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
After being ignored by dozens of passersby on the Huntington Beach Pier, Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting catches the eye of Joan Bloomfield who was overcome when she realized it was hers to keep on Monday, June 17, 2019. Bloomfield was also celebrating her 41st wedding anniversary. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
After being ignored by dozens of passersby on the Huntington Beach Pier, Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting catches the eye of Joan Bloomfield who was overcome when she realized it was hers to keep on Monday, June 17, 2019. Bloomfield was also celebrating her 41st wedding anniversary. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
After being ignored by dozens of passersby on the Huntington Beach Pier, Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting catches the eye of Joan Bloomfield who was overcome when she realized it was hers to keep on Monday, June 17, 2019. Bloomfield was also celebrating her 41st wedding anniversary. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Joan Bloomfield ended up with artist Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting after he left the canvas at the Huntington Beach Pier for someone to find and keep. Pedersen started giving his art away as part of an effort to help him out of depression. He usually doesn’t stick around, but on Monday, June 17, 2019 he did while being filmed for a documentary. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Joan Bloomfield ended up with artist Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting on her 41st wedding anniversary. Her husband, Gary, carries around a picture taken when they first started dating. Pedersen left the canvas at the Huntington Beach Pier for someone to find and keep.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Joan Bloomfield ended up with artist Anthony Pedersen’s “Sad Man” painting after he left the canvas at the Huntington Beach Pier for someone to find and keep. He usually doesn’t stick around after leaving his art, but on Monday, June 17, 2019 he did while being filmed for a documentary. Bloomfield blows him a kiss after she and her husband, Gary, go off to celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
But she thanked the wrong person – Los Angeles filmmaker Mike May, hovering about to document reactions.
The real benefactor was Westminster artist Anthony Pedersen, 36, who a week before began dropping off free paintings at various sites around Southern California. He made his 17th giveaway Monday, June 17, at the pier.
Other surprise locations have included Rainbow Donut shop in Westminster, the Seal Beach Pier, Ocean View High in Huntington Beach, Cypress College, a Claremont parking garage, the Long Beach Museum of Art, Riverside’s Mission Inn and MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.
Usually, “Octopus/Caveman” vanishes into the daylight after a delivery.
His attached message suggests, in an undemanding tone, that the finder consider notifying him on his OctopusCaveman Twitter account or via email. Not everyone complies.
“Two paintings have gone missing in action, but that’s OK,” he said.
Pedersen is not simply a hobbyist in search of an audience. His paintings have sold in galleries for upward of $1,000.
Also, he enjoys a YouTube following as a songwriter and guitarist. After paying the bills for years as an event photographer, he now does administrative work at an Irvine law firm.
The Westminster native was looking to clear his fog of depression when he struck upon the idea of creating a treasure hunt.
“I’ve probably had some degree of depression my whole life,” Pedersen said. “I think anyone with a desire to matter can struggle with depression.”
Rather than take antidepressants, he “self-medicates” by pursuing creative outlets: “I’m always in a good mood when I paint,” he said.
His recurring bouts of depression intensified when he went through a divorce five years ago, said Pedersen, father of a six-year-old son.
Meanwhile, selling his art became increasingly difficult.
“Shipping canvasses is expensive and a pain in the neck,” Pedersen said. “I’d rather just give my art away.”
Pedersen’s Twitter clues are fairly obvious. He even posts photos of his paintings hiding in plain view.
“I try to make it as easy as possible,” Pedersen said. “It’s just about the adventure and bringing joy to other people.”
For instance, when he left a painting at the Seal Beach boutique Purple Galore, Pedersen tweeted: “Green guy isn’t purple but he looks good here. Used to go fishing off of the pier with my dad near here as a kid. Never saw a seal though.”
Pedersen paints surreal portraits of “sad men,” geometrical shapes, dreamlike animal figures and other imaginative concepts.
Some Twitter followers have formed a support group of sorts, sharing their own issues with depression. Fans have traveled from miles away to secure a painting, at times arriving too late. “One guy drove from Santa Barbara,” Pedersen said.
But a few of the paintings have been discovered by pure serendipity, as in the case of Joan Bloomfield.
“Abstract art is my favorite,” said the Huntington Beach resident. “I love Salvador Dali.”
Her husband joked that the free painting meant he “got off light with an anniversary gift.”
“We constantly rearrange wall art in our house,” Gary Bloomfield said. “We definitely will find a place for this.”
After hanging out at the other end of the pier, Pedersen met up with the Bloomfields. There were hugs all around.
“My paintings,” Pedersen said, “have a way of ending up exactly where they belong.”
