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The colorful painting was propped on a bench in San Francisco with a note that reads "Everything Will Be All Right…This painting is yours to take for free." A young man named Nicholas was walking by when he was attracted to the bright and cheery art. He later wrote the artist to tell him what happened. "I was walking to work when I found this wonderful painting on a bench and your note. I held it and looked around because I thought someone left it accidentally but no one was near so I took it. I just want you to know that it does make me smile when I look at it. I am about to lose my job soon because the company I work for is going under but with such a small act from a total stranger, you made me smile. I just want to thank you for such a great gift." - Nicholas, San Francisco
Nicholas is just one of hundreds of people around the globe who are smiling more often now and have been given hope in these hard times by Fil-Am artist Bren Bataclan. Often referred to as the "smile artist," Bataclan has left paintings in hospitals, parks, street corners, train stations, unemployment agencies, schools and airports around San Francisco, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Alaska, Japan, Antarctica and across the globe. Each painting has a note attached to it that made people smile or gave them hope.
Born in Makati, Philippines, Bren immigrated to the US with his family when he was 12 years old. He studied in UCLA and worked in the special effects industry in Hollywood for a time before he went to graduate school in the Ohio State University. He taught computer animation in Boston and then joined the dot com world in the same city. When the dot com world crashed several years ago, he lost his job and didn’t know what to do next. He started drawing and decided to put up a show with 56 acrylic paintings. He said he would be happy if three of his paintings sold. Within two days, 49 of his paintings were sold.
"I was so happy for the support I got and I wanted to thank Boston," Bren told Asian Journal. Bren then got the idea of giving away his paintings for free.
"Many people don’t go to museums and galleries to appreciate art. Most don’t have an opportunity to own art. So, I thought of giving my paintings away, in exchange for a smile" said Bren, who left his paintings in various locations around Boston with notes saying "This painting is yours if you promise to smile at random people more often."
Bren shared that he noticed that the Bostonians were not smiling a lot so he used his colorful artworks to get more Bostonians to smile.
"When someone picks up a painting and I see them smile, I just feel like ‘Hey, job well done,’" he said.
