Five-dollar bargain buy turns out to be a thousand-dollar find

Standard Democrat

SIKESTON, Mo. -- It looks as though a five-dollar bargain has turned out to be a thousand-dollar find for Vanduser resident Brenda Bryant.

Like hundreds of yard sale goers, Bryant was rummaging from sale to sale early Friday when an ink-washed painting caught her eye during a yard sale at a Sikeston home.

"It just looked really unusual," Bryant said about the painting.

So Bryant bought the painting, which was framed at the time. The picture titled "At the Pump" featured an old water pump with children surrounding it.

"I could see some writing that the frame was covering and when I pulled back the frame, I could see the artist's name. It didn't look like an reprint either," Bryant said.

So Bryant decided to do her homework via the Internet.

She went to an artist search Web site and typed in what she thought was the name of the artist, Linda Picker. She found no matching results. Then Bryant decided that the "r" in Picker was really an "n." So she typed in Linda Picken, and much to her surprise, an artist by the name of Linda Picken did exist.

"I saw an 800-number and called her (Picken)," Bryant recalled.

Picken told Bryant if no ink dots were detected on the picture and the signature was authentic, it was an original, Bryant said. The first thing Monday morning, Bryant brought the picture to the Standard Democrat, where a printer's magnifying glass was used to inspect the artwork. When no dots were found, Bryant said she was shocked and excited.

The painting's creator said she was just as surprised to receive the call from Bryant who was inquiring about the painting.

"My husband had grown up in a real old Washington, Iowa, house, which has since been declared a museum.

There were some photographs of an old pump that stood out back of the house, and I used the idea for the painting," Picken said in a phone interview from her Bentonville, Ark., studio Monday.

Picken said she painted "At the Pump" in the early 1970s and believes it was sold to someone in Houston, Texas. Since then, Picken graduated from ink wash to water color and oils. Her work has been licensed throughout the world and featured on popcorn tins, puzzles, afghans, coasters and most recently, Bradford plates. Picken said she is best known for her paintings of cats and dogs.

"It was one of the first paintings I did. There are probably about 300 prints of it," Picken noted.

Picken pointed out that if there are no dots detected on the painting, it's more than likely an original.

Even though no dots were seen and the signature appears authentic, Bryant said she will continue to do research on the painting, and her next step will be contacting a gallery.

Picken seemed amused with the fact Bryant found her painting at a yard sale. The lighthearted artist agreed a lesson can be learned from Bryant's experience.

She said: "I guess it proves you never know what you can find at a yard sale."