Woman Finds Portrait She Painted as a Child Being Sold as 'Amateur Watercolor' in Antique Store for $48

You never quite know what you're in for when you walk into a thrift store. Other than the guarantee of some incredible deals that are practically a steal, one can't exactly predict what we might find tucked away among the various oddities and curiosities for sale.

However, even with this knowledge, you'd hardly expect to stumble upon something you yourself made when you were a child. This is the story of TikTok user Nicole Dominguez (@mynamemeansvictory) who walked into an antique warehouse "five towns over on a whim" and immediately noticed a familiar piece of artwork.

In a video Dominguez shared on TikTok and Instagram, she holds up a framed painting of a woman and explains in the text overlay: "POV: You visit an antique warehouse five towns over on a whim and the first thing you see is the portrait of your mom you did when you were 5yo being sold for $48.00 as 'Amateur Watercolor.'" The clip quickly racked up over 600k views and had the internet so enthralled that cries for a storytime video quickly flooded the comments section.

Dominguez obliged, and uploaded a follow-up video explaining the back story of finding her childhood art in an antique store. "The first thing that I saw was the portrait of my mom that I did when I was five. I immediately FaceTimed my mom who was shocked that it was being sold, and she instructed me to buy it back no matter the cost and ask where they sourced it," she explains in the clip. Dominguez's family had recently moved from their previous house to a new one and some of their belongings were "left in old furniture and some just being put in storage," she shared.

When Dominguez informed the warehouse owners about the origins of the painting, they immediately got in touch with the vendor who claimed she wasn't aware of where the painting came from. "She said that because it came in a frame already, she could not get the back off of it... I told them that if they opened the back they would see the date, name, and the age I was when I painted it written by my mom on the back," Dominguez shared, adding that the vendor instructed the warehouse owners to give her the painting free of cost.

She also defended her mom by saying, "for those who say that my mom gave it away, you do not know my mom." Chuckling, she revealed that her mom only saved one piece of Nicole and her sister's childhood art and that she had them both framed as we see in the video. "Because of the small space of our new house, she wrapped it up and had to choose to put it in storage. And that's where she thought it was, even though she was looking for it later on. We still have no idea how this piece ended up in a thrift store, but we're very very happy that she's home," Dominguez concluded.

Some of the comments under Dominguez's original video initially suspected that her mother may have abandoned the painting. "Mom has some explaining to do," wrote @ab_reedbooks. "How did it get there?!" questioned @livefreeortour.

Once she explained the back story, the comments raised suspicions about the vendor. "I'm suspicious about the vendor 'not knowing' where she got it from. You guys should be sure nothing else is missing from storage," commented @raiseusfromperdition. "The vendor probably somehow acquired it and tried to play it off as real art and was too ashamed to admit it so they just said TAKE IT," added @andtheniappeared. 

Some comments didn't hold back from joking around the whole absurd situation. "Plot twist: it's a glitch in the matrix and it's *also* still in storage," said @fairlilith. "Make prints and sell them for $48," suggested @soulfelt_stationery. "My faith in humanity and vibes is completely restored at this moment. Adopt me," wrote @nottherealchonk.

It would be a good idea to just go and check our own storage facilities now in case we don't want to be surprised by our pieces of art in a random store. Oh, wait. My paintings aren't worth selling. Better to still check though.