Trashed Masterpieces #15: Joe from Port City Pawn Picks a Stoned Schiele by Michele Moore

Welcome to the latest round of "Trashed Masterpieces" fun. Two years back, I started painting on dispensary bags because they were stacking up and my husband gifted me some acrylic markers that screamed to be used. What I didn’t see coming? This little game—dreamed up between dinner prep and my nonstop creating—would hit 15 reimagined classics, all building toward a January 2026 exhibition. And now, we’ve got #15, courtesy of Joe from Port City Pawn in North Port.

Here’s the scoop. I keep this bag of stickers—tiny nods to art history—and recently, someone gets to pick the next masterpiece. Friends have played along. Phillip, my husband has too. This time, it was Joe’s shot. I dragged my camera to Port City Pawn, handed him the bag, and watched him pull out Egon Schiele’s Self-Portrait with Lowered Head (1912). Those droopy, baked eyes? Perfect for a dispensary bag—Schiele looks like he’d fit right in at the counter.

I caught it all on video—Joe rummaging, grinning, and landing on #15. It’s fun, it’s real, and it’s live on my portfolio page right now [link to portfolio]. Watching it, I couldn’t stop smiling—there’s something so cool about a pawn shop pick turning a throwaway bag into art. Trash to treasure, old-school to right-now, all in one happy twist.

This series is my love letter to art’s past and a middle finger to waste. Those bags aren’t trash—they’re my playground. Schiele’s moody mug is coming alive on one as I write this, professional acrylic paints on a well prepped and gesso bag. It’s #15, and there’s more to come before 2026.

Hang out with me, because this is our thing now, members. You’re in the loop. Who’s picking next? What’s the next bag got in store? Swing by the portfolio and see where we’ve been—and where we’re headed.