Intruder makes off with art student’s ‘girl’

A Kansas University art student is handing out fliers in an attempt to find the intruder who stole his masterpiece: a painting of a nude woman looking in a mirror.

“I felt like I’d lost a child,” said the artist, 21-year-old T.J. Fuller. “That painting really meant a lot to me.”

The incident occurred at 6 a.m. Saturday at Fuller’s apartment in the 300 block of West 12th Street.

He was sleeping in the apartment’s loft when he heard someone open the door and come in. He said he thought it was one of his roommates until he heard footsteps coming up to the loft.

Fuller opened his eyes and saw a man he described as “kind of like a scraggly hippie.” The man acted surprised, said he didn’t think anyone lived in the apartment and turned around.

Fuller went back to bed but heard the man fumbling with something downstairs. Fuller got up, went to the window and saw the man riding away on a bicycle and carrying the 2-foot by 3-foot painting, which had been hanging just inside the doorway.

Fuller began yelling out the window. The man turned and shouted, “I got your girl!”

Fuller has since printed about 100 fliers with a photocopy of the painting and the message, “If you see this painting, please call T.J. … It was stolen from me.”

He painted the portrait last year for an art class, and it later helped him win a $4,000 scholarship.

The painting depicts a woman sitting cross-legged in front of a mirror and wiping her eyes. It was inspired, Fuller said, by a methamphetamine addict he knew in high school who used to look at herself in the mirror all day.

“It was painted from a model, so it’s pretty realistic,” he said. “If I do say so myself, it’s pretty damn good, too.”