83-year-old Michigan minister paints and gives away pocket seashells

Reverend Gil Ames, an 83-year-old minister in Dansville, Michigan, recently began distributing hand-painted seashells to people he meets. He started this specific practice about six months ago. The shells are small enough to fit into his shirt pocket. He keeps at least 50 of them on him at a time.

Ames does not charge for the shells. He gives them away for free. He keeps his own thumbnail painted with an angel design. Every wooden egg he paints includes an angel somewhere in the scene. He also paints tiny angels on thumbtacks.

He has been an artist for his whole life. He built the frames for the paintings that line the walls of his home in rural Ingham County. He painted the canvases himself. His work imitates famous pieces like Blue Boy. He also paints religious scenes, including Christ at Gethsemane.

He painted his Chevy Equinox, which he calls a $34,000 canvas. The vehicle features tigers on the side. Ames spent 25 years as a long-haul truck driver. He began painting eggs during that time because they were portable. He also volunteered with the Red Cross at 52 national disasters, including the site of the attacks in New York.

His wife, Orma Ames, has been with him for 58 years. She says he paints anything that does not move. She describes him as a true artist who seeks new challenges when he gets bored.

Ames stopped counting the shells after he handed out his first 1,000. He often stops at a Big Boy restaurant in Mason for lunch. There, he gives shells to customers and staff. One woman at the restaurant said receiving a shell made her feel loved. A waitress said the gesture brightens people's spirits.

Ames said he is running low on a particular size of shell. He said the shells are not perfect but not bad either. He said the price is right.