comfortable with a brush

i had the privilege of meeting a painter, anton pavlenko, at a recent art gallery event.  his modern oil impressionist paintings of france and of the countryside really resonated with me.  what was even better was to get to have some real conversation with he and his wife, courtesy of the mutual friend who introduced us.  anton shared that he was always very comfortable holding a paintbrush, since he was a small boy.  he went through a time, however, when he stopped painting and tried to fulfill other people's version of what success looked like.  finally he asked his wife if he could set up a painting area in their home and he found his joy again as canvas after canvas idea came pouring out of him.  i'm so glad he picked up the brush again.  you can see more of anton's work at www.antonpavlenko.com.