Former President George W. Bush paints portraits of immigrants to 'change the tone' of immigration debate

EXCLUSIVE: A friend of former President George W. Bush said the country needed his voice in the immigration debate. instead, he offered his paintings – portraits of 43 immigrants, and their stories in an effort to "change the tone" of the rhetoric to focus on the "beauty" of immigration. 

"It’s something I just came to, I hadn’t been painting all my life," Bush said. "I started painting eight years ago, and I’ve been painting ever since."  "I was busy, but it turns out, I wasn’t fulfilled," he continued. "Exercising, golfing some, and giving speeches, and writing some other books, and by chance, someone gave me Winston Churchill’s essay, ‘Painting as a Pastime.’ I read it, and as a Churchill admirer, I took a keen interest in his paintings."