When people ask me what I do, I say I’m a painter, which is true. Sometimes people then ask if I paint houses, to which I say no, not generally, unless it’s my own, and then I awkwardly explain that I paint pictures that go in frames and sometimes that’s that and sometimes they ask more questions. Either way, I like this beginning. When I say I’m an artist, it can feel arrogant in a way that I don’t like. I don’t ever feel arrogant - I feel humbled by painting. Grateful when it works out and slogging away when it doesn’t. Isn’t that what a house painter does, anyway? On their best days - grateful when it works out and slogging away when it doesn’t? Isn’t that what we all do?