Holly Bailey

Laura Bush speaks to reporters in the “Rose Garden” of the Bush library (Dallas TX)

Journalists, Bush and Blair (Bush Library, Dallas TX)

As George W. Bush prepares to formally open his library Thursday, I wrote about the scrutiny that presidential libraries face when it comes to history and how they play in helping presidents shape their legacy.

The funniest tidbit I got was from Skip Rutherford, one of Bill Clinton’s closest friends who helped lead the Clinton library effort. He said a lot of presidents often redo their libraries after seeing what their successors did, and that folks in Little Rock are already “bracing” for a phone call from Clinton after he tours the Bush library on Thursday.

“Everybody thinks he’s going to go down to Dallas and come back and say, ‘We need this, we need to do that,‘” Rutherford told me. (via Yahoo News)

43 and 41 (Dallas TX)

Of course I wouldn’t come to Texas for the Bush library opening without finding out more about the former president’s life as a painter. His friends tell me they “literally” could not believe it when they heard about his new hobby–though now they are all lining up to have him paint portraits of their dogs (via Yahoo News)

The artwork of George W. Bush — the painter known as “43” — is finally for sale.

While the former president’s paintings won’t be found at the National Gallery of Art — or even the Dallas Museum of Art — the George W. Bush Presidential Center is selling a limited-edition Christmas ornament that highlights one of Bush’s pieces.

The ornament, which features a Bush painting of a cardinal, is the first reproduction of the former president’s work to be available for purchase. Bush surprised many in politics, the media and the art world earlier this year by discussing his newfound love of painting.

The original was painted for a friend of Bush’s, Warren Tichenor, a San Antonio media executive and investor who was an ambassador in the Bush administration. Bush said his wife, Laura, liked the painting’s red and green hues. She chose it for their Christmas card and as the first official holiday ornament for the Bush Center, on the campus of Southern Methodist University.

From George W. Bush, the painter, a holiday ornament for sale (via Dallas Morning News)

A NYC art gallery said on Facebook it would host an exhibition of George W. Bush’s paintings, so because I cover the really important stories, I had to chase that down. End result: It was a hoax, but I did have an excuse to post this shaggy dog painting again.

Fact: George W. Bush’s shaggy dog painting is actually pretty good. (via Gawker)

Los Angeles, 2016 (at Los Angeles, California)
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