What does it take to become an artist?
What does it take to put raw paint on a canvas
and create something that can stir the heart and lift
the spirit?
That is the essential question at the heart of
this stunning and insightful novel. It traces the
evolution of Norman, a dentist perfectly able
to fill a tooth or craft a crown, but whose dreams
of becoming of a great artist are stymied by his
emotional rigidity and his "by the numbers"
dentist mindset.
But then, out of the blue, a furious hurricane
sweeps into Norman's well-ordered life, in the
form an ornery, cantankerous, foul-mouthed
artist and teacher named Kelly. The man is
repulsive and abusive, free-spirited and
excessive - and exactly what Norman's needs:
a mentor who reaches deep inside Norman and
brings forth the artist just waiting to be born.
