For those of you who wondered how George W. Bush learned to paint his thought-provoking outsider art, the secret was revealed by Laura Bush on NPR's "Morning Edition" today: "an app on his iPad where he could draw pictures".

A transcript of Laura Bush's interview with NPR's David Green, via ArtFcity:

David Greene: Your husband has kept a pretty low profile since leaving office. But one thing that’s gotten some attention recently is his new hobby, painting. How did that come about?

Laura Bush: He was looking for a pastime. He got an app on his iPad where he could draw pictures. He communicated with me if I was on the road and with Barbara and Jenna with funny drawings.

David Greene: He was drawing you pictures to send you while you were on the road?

Laura Bush: Yeah, like he’d draw a picture of him in bed with Barney and the cat.

David Greene: Did you see a burgeoning artist or did you think he needed some work?

Laura Bush: Well, we did think they were pretty good. We thought they had a lot of personality and a lot of action. Then, he was looking for something to do and he chatted with John Lewis Gaddis who’s a presidential historian and he said ‘Why don’t you read Churchill’s book ‘Painting as a Pastime’? So he works at painting and paints for a few hours everyday.

iPad painting: just of the many similarities between George W. Bush and Churchill. [Artfcity]