EDMONDS, Wash. – It's Tuesday night at Aria Studio in Edmonds with a little jazz, a little wine and a lot of paint.
For Joel Patience and his wife Dale, it's date night.
"Even if you have a crummy day at work, you can forget about it when you come painting," he said.
For Joel it's much more than art, it's therapy.
Five years ago, Joel's life was dark, but today the one-time commercial developer is surrounded by light and color.
"My passion and my styles, they come from getting hit a couple of times by a car," he said.
Joel had two accidents in nine months. The first one happened at an Everett intersection. He was rear-ended at high speed in his 1985 long-bed pickup he still drives today. Head trauma and severe nerve damage crippled him.
So a doctor suggested he pick up painting as physical therapy and it uncovered a skill he never knew he had.
Now this beginner's work adorns the walls of the Coldwell Banker office in downtown Edmonds, and a painting is the cover of the Daniel Smith summer art catalog – an achievement even lifelong painters pine for.
For Joel, it's an escape from the pain of the past as he embraces a brighter future, more color, more life.
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