New Bush Center exhibit features paintings of military

George W. Bush has developed a passion for painting after leaving the White House and he's using it to highlight America's heroes and their courage.

A new exhibit of his work opens this week at the Bush Presidential Center on the SMU campus and the subject matter of the portraits is those who proved their bravery on the battlefield.

The exhibit is called Portraits of Courage, A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors. It is made up of 66 paintings and a four panel mural -- all done by Bush.

The military men and women depicted have all served since 9/11 and are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines whom Bush has come to know personally.

All of them have suffered the wounds of war. Sometimes their injuries are immediately apparent, other times the injuries aren't visible but very real -- such as PTSD.

The exhibit also highlights the work being done by the Bush Center to help ease the transition of our men and women in uniform, to civilian life.

There's also a book that's being released in conjunction with the exhibit. All of the profits will support the military service initiative.  

Portraits of Courage will run at the Bush Presidential Center through October 2017.