Michael Shane Neal knew from an early age he wanted to be an artist. But there were no artists in his family, so he wasn't sure how he'd turn that into a career. After taking classes in the basement of a dormitory at Lipscomb University, he had a chance meeting with someone who knew the famed portrait artist Raymond Kinstler. And after a trip to New York, a mentorship was born.

Shane credits Kinstler with showing him the way to an artist's life. And since then, he's painted everyone from John Lewis to Sandra Day O'Connor, Morgan Freeman to former Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen. It's painstaking work — sometimes taking months of sittings, sketches and many, many conversations. It's in that process that, Shane says, he gets to know the essence of a person in order to convey it on canvas.

Guest: Michael Shane Neal

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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