the nbc interview that he is not a great artist but he paints a lot because he wants to get better margaret spellings president of the bush presidential center in dallas where the exhibits are on display said the paintings would help broaden the image of bush and show what it takes to be a personal diplomat incidentally none of the foreign leaders who have been painted by bush have seen their portraits but manmohan singh now heading into retirement amid a crescendo of criticism about his leadership or lack of it can take heart from the fact that bush is enjoying a generous bump in popularity postretirement even if his shot at painting is being panned by critics a gallup poll last june showed he had close to a 50 per cent approval rating a significant increase from the mid30s shortly before he demitted office