I’m 50+ and still a beginner in fine art. As a teenager, I attended intensive art classes and even considered an art career. However, at 15, when I entered university, I chose physics instead. I earned Masters and PhD in nuclear, by mid-twenties, I was leading a laboratory, several years later a department; and by mid-thirties I became an expert for an UN agency. I have never regretted that path. But by the time I turned 50, I had a growing feeling of “going round the prickly pear at five o’clock in the morning” (T.S. Eliot). I paused my nuclear career and reconsidered priorities and lifestyle. In the years that followed, I was hiking up to 50 km a day, reading books I had long postponed, and studying art — making studies after Modigliani, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet. It took me a while to dare to paint my own first piece — and that was exciting. My work is likely shaped by my previous professional background, but I see that influence more as a kind of seasoning than a flaw.