One day, a Greenpeace canvasser knocked on his doors and marveled at the walls, asking whose work Isik collected. (The environmentalist also happened to be a folk art collector.) When Isik told the man that the paintings were his own, the canvasser took a closer look and asked to buy one. Soon after, Greenpeace helped to connect Isik with folk art collectors around the state.

"I has thought art was something that moms and dads bought to hang above the couch," says Isik. "The concept that someone would want to buy something I made and live with it just blew me away. That idea still blows me away."

The canvasser gave Isik his first hint that he might be able to make his newfound love into a living. It was surprising, because painting was something that he discovered a ravenous passion for so haphazardly.

"I never painted to be a painter. I never had any ideas about what to put on the wood. I would pick up my paintbrush and just start moving my hand," he says. "I'm not a religious guy. I don't hear voices or God saying, 'Do this.' I think it just happened because it was something I'd never done before. A lot of things in life happen that way, like when you see someone and you're attracted to them and you don't know why. People make decisions like that all the time - some work, some don't. In this case, I can't imagine doing anything else."

The first local exhibit Isik saw was a a collection of Rick Borg's work at Doo Wac Gallery. He immediately felt a kinship with Borg's similar use of "found" materials, as well as his painting style.

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