CORVALLIS, Ore. -- A Corvallis Marine wounded in Iraq has turned to art as a way to express his feelings and start new life.
Shane Kohfield recently sold his first painting for $1800.
"I didn't believe him when he first told me," his mom, Chris Wenger, said about his talent for art. "Then a neighbor walking by saw him at work in the garage."
Kohfield served two tours in Iraq and returned with a traumatic brain injury and PTSD.
"I was never creative and didn't really have an interest in art," he explained. "I started doing this for something to do and then I felt the raw emotion."
His hand tremors prevented him from holding a steady paint brush, so he developed his own technique.
"I spray several layers of paint and blend with a spatula," he said as he demonstrated on a canvas outside Linn Benton Community College.
Now, Kohfield - who once dreamed of being a doctor - has changed his major to Fine Arts.
"I'm so proud of him for not giving up," Wenger said. "He has trouble expressing his feelings to people and this has given him a way to do that."
