His second career as a self-styled "beginner painter" has become an unexpected passion: he paints upstairs at his North Dallas home and keeps another easel busy at his Crawford ranch near Waco, exhibiting a discipline surprising even his closest pals. Friends say he's getting better, beginning to master the intricacies of composition with regular visits by an accomplished local artist.

"I'm done with politics but I'm not done with life and I've got a real good life," he recently reminded a political ally, not for the first time.

"He's very content, and his new granddaughter is the exclamation point," echoed Brad Freeman, one of his closest friends, referring to Margaret Laura "Mila" Hager, born in New York City April 13.

"He's enjoying the hell out of life, " a close friend told National Journal. "He's his loosey-goosey self again, the way he used to be."

Various confidants describe 43 as "mellow," "serene" and "tranquil," happy with his self-imposed exile from the political grind he never really liked and ecstatic with his new life below the radar.

"You have no idea how relieved he is to be out of the game," one of his oldest friends said. "He doesn't miss politics even a little."

This week's two days of festivities on the campus of Southern Methodist University, Laura Bush's alma mater, mark his somewhat reluctant re-emergence into the national spotlight since leaving Washington in 2009. President Obama and the three living presidents will join 15,000 guests to celebrate the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

The center comprises a presidential library housing 43,000 artifacts and millions of documents from the eight years of 43's tenure. The adjoining think tank, informally known as the "freedom institute," will preach the gospel of Bush's conservative vision to future generations.

The institute is also designed by Bush as the vehicle to rehab and burnish his legacy with future historians and posterity.

"Of course he's confident" about turning around his reputation, one longtime counsellor told National Journal. "How else could he be? But he's got a ways to go to mending his record -- if it can be done.

"There's a lot of baggage to deal with -- Iraq, Afghanistan and most of all the (excessive) spending -- and at the moment, the trajectory isn't going in the right direction."

Bush, by contrast, is the classic half-full politician when pondering his legacy, which he seldom does. He likes to say he'll be long dead when history sorts his ledger out, so why dwell on it? Meanwhile, he's convinced his presidency ultimately will get higher marks than contemporary assessments, which generally place him at the low end of the ratings.

Bush has also told friends and political associates that his success keeping the homeland safe after the 9/11 attacks will be awarded greater weight by history. That's why it's no coincidence the centerpiece of the library's exhibit hall is a 17-foot, 2-ton piece of steel from the Twin Towers.