Steve Cohen never thought he could be a painter.

“I’ve been painting with light my whole life,” said Cohen, who has been Billy Joel’s lighting director for the past 40 years or so and has designed the lighting for concert tours for everyone from Blake Shelton to Britney Spears. “I was always interested in painting, but I didn’t think I could do it.”

It took a 50th birthday present of oil paints, canvases and an easel from his now-husband, Curtis Cox, that showed Cohen that he could. Then, it took years of encouragement from friends, including Joel and fellow painter John Mellencamp, for Cohen, now 64, to feel ready for his first art show. It will be at White Room Gallery in Bridgehampton, opening Wednesday, with a reception on Saturday night.

Read more at Newsday.

Photo by Curtis Cox