At 32, Michael Pitcher was jailed for life. High on cocaine, he and another man broke into a senior citizen’s home and beat her with a stick. Days later, she died from her injuries in hospital.

When the verdict came in, he thought his life was over.

“I certainly didn’t think anything good would come from prison but I would say it turned out to be a blessing in disguise,” the 50-year-old said.

He kicked his drug habit and started drawing and painting in his cell.

“Cocaine was my downfall,” he said. “It made me a different person. Sometimes you have to say, ‘Enough is enough’. I went cold turkey and it was easier than I expected. I’ve been clean now for 20 years.”

In 2000 he started submitting his work as part of exhibits for prisoners at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda and the Bermuda Society of Arts.

“I ordered out for supplies or friends brought them for me,” he said. “I’d draw kneeling on my bed, or sitting on a chair next to it and leaning over the paper. I still draw like that.

“When I first started showing my work in these shows there was a lot of negativity because of my situation, but as the years passed my art spoke for me. Any time I did a piece of work and sent it to BSoA or Masterworks I made sure it was a powerful piece.”

In 2011 one of his pieces won third place in a show organised by the World Convocation for Prison Fellowship International.

“The show was in Toronto,” he said. “My winning piece was called the Life Giver. It was a picture I did of Jesus in pen.

“I think the spirit moved me to do that painting. I saw the idea in an old Bible and the picture was by one of the masters. I thought I could make that my own. I was really blown away by how it came out.”

He put a price tag of $3,000 on it; an appraiser bolstered that to $10,000. But he still has it.

“My brother first put a pencil in my hand,” he said. “I always loved drawing. We learnt about Michaelangelo and the Sistine Chapel in primary school and I was fascinated by his work.”

Inspired, he dreamt of becoming an artist, and started copying his favourite comic books.

“Then I got into more realistic drawing,” he said.

He won student art competitions and eventually received a scholarship to study art in college. But things didn’t go according to plan.

“I got thrown out of high school for misbehaving,” he said. “I lost my scholarship.”

At Westgate Correctional Facility he was able to tackle his education again. He studied art and computer graphics through distance learning programmes, and received a diploma in culinary arts from the Bermuda College.

“They came into the prison to work with us,” said Mr Pitcher. “I’d always cooked, but I wanted to get the papers.

“When I finished I really felt like I’d finally achieved something. I felt very proud. This is what I should have been doing when I was younger.”

He was released on parole in 2014, having spent 17 years in jail.

“I am a very different person now,” he said. “What happened in 1997 is behind me now. I let that go.

“I know what I was. I know where I am and I know where I want to go. What happened will always will be a part of me, but I am trying to focus forward. I can’t let my bad decisions control the future.”

His drawings and paintings are featured in the BSoA Members’ Show on now at City Hall. Some of his work was even used to promote the show electronically.

“It’s my first show on the outside,” he said. “It’s like that song. ‘I’m coming out. I want the world to know’. I am so grateful to have this opportunity. I want to bring a lot more work out. I want to rock people.”

Two of his pieces in the show are highly detailed pencil drawings of Africans in tribal clothing.

“A lady sent me a photo of African youth she’d found on the internet,” he said. “I am fascinated by the African style. It captured my eye.”

It took him two or three hours to create the pieces; his favourite is a portrait of a woman in a black formal dress.

“Of all my pieces I am most proud of that piece,” he said. “It is hard trying to blend black, especially since I am colour-blind.

“Browns and reds mess with me because they look alike. Certain greens and yellows look alike to me and blues and purples look alike. But as long as the tube is correctly labelled, I know how to blend.”

In the three years since his release he has worked hard to get his life in order again. He now works as a chef in a grocery store and met the love of his life, Thezla Smith, on the job. The couple were married in August.

“She’s my world,” he said.

Pitcher would like to work with young people, to pass on his knowledge. His advice: don’t let your talents go to waste.

“If you have the talent express it,” he said. “Don’t hold it in. I don’t want to see other people going through what I went through before waking up and realising they had talent.”

• The BSoA Members’ Show runs until June 13. For more information: www.bsoa.bm