Aaron Maybin, a first-round draft pick for Bills in 2009, finds peace through art

In his art, Aaron Maybin explores whatever cultural, political and sexual themes move him. A painting like this one “is going to make two people with different opinions have a conversation,” he said. Aaron Maybin, surrounded by his paintings in his Baltimore studio, says: “I know who I am, and I know what I want.”

BALTIMORE – There comes a time in Aaron Maybin’s artistic process when he needs to scrutinize his canvas. ¶ In a cluttered, paint-splattered studio – on the first floor of his three-story row house in the city’s gentrified Canton neighborhood – Maybin will pace this way and that. He will squint, cock his head, even climb halfway up the staircase in search of a fresh perspective. ¶…