My friend Gershon once said, (actually more than once) that because he hadn't painted that day he really shouldn't eat. I said somewhat alarmed, “Oh!”. I was very young.
This was said while we were already eating – both of us cabbage borscht and gefilte fish with
horse radish. Really good menu at this restaurant, The Bagel, they generally
drew a large crowd (they made
their own bagels daily – huge), near his studio on Spadina.
The owner of The Bagel, Benny, was short, bald
head, white shirt and apron, wonderful man - a character. So was Gershon. Both were Polish. Gershon had a number on his forearm if you get the idea – but not Benny.
Every once in awhile Benny would fly off the handle –
seldom really - but noticeable when he did. And his wife behind the counter would
say quietly, “Benny, please.” I
commented about this, his anger. Gershon said that maybe he had a reason to be
angry i.e. there was a cause - and how could I judge if I didn’t know. I waited
for an explanation but there wasn’t any.
But back to Gershon and his painting/eating thing – what
made him say that? Was it guilt? Maybe he was just addicted to painting through
the night and the bottle of vodka that went with it. I was much too young to
know about things like being, driven etc – still don’t
Willow tree November oil primed panel 9"x12"
Marcia LaBelle(MC0henL©2013)
