SAUL – ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE

There are a lot of people that I have met in my lifetime, some are ordinary men and women and some leave lasting impressions that help shape your attitude. One such person is Saul. I will not use his last name for obvious reasons.

Saul was a very fine artist. Saul was such a great artist that he worked during the depression for the government painting murals for large public buildings. He got what is called a government commission. Having painted a mural or two I know how difficult that can be. Saul was the creative director for an agency that I worked for back in the early 70’s. Saul was married to the boss’s sister, so he was very influential in the decision making on a creative level. Saul spoke in short and to the point sentences, and was always cheerful and well spoken. He carried a patrician air about him, with white, starched shirts and tailor made suits. He had a full head of white hair, and a well-trimmed moustache. Saul was a very handsome man.

Saul would arrive every morning at 10:30 a.m. punctually. By 11:00 a.m. Saul had a full cocktail glass of vodka on his desk, as he read a magazine on art. By 12:30 Saul was out the door visiting his mistress who had a lovely apartment around the corner from the office. She was a beautiful girl, and lived in a very expensive place, well furnished and stocked with all kinds of booze, particularly vodka. They would lunch together, and Saul would return to the office about 3:30 p.m. He would sleep at his desk until 5:00 p.m. Some days, before he went off to lunch, around 11:30 a.m., Saul would pull out some reference material, and would draw sketches for cowboy novels. The sketches would be the cover art for the book jackets. The amazing thing about Saul was he was one-handed. His other arm and hand were badly deformed from birth.

Saul was a guy who broke all conventional rules, wrote his own rules, and everyone loved him. I feel guilty because I should have been prissy and despised his life style, especially his cheating on his wife, but I couldn’t help myself but like him. Maybe I felt that I didn’t live in his shoes, so what did I know, and what business was it to me.

He is beyond a doubt, one of the most interesting characters I ever met. He made my life interesting, and I will always remember the great Saul.