Thursday, January 24, 2008

"Don was full of surprises."

A few months ago, Harry Borgman was the subject of a week of posts on Today's Inspiration (see Previous Topics in the sidebar). This week Harry is our guest author, providing all of the artwork and the story of his longtime friend, Don Silverstein. Harry's narrative continues below:

In 1958 Don and I decided to drive out West to go on a painting trip for a couple of weeks.


We drove out to Arizona and Utah. While I went outdoors and painted watercolors, Don always stayed in the motel rooms and painted abstractions.


One night when I was working late at Campbell Ewald, Don called and wanted to meet for a drink before he went home. We met at a bar near the agency where the Campbell Ewald girls were enjoying their weekly bowling night. It was a full house... lots of gals at the bar with their purses and bowling balls.


Don kept eyeing an especially attractive blond... he became very interested in meeting her. I discouraged him by saying that I knew her and he'd stand a better chance with her bowling ball. That did it! Don promptly got up and walked over to the blond and said, "May I buy your bowling ball a drink?"


Don was full of surprises.

You'll find more examples of Don Silverstein's work at his website and Gallery Sakiko.

My Don Silverstein Flickr set.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for featuring a bit of Silverstein’s mad imaginative work. I remember seeing them donkey's years ago and even collecting some for inspiration to students. However, viewing one after another this week has made me appreciate them, not only all over again but even more. On top of his obvious wonderfully creative bizarre humor, Silverstein’s illustrations were beautifully designed and demonstrated a great sense of color.

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