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Leon Moss

Has Anyone Seen My Palette Knife?

I was about to paint a fine detail on the canvas in the studio the other day. My easel is a little apart from the mob, meaning the 20 or so ladies who come to paint. There are 2 other men wedged in among the women. As I poised the brush over the critical spot a voice said, “Have you got a palette knife I can borrow for a sec?” Without looking up I stretched out my arm, located the palette knife and handed it over. As far as I can remember it was a woman’s voice. She muttered something and I continued trying to get the drop of paint into the roof detail. 

That night I sat up in bed. My palette knife! She never returned it. I didn’t look up when she approached me and I have no idea who she was. My palette knife is missing! I remember the day I bought the knife and much of its history.

It was in 1951. Wow! That’s exactly 60 years ago! I was in first year at university and we needed these knives for a project we were working on. I’ve been using it on and off ever since. It has a wooden handle which is thick with globs of different colored paints. The blade is worn thin with razor sharp edges and has a small chip out of the tip where I once tried to tighten a screw with it.

I remember that it was expensive and in those far off days eight shilling was a tidy sum. My father wasn’t excited about me spending that money either. I went into an art shop, the only one in our city, and my first venture into such an exciting place and timidly explained what I wanted. The knife was handed over and I have treasured it all these years.

Now to find the owner of that voice…

 

About the Author
Leon Moss grew up in South Africa and has lived in Israel for 35 years; He is a construction estimator by profession, and has been a freelance writer for the past 10 years, writing odd stories, articles and web content. Leon paints and works hard at being retired. He and his wife live in a retirement home in central Israel.