Eli Potash--A Work Of Art...

Last week, while on a break at work I found out that Salt Lake Comic Con FanX posted my picture and bio on their website. It was such an honor, I decided to celebrate so I took myself out to lunch at the Broadway Deli across the street from where I work. And, I brought my camera along.

Inside the eatery there's usually art on the walls and one picture caught my eye, a drawing of what looked like a homeless man playing a cello. To me, it looked like an interesting picture that I thought I could use as my "Pic Of The Day," which I did.

I had no idea of the story behind it.

I posted the picture on Facebook and other social sites, as I do all my "Pics Of The Day." Soon messages from Facebook friends came rolling in. The first message came from a friend who lives downtown. She said she recognized the subject and said as much. His name is Eli Potash. Her comment began a conversation between a group of people--some who didn't know each other--and in the end, the work of art hanging on the wall in a deli transformed into something else, something deeper, something personal, something real.

Here's the dialogue that followed:

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  J. A. I know that guy… he used to play out in front of the broadway movie theater...

  January 14 at 8:24pm · Unlike · 1
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  Scott Taylor Interesting--this was hanging up at the deli right next to the movie theater (but maybe you already knew that...)

  January 14 at 8:50pm · Like · 1
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  J. A. I think the owner of the deli used to watch out for him a bit.

  January 14 at 9:04pm · Unlike · 1
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  S. L. So this picture displays at least four different modes of creativity - the musician in the portrait, the artist who drew it, the owner of the deli who displays it (and creates yummy food) (and helped the guy), and yourself who took the picture to share.

  January 15 at 8:12am · Like · 2
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  Scott Taylor Love that S. L.! I hadn't thought of it like that--great way to look at everything, not just this little picture!

  January 15 at 8:50am · Like · 2
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  P. L. I used to work in the Broadway center building and got to know him. His name is Eli Potash. We got to where he would recognize me and we'd chat for a few minutes whenever I saw him. Really nice guy. I'm in a different building now, so I haven't seen him for a while. Hope he's doing okay.

  January 15 at 12:33pm · Like
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  J. A. I know he went into the hospital - the owner of the Deli was trying to help him with the medical expenses, but I haven't heard since how he's doing.

  January 15 at 12:46pm · Unlike · 1
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  P. L. Thanks for letting me know. He had issues with a broken wrist that kept not healing correctly. I'll have to go by and try to find him.

  January 15 at 12:58pm · Unlike · 1
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  S. R. Love hearing the story behind the picture!

  January 15 at 6:11pm · Unlike · 1

I googled Eli. There's quite a few links to him, his music and his story. You can see an interview he gave back in March, 2012: HERE. I wish I had seen him or heard him play--just another thing telling me I should sometimes take a break and leave the building once in a while to catch more than just a little fresh air.

This is just one person's story and there's so many more out there...fascinating people with amazing stories.