"Do what you can, where you are, with what you have."
—Teddy Roosevelt
We all have gifts, no matter how small. There is something about each of us that we do better than most people. When we think of gifts we generally think of things like artistic sense, business acumen, talent at sports. But gifts can just as easily be things like the ability to make a great cup of coffee, expert origami skills, an uncanny skill at balancing rocks. If you look through your skill-set, I guarantee you that you will find something you are gifted at.
Case in point: Paul Smith, who could create fantastic works of art with a simple typewriter. Let's explore Paul's life a little bit and share with you some of his amazing art
[Note: I wrote this about 20 years ago on another of my blogs long before Ned and Dan sat down to give us the proto version of Hive. I was sorting through my archive earlier in my ongoing effort to organize all the digital clutter I have gathered over the years and I came across this piece. I thought you might like too. I edited it slightly and added some.]
Paul Smith was born with a severe case of spastic cerebral palsy. His mobility was so limited that it took him 32 years to learn how to walk.
Paul was born in 1921, and at the time people with his condition were not allowed formal education. The typical fate for people like Paul was to be institutionalized and more or less abandoned.
Despite all his problems, Paul had a gift: he was an artist. With limited mobility he couldn't express this art in ways people typically do. He could only barely grasp a pen or pencil. A paint brush was out of the question. However he kept looking and soon found the perfect instrument to use to produce his art: A simple manual typewriter.
These were made entirely with a typewriter. Isn't that extraordinary?
To paint his pictures, he would lock the shift key so that he didn't accidentally type a number. He then used his left hand to steady his right and type the key he wanted. Depending on the piece it could take anywhere from two weeks to three months to finish, working a few hours a day.
He only used the symbol keys in his art. That is, only – !, @, #, %, ^, _, (, &, ) –. He could overlap different symbols to create different textures and would adjust the roller so that each symbol was placed just so. This is even more amazing when you consider that there was little room for error with manual typewriters.
As color ribbons became available, his art advance even more. Soon he learned how to create shading by pressing his thumb on the ribbon. As his art improved, it started taking on the look of a charcoal painting.
Paul never sold his art nor published it. He simply did it for his own pleasure and often gave away the finished piece. It is estimated he produced over 400 pieces before his death.
Paul didn't believe he had any special talent, but I think most of us will disagree. He had a gift and he found that gift and used it to incredible results. He is a great example that all things are possible.
To see more of Paul Smith's amazing typewriter art, go here.
| David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
