Photo: Screenshot / John Stofflet
An illiterate and his typewriter: The story of Paul Smith
His pictures are incredible. But Paul Smith is not a painter. The artist has another tool: his typewriter.
Life did not make it easy for him. When Paul Smith was born in 1921, a form of cerebral palsy is diagnosed. The muscle disease affects the development of the boy. Only decades later he learns to speak and to walk. Smith is expelled from school because of spasticity.
But in Smith slumbers a genius, his illness stands in the way. Even when his muscles twitch, his head is very clear. Smith learns chess, meticulously plans the moves in his imagination, and has helpers do them.
It is clear from an early age that Smith will depend on outside help throughout his life. He lives in a nursing home. Nevertheless, he always finds a way to realize himself. So the illiterate one day dedicates himself to a typewriter. He does not use the tool for writing, but to let his creativity finally run wild. Because the machine obeys him despite his muscular disease.
Today, Paul Smith is considered a pioneer of typewriting art . Because what he creates with the help of the keys is incredible. Without brush or pencil, the artist brings squirrel, landscapes and even the Mona Lisa on paper.
His pictures are typed instead of painted. Paul Smith is an artist, his only tool is the typewriter. As in chess before, the genius has a detailed planning of his work steps in mind. The artworks are meticulously planned, because a typewriter tolerates no mistakes.
The typewriter pictures give away the artist. Smith has created his own art direction, the Typewriter Art, which inspires countless people.
In 2007 the artist died. However, his unique paintings will carry on the story of the unusual artist years later. Paul Smith was born under difficult conditions. Nevertheless, he managed to enrich her in an admirable way.
There are more incredible works of art by a blind artist to admire here.
