[accessibleimage] Amazing typewriter art

Hi all!

I have to say that I have always been impressed with the silly little
"icons" that can be done with computer symbols-emoticons and such. But the
man discussed below used typewriter symbols (mostly the symbols above the
number keys) to create amazing works of art. For those of you interested in
art, the link below will take you to some amazing "drawings" done on a
typewriter by a man named Paul Smith. 

http://www.paulsmithfoundation.org/index.html

Below is a link to a nice article about him from his hometown paper.

http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20070628/NEWS/70628031

And for those of you who want the condensed version, a bit of information
about the artist:
Paul Smith, the man with extraordinary talent, was born in Philadelphia on
September 21, 1921, with severe cerebral palsy. 
Not only had Paul beaten the odds of a life with spastic cerebral palsy, a
disability that impeded his speech & mobility, but also taught himself to
become a master artist as well as a terrific chess player even after being
devoid of a formal education as a child.
"When typing, Paul used his left hand to steady his right one. Since he
couldn't press two keys at the same time, he almost always locked the shift
key down and made his pictures using the symbols at the top of the number
keys. In other words, his pictures were based on these characters .... @ # $
% ^ &* ( ) _ . Across seven decades, Paul created hundreds of pictures. He
often gave the originals away. Sometimes, but not always, he kept or
received a copy for his own records. As his mastery of the typewriter grew,
he developed techniques to create shadings, colors, and textures that made
his work resemble pencil or charcoal drawings."
This great man passed away on June 25, 2007, but left behind a collection of
his amazing artwork that will be an inspiration for many.

******************************************************
Gaeir (rhymes with "fire") Dietrich
High Tech Center Training Unit of the
California Community Colleges
De Anza College, Cupertino, CA
www.htctu.net
408-996-6043

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