finding inspiration in the ordinary

I'm going to come right on out and say it-  I.love.the.interwebs.

Also what I love: people's creativity.


Having a bit of extra time on my hands these last few weeks I have been enjoying the exploration of each of these. One of my favorite finds comes from Todd McLellan and his deconstructed series. Here is his deconstructed typewriter:

I love the idea of taking ordinary objects and looking at them in a new way.  Seeing this little guy's insides neatly displayed is inspiring and also makes me love my little typewriter even more as I see all the pieces that come together to make such a wonderful contraption. It's worth a click to go look through his other work, and also a video of his deconstruction in action.

Todd isn't the only one that's finding clever uses for the retro machine. Check out this typewriter illustration.

I saved this picture, but neglected to bookmark or take note of the artist, so forgive my lack of citation. However, in my search to correct my blunder, I came across a man who used the same medium for his work. Paul Smith passed away a few years ago, but was a self taught artist with cerebral palsy. At first glance, or even an in-depth inspection, I doubt anyone would be able to guess his pieces were made with a typewriter.

You can watch a short clip of his process here, which is remarkable.

I watched a documentary (okay, I've been watching a LOT of documentaries... but that's beside the point) where the director-artist-skateboarder and generally awesome Mike Mills shared several inspiring thoughts on creating. Two of these quotes I found particularly wise which warrant sharing here:

"Be good with doing what you do. With art you can make what you can't do."  

"Are you healthy? Are you breathing? Then get started."

There is plenty I cannot do, and healthy and breathing I am.  So, here I go.