BLCKSMTH
Art + Advice By Michael James Schneider
One of my favorite visual artists is Portland-based Michael James Schneider, known professionally as BLCKSMTH.
Over the past few years, Schneider has carved a unique niche in the contemporary art world with his vibrant balloon installations. His heartfelt and humorous works, shared widely on social media, combine humor, vulnerability, and activism.
Schneider's art frequently addresses themes of anxiety, identity, and societal norms, using unconventional materials like balloons, refrigerator magnets, and LED letters to create thought-provoking āadviceā pieces.
His installations have not only garnered viral/virtual attention but have also been recognized by notable organizations, including The Audre Lorde Project.
In addition to his visual art, Schneider has ventured into publishing, with his debut book, Putting Balloons on a Wall Is Not a Book, released in April 2024. He is also set to publish The Writing's on the Wall: An Interactive Journal and Coloring Book in August 2025, further expanding his creative repertoire.
To explore more of Michael James Schneider's work, visit his website at blcksmthdesign.com and/or follow him on Instagram @blcksmth.
Keep calm and keep creating!
Clint šāļø
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Thank you. Yes, YOU, boo!
FOR YOUR (READING) CONSIDERATION
Phallic Symbols, Bare Buttocks And Warrior Poses: How Physique Magazines Grew A Cult Gay Following (The Guardian)
ON THIS DAY = MAY 20
BIRTHDAYS
1799 = HonorĆ© de Balzac = French novelist and playwright š
1885 = Karl M. Baer = German-Israeli author and social worker š
1908 = James Stewart = American actor
1944 = Joe Cocker = English singer-songwriter
1946 = Cher = American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1958 = Ron Reagan = American journalist and radio host
1959 = Gregory Gray = Northern Irish singer-songwriter š
1960 = Tony Goldwyn = American actor and director
1965 = Ted Allen = American television host and author š
1968 = Timothy Olyphant = American actor and producer
1997 = Omar Apollo = American singer-songwriter and actor š
EVENTS
1609 = Shakespeare's sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.
1873 = Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
1891 = Thomas Edison publicly demonstrates a prototype of the kinetoscope.
1927 = Charles Lindbergh takes off for Paris from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, N.Y., aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, landing 331ā2 hours later.
1932 = Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
1983 = āEvery Breath You Takeā is released as a single by The Police.
1983 = First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by a team of scientists, including FranƧoise BarrƩ-Sinoussi, Jean-Claude Chermann, and Luc Montagnier.
1988 = Willow is released in theaters.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY
āTrue love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart.ā
Honore de Balzac
āThe motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one.ā
Honore de Balzac
I think I may have developed "inflatophilia" (aka loonery) as a result of this post šš„°
Thanks Clint. Looking forward to "sepia toned images of young Sicilian men from Taormina" of Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden.šā¤šš