NEVER SAY "I CAN'T".....

The roots of the MFPA go back to 1956, when Erich Stegmann, a polio-stricken mouth painter, gathered a small band of disabled artists from eight European countries. Their ultimate goal was to make their living through their artistic efforts, and to obtain a sense of work security that until then had eluded them. Coupling his creative abilities with business acumen, Stegmann established the MFPA as a co-operative organization that reproduces its artists work mainly in the form of cards, calendars and books. From the small group he gathered for the inaugural meeting of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists, the group has now grown to represent approximately 700 members, from over 70 countries around the world. A group of inspiring disabled artists exhibited their work in Hyde Park over the weekend. Alison Lapper opened an exhibition by MFPA in Hyde Park. The artists demonstrated their painting techniques, where a paintbrush is held between the teeth or toes, and answered questions from members of the public. The MFPA are a talented group of artists who, for various reasons, accidents, illness or being born with a disability. They use their mouths or feet to create original works of art.