Mouth and foot painting: A special ability in postage stamps

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When hands and arms fail, but determination reins supreme, we come across some special abilities. Mouth and foot painting is one such special ability, that is leaves us awestruck. It is an art, where artists manoeuvre painting brushes and other tools with their mouth or feet. Thus works of art so created are special. Artists are special too. They were either born without hands, or lost their function due to a disease. None the less, they could train muscles of mouth, neck, toes or feet, with same abilities as their hands and fingers.

There are some known mouth or foot painting pioneers. Thomas Schweicker (1540-1602) was a German painter, who painted with his feet. He had no arms since birth. He created many documents using his skills at calligraphy, and soon became a celebrity. Sarah Biffen (1784-1850) was a mouth painter. Born without hands and feet, she learned to write and paint with her mouth. For years she was an exhibit in fairs and sideshows, but by 1827 ran into financial troubles as her manager embezzled all her earnings. Today her works adorn galleries in the United Kingdom.

Mouth and Foot painting Artists (MFPA)

In 1956, Erich Stegmann, was a polio-stricken mouth painter from Germany. He resolved to gather similar artists like him and form a group. small band of disabled artists from eight European countries. In 1957 they formalized a group with Erich Stegmann as a President, and Corry F. Riet from the Netherlands and Charles Pasche from Switzerland as board members. Thus was born “Vereinigung der mund- und fuss-malenden Künstler in aller Welt e.V.” or the Association of mouth and foot artists of the world. Today this association has 800 members, from 74 countries around the world. Their website (see here) is inspiring, and maintains a directory of all its members. About 40 odd artists are from India.

Among Indian artists are Srilekha Mandalapalli, who was born with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita that paralyzed both her limbs. Others include likes of Jilumol Mariet Thomas , Swapna Augustine, and Shifna Sherin , born with a disability. The directory includes veterans from the armed forces, such as Sudam Bisoyi, from Indian Navy , Prashant Kamble, and Bhim Kumar Karki from Indian Army. They were injured while on active duty and are currently living and creating their work at Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre in Pune. 

MFPA is a self sustainable initiative, that puts on sale various products created by its artists. The idea is to help these artists and their abilities by supporting their livelihood. Art also features on apparel and accessories. Further, any new artist joining the group is mentored and trained to perform better and improve skills. It is not a charity, but a celebration of talent.

Foot and mouth painting philately

There are only a handful of mouth and foot painting postage stamps. Most of these were issued in 1981 on international year of the disabled. There are some others, where work of art was created by this painting method. Watch out this space, as we shall add more philately on this rare theme.