True Stories: Artists Without Hands At Work

“God really walked the earth and performed marvelous things like what he did to me, he gave me strength to live inspite of my birth defect. On behalf of my fellow artists, we would like to thank you for your support over the years.”

This statement was written by Amado Dulnuan, holding the pen on his foot. Yes! He writes using his foot and not only that he creates beautiful paintings too. He is a member of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (AMFPA). This is a worldwide organization of talented mouth and foot painting artists. The slogan of the organization is “Artists Without Hands at Work, Self-Help Not Charity.” Now on its 50th year, the organization’s main thrust is to give all members the opportunity to completely support themselves through the sales of their paintings reproduced as cards, calendars, and other items.

Here in the Philippines, there are only a handful of painters who are being supported by the organization. Amado Dulnuan, who was born without arms. Despite his condition he was still able to finish his studies in the university. He specializes in water colors and has won many prizes for his works. He is married and has children.

Jovy Sasutona, lost his use of hands in a diving accident. He was encouraged by Amado to develop his talent in painting and drawing with the use of his mouth. Also a victim of a diving accident, Victor Largosa was born in Cebu, the Philippines’ queen city of the south. He specializes in oil painting using his mouth. His wife left him and their two daughters so he had to struggle hard enough to support his children.

Bernard Pesigan was paralyzed from the neck down due to a motorcycle accident when he was 20 years old. He took up mouth painting and was later granted stipend by the AMFPA.

Rogelio Francisco, had cervical cord injury with quadriplegia. He learned to paint on his own by gripping a brush between his teeth. In 1993 the Association granted him his first stipend.

It is really amazing how these people could make beautiful works of art and make use of their God given talents despite their limitations. But with the advent of instant messages through cell phone, e-mail and the internet, greeting cards have become less popular especially to the younger generation. So I could imagine the difficulty the organization as well as the individual members are experiencing right now. I hope the association could find alternative solution for supporting these talented individuals who rely on them for their livelihood.

As the Christmas Season nears wouldn’t it be nice to send our greetings filled with warmth and thoughtfulness the old fashion way?