Becky Guinn is a 59 year old woman who lost her hands and legs due to some medication that she took.  She took a blood thinner called Heparin. Instead of doing what it was supposed to do and thin her blood, it clotted her blood and filled her capillaries in her hands and feet.  So they had to amputate them.  But that didn’t stop this artist/art teacher.  She ordered prosthetics and moved on with life.  Six days after having her prosthetics attached, she went back to teaching at Valley High School. She says that she is a better artist now then she was before the incident ever happened. The prosthetics have curved hooks that she can somewhat control enough to grip a paintbrush. Now she paints water color sceneries.  Here is a link to some beautiful pictures that she has painted (I would like to show the class): http://www.beckyguinn.org/

There is another artist that has gone through some traumas in his life. At age 30, John Bramblitt developed epilepsy. This is a disorder of the nervous system that causes the person to have seizures. This left him completely blind, although he still has control of his limbs. I thought this was a good example because he has to use his mind, verses his eyes. He draws an outline of the picture with a type of puffy acrylic paint so he can feel what the shape is like. Then he feels with his fingers where to paint and how to stay in the lines of his drawing. He has learned how to feel the different colors in the paints because he says they have different textures. Today he does portrait paintings, by seeing people’s faces with his fingers. He then imprints the image in his mind and paints it. Here is a link to a video that I would like to show the class about him: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/01/eveningnews/main20037973.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;1  and if you are interested, here is a link to some paintings he has done, and his webpage: http://bramblitt.net/
D Straights

Feet Drawing
Some people cannot even fathom what it would be like to lose their hands, much less, draw with your feet. Even for those that have been born without arms, or with disorders of the arms, have difficulty fathoming what drawing without arms is like. But for a select few people in the world, this is a reality. You may be asking how this is possible. It is possible because the brain is an amazing organ. When you lose a(n) arm(s) your brain goes through a long process of compensating for the missing limb. The process is very similar of when you lose your sense of sight, your body starts to become more aware of the way things feel and the way things smell, or the way things sound. Same concept applies to those without arms. The brain slowly trains your muscles in your legs to be finer tuned to details and movement. Eventually, your legs will start to moves slower and with more deliberate motivation. You also become more flexible, making your body bend so that your legs can compensate for your arms. Most artist that use their feet concentrate more than those who use their hands, mainly because the body has a natural tendency to want to use the arms, even in cases where they never had arms. The feet artists usually who were born with hands, usually had a natural ability to produce art before the lose of their limb(s); while those that are born with a genetic defect or dysfunction, are usually interested in producing viable interpretation of the world around them through an art that shows the way that they see the world. I have tried feet drawing and it is not easy, as a matter of fact it is one of the most difficult tasks I've had to do. I would rather do laparoscopic surgery on a person than to work on a masterpiece just using my feet.
written by O Thompson

Although almost all of the people in the world use their right or left arms, a very small percentage of them don’t even use their arms. They can be armless, have a defect in their arms, or just don’t want to use them. It can take their entire lifetime to perfect the art of using their feet. They can do many things such as drive, draw, paint, play archery and play instruments. Although we may think this is impossible, some other people can say otherwise.
A man named Mark Stutzman is a great example. He uses his mouth and feet to operate a bow and arrow. He was born armless and has been using his feet for everything ever since. His scores in archery are so good, he’s good enough for the 2012 Olympics. Liu Wei is an armless piano player that auditioned for China’s Got Talent. He was so amazing that he surprised everyone when he won the contest. He won by playing piano only with his feet, a feat that I, as a piano player, cannot imagine. Another armless feet-using person is an artist named Peter Longstaff. He was born armless, but that didn’t stop him. Longstaff started to paint with his feet. He specializes in painted landscape paintings and Christmas cards. Although people may be armless or cannot use their arms, that doesn’t stop them from living their life. These people mostly use their feet and sometimes their mouth. They can do anything, from driving, writing, typing, texting, answering a phone, playing an instrument, archery, or even painting and drawing.  I think this is an amazing talent to have. Whether you choose to live this way, or are born with it, this is a difficult thing to master. It’s crazy how someone who can operate a bow and arrow with his hands and mouth can qualify for the Olympics. It’s even more amazing how someone can play piano with his feet, while I can’t even lean back far enough to get my feet up to the piano. This is a gift and a way of life that I will never be able to understand
S Zhen