Tom Yendell - Mouth and Foot Painting Artists

The Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) has been around since 1957 and has a remarkable impact. 

Tom Yendell from the MFPA is our guest and explains the organisation's purpose: supporting artists who paint without using their hands. There are 33 British artists and nearly 800 worldwide, and they are born with a uniqueness or disability or acquire them later in life. MFPA provides a supportive environment for artists to express themselves creatively, often helping them regain a sense of purpose after experiencing life-altering events. It supports artists with disabilities by providing grants, art materials, and local tutors to help them become professional artists.

Digital art represents both a threat and a challenge for the MFPA. The organisation needs to bring along the supporters who prefer the non-digital work and explore digital options to attract a younger demographic. 2026 is a big year for the AMFPA with its 70th Anniversary Conference and four-day exhibition in London in April. 

Links

Mouth and Foot Painting Artists 

Wikipedia on international AMFPA

VDMFK and the London conference 

Open Road Access WAV vehicle hire 

Transcript

Meet Tom Yendell And MFPA

Announcer 0:10

This is The Way We Roll, presented by Simon Minty and Phil Friend. You can email us at mintyandfriend at gmail.com or just search for Minti and Friend on social media. We're on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Simon 0:30

Welcome to The Way We Roll with me, Simon Minty. And me, Phil Friend. Now we welcome Tom Yendell from the MFPA, also known as the mouth and foot painting artists. I remember coming across MFPA as a child way before I got involved in disability rights, and the association has an enviable presence in selling Christmas cards to raise funds. Welcome, Tom.

Tom 0:55

Thank you very much. Good to be here.

Phil 0:58

Tom, now uh the the MFPA in the UK partnership is part of an International Self-Help Association of Artists, AMFPA, who paint without the use of their hands. It was established in 1957. There are currently 33 British artists and almost 800 artists from over 80 countries worldwide. The range of their work is on their website with a fantastic variety of create creativity and art. Tom, I suppose the place to start is how do you how do people become painters with your organization? How do you recruit them?

Tom 1:31

Different reasons. It's mainly from birth. So for me, I yeah, I was born with no arms because my mum was prescribed phylidomide back in the 60s. Right. So I've always grown up with my art, I've always painted with my feet and my mouth. Um, but the majority of our artists have got their disabilities or their uniquenesses later on in life. So um car accident diving uh is the big one. Diving, rugby accidents, uh anything. So the majority, a lot of our artists are female, uh, and they come to us, many of them come to us because you know, when you've broken your neck, it's quite uh uh a lonely thing to have happened. And once you've done your rehabilitation, you're back in the home environment. Sitting in a wheelchair uh with a broken neck is quite difficult. So um, you know, the occupational therapists, physiotherapists try to get them to start using their mouths to use computers and tablets. Um, in the old days, of course, it would be signing your check and writing and uh you know, writing. So um it's harder now because more people are using technology rather than actually putting pen to paper. But that's how we start really, and we'll get a phone call from or an email from the website from somebody saying, you know, uh, I've got a quadriplegic who was artistic before his accident, he's really keen to do it. You know, what mouthpieces do um you know we recommend? Uh and that's how we how we start the journey, really, with with the artists.

Simon 3:06

My next question was do the artists have to be a certain caliber? And you're saying that some already have a history of creativity beforehand, or do you train them up? I mean, yeah, yeah.

Tom 3:18

I mean that we we take people that are keen. Uh our statutes say that that they uh they need to be promising. So we don't just take somebody who's never painted before, but um we ask for them to give us uh seven seven of their original paintings. Uh they need to provide a um a letter for professionals to say that they they can't use their hands. Um yeah, so we have to have proof of uniqueness and uh and a biography, photograph, video of them working. Um, and then that goes to we have an uh artistic board which I'm I I'm on, uh five of the member board members are on it, and we look at their work and we think you know, if we can help them, uh they're taken on. And the majority of people are taken on uh first time. It's very few do we say, you know, come back next year. Um, and that's a process. And then they're given um a stay pen, a grant from the association each month, and that enables them to get their art materials, but more importantly, to get maybe a local tutor to become better at what they're trying to do, which is become professional artists.

Phil 4:27

Who's who founded it, Tom? How did it start back in 57?

Tom 4:31

It's a really, really great story. It was founded by a guy called Eric Stegman back in Germany. Um, he was he was born 1912 and uh had polio, and from very early age he was uh talented. Um he came from quite a wealthy family, and uh to start with his family because he couldn't use his hands, they didn't send him to school because they didn't think, you know, if you can't use your hands, of course, you don't can't use your brain, can you? So um so but one day he picked up a paint uh um a crayon and wrote his name on the table, and they realized actually he had a bit of a brain, so they sent him off to school, and at school he got a love for art, and he was very passionate. And um just before the the Second World War, um he was painting in a town hall square, and uh he'd been to university, he'd got his arts degree, and he used to paint uh paint with an old painting smock splattered in paint and an old Trilby hat. And it was a hot day, so he bent down and dropped his hat on the floor. And of course, uh after a few minutes he suddenly realised that people were coming and putting money in his hat, and they realized they were giving him the money in the hat because of the way he was painting and not because of the quality of the artwork he was producing. And it he struck it struck him that it was totally wrong that all his able-bodied counterparts at university who'd done the same degree and was just as good as him, were able to earn a living, and he felt that you know that he should be able to do that. Uh, in the Second World War, he was put into prison, he was very outspoken about what the Nazis were doing to disabled people, specifically in the war, and uh because his family were well known, he wasn't sent off to the gas chambers, he was given the opportunity of doing his time. And um, while he was in prison, he he his mum came and got him, got him up each morning, got him dressed, gave him his breakfast, came back at night and did the same. And he said it was his lowest time of his life because he didn't have any any any art materials and didn't have anything to do. But the thing he did do a lot of was think about things, and he thought that he surely wouldn't be the only disabled, unique person in the world that painted with their mouth. So in 1950s he started looking for uh artists, he travelled around Europe, he was lucky his family were bankers, so they had money, and in 1956 he pulled the papers together to sign to create the association, and in 1957, the first uh artist meeting of 17 artists um took part in Liechtenstein, and our home has been always been in Liechtenstein ever since, and he was very astute because he wanted the association to be non-political, non-religious, but more importantly, at that time uh Liechtenstein didn't have any business taxes, and so he he was a he was a really astute guy. Um, and he was our he was our president, you know, up until the 80s. They did I I attended my first mouth and foot painting exhibition in 1956. Uh sorry, 1965, when I was three years old, the mouth and foot painting artist had an exhibition at the press club in London to raise money for the thalidomide generation.

Phil 7:55

Right.

Tom 7:56

And uh in one of the biographies it tells the story of Tommy Yendel doing somersaults across the floor at the exhibition. So I've been involved as a member, as a student artist member uh for 40 years this uh this year is recruitment well?

Pathways From Student To Member

Phil 8:14

I mean, are you finding people queuing up to join? Is that the way it is?

Advocacy, Independence, And Knowledge Sharing

Tom 8:18

It's interesting, isn't it? That in the countries where there's a good social security system, it's hard because the funds are there for people to run their lives in a different way. In countries like Brazil, uh Colombia, India, uh we get much, much more uh student artists coming on board. So we have three stages. We have students, uh, and then they when they've got to a standard which is high enough, they become an associate member. And then when they've shown us that they can really you know keep the the uh the quality of the work up and they're serious about doing all the things like this, like doing the PR and the social media and the videos, uh their name gets forward to be put forward as a member artist, and there's a hundred about a hundred member artists that run that own and run the company. And then we have the managing board of which of course I sit on at the moment. I'm a board member for that.

Simon 9:16

I I I can't quite tell, but I'm I'm sensing. I mean, is it advocacy as well, or is it purely about the painting and then raising the bond?

Ghana’s Low‑Cost Power Wheelchair Breakthrough

Tom 9:26

No, yeah, I mean, I it's really difficult um with advocacy because of people with disabilities, really. Um, you know, I'm really lucky. I I pack a bag at home with my feet, I put it in my car, I go to the airport, I get on a plane, I come to Ghana independently. Uh I'm completely independent. Uh the majority, 99% of our artists aren't. And so for them getting out and doing going out and meeting new students and things like that, it's really incredibly difficult. But we do set up, you know, I'm really passionate about communication, as you can see. And so, you know, doing the doing the Zoom meetings with the artists around the world um has been really important to me. And uh, you know, I've written a handbook about how the artists, you know, what we expect of them and things like that. But it's also about it's also about information, about being a quadriplegic. So we have a massive font of uh you know uh of information from our artists that broke their necks 50 years ago and have dealt with all the problems. They know what mouthpieces to use, they know what wheelchairs to use. And and I need to talk to you about wheelchairs because I think you'll find it interesting. So I met this young guy called Job in Ghana here, and he um he had a car accident, uh bike accident 10 years ago and had a really bad injury on his leg. And while he was in hospital, he realized that a lot of the kids the guys couldn't get out of bed because they didn't have a wheelchair. And when they did get out of bed, that was a manual chair and they couldn't use it because of their injuries. So four years ago, he designed and now he's building electric wheelchairs for Africa, and they are fantastic. And I'll I'll send you a photo or a little video, and our very first Ghana Ghana artist, Joel Achampong, who's our first mouth painter here, he's been struggling with his uh his his uh independence with mobility for the last couple of years. Everything dies in Ghana because we're right next to the coast. So his last two wheelchairs that I bought for him have all fair you know rusted rusted up. But he's now got this new wheelchair that was built in Ghana, and it's fantastic. So I'm very excited about that. 590 pounds for an elect for an electric wheelchair.

Phil 11:57

That is extraordinary. Try 15 grand for something over it.

Tom 12:01

I mean, it's very it's very simple, but it you know, it's it's not a racing car, but it gets you round, and uh I'm I'm very excited about it because this is the first kid, uh person really in Ghana that I've come across who's had any entrepreneurial you know shit. So it's kind of sense.

Phil 12:22

The painting group have now pioneered wheelchairs back.

Simon 12:26

Your existence is advocacy, I think, and and political and all the things that we know. But the digital world, I know a couple of artists who are unique or disabled and they're using iPads now. How's uh MFPA approaching the digital world of art?

Tom 12:42

We we are struggling because publishers, you know, we've been we've printed our we've printed our uh merchandise, our stuff that keeps us going. We've printed for 70 years. It's our 70th birthday this year. It's been cards, calendars, wrapping paper, books, and um we've done that for 70 years, and we had a very strong publisher who believed really that's how we made our money. And for 70, well, for 50 years, 60 years, we did really well. Um, but now of course, digital printing is massive. And so this week I've had two really long board meetings um about the digital industry and how we are going to get our guys interested. Um that's the printing side. The actual creating side is a bit more difficult because we, you know, the research that we've done is that people using uh a um you know a pointer in your mouth and creating on an app or a an iPad isn't seen by our customers as creating art. And of course, we all know it is, uh, and I know it is, and I know that uh you know uh new ways of creating art have been going on for thousands of years, but convincing our publishers that our 60-year-old ladies, because that's our demographic, our customers, you know, believe that digital art is uh something that we could be doing, but it will come. There are artists doing it, and we're we're trying to get into a new demographic graphic of sort of the 20 to 50 year olds, and of course, they're much more into that sort of stuff. So in the next three or four years, I think we'll see a big change of stuff that we're producing.

Phil 14:31

Before we started, Tom, you mentioned a conference this year. Do you want to tell us a bit more about that?

Tom 14:36

I I'm really, really excited about it because uh the first conference that I was a member of student artists was in 1986, and it was London. So every three years our worldwide association travel around the world. We've been amazing places: Shanghai, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, um Vienna, Copenhagen, and I've on the board convinced them to come for our 70th anniversary in London. So from the 14th to the 19th of London, uh April, sorry, 14th of uh we have about a hundred of our artists coming from all around the world. We're staying in the great hotel, the Park Plaza, which you will know, I'm sure, because it's the accessible hotel in London with yeah, 50 accessible rooms. The majority of our guys are quadriplegic, and I'm just absolutely astounded that in England um trying to do a conference in England with uh 50 wheelchair users has been a nightmare because of the rules and regulations of coaches. So we we can find coaches that uh you know the the legal situation is that a coach has to have a hoist on it, but it only legally has to have one wheelchair place. So we haven't been able to find any coaches that can take more more than two or three wheelchairs, so we've having minibuses. Luckily, Trelaw's uh the school that I went to in Alton in Hampshire, they've lent us their coach, but um it's been a real nightmare, and you think that we've got into Mexico City and had no problem getting accessible coaches. You think we could do it in England?

Phil 16:23

Yeah.

Access Challenges And Event Logistics

Tom 16:24

That's my r that's my rant, sorry. So we have yeah, so that week we have three days of conference. We're electing a new president. Uh sadly, our our French president is retiring because he's uh he's ill got ill health. Um, and uh we will elect new board members, we will look at the accounts for the last three years. We have a big exhibition in the Royal Horticultural Halls, uh Lindley Hall. So that's from the um uh Wednesday, the 15th of April, through to Saturday, the 19th of April. And it's very close to um uh Lambeth Bridge in London. Yeah, it's a lovely hall, it's a Victorian hall with a great grass roof on it, so it's lovely, lovely light

Phil 17:13

And this will be open to the public, Tom, yeah.

Tom 17:15

Open to the public, yeah, yeah, and there'll be lots of PR going out about it. Um, and then we're going we're having our 70th anniversary uh dinner we're having at the Guild Hall in in the city, which is an amazing building. I don't know if you don't know, if you don't know, it's one of the the biggest uh stone buildings uh you know in in in uh London. Um and then we'll have a big party on the Thursday to say goodbye to everybody, and it's really lovely because it's like meeting your family again. Yeah, they all these artists we meet up, we're on social media and we zoom and things, but there's nothing like meeting and talking about art in purse special, really special.

Phil 17:55

Well, it sounds sounds terrific, sounds absolutely brilliant. I must make a note in my document.

Simon 18:00

Um a very happy birthday, 70 years is pretty impressive. And I although I'm not associated with you, I always have a deep affection. Like I said, when I was exploring disability, even before I explored disability, you're aware of the MFPA, you're aware of what they do, and that's something quite amazing to have that reach and impact. Um, so yeah, always have an affection for it.

Phil 18:21

I think what I didn't understand, my wife buys the cards every year, Tom has done it. Thank you very much. Well, you know, but that's that's what she does. Um but I hadn't realised what you've helped me understand is there is a it's actually quite I don't want to say privilege or honour because they're not the right words. But to be a member of your organization, you just don't walk in. You know, you've got to submit work and you've got to go through a process. I love that idea that you've got to be good enough to join us.

Tom 18:51

Yeah, our tagline is self-help, not charity. Absolutely, you know, and we really believe that yeah, if you want to be part of our organization, you've got to work for it.

Phil 19:00

Absolutely.

Tom 19:00

And and sadly, sadly, there are some some of some people that don't. Um, you know, and we have been very charitable in in the circumstances when people are ill or you know they have problems. But you know, we we have to look at life as a business. And we we have 40 publishing houses around the world that print all our stuff. The the other thing I thought you were gonna say was about the privilege of having something printed. Because in England, we only print you know eight cards at Christmas and we print eight cards in the spring and the calendar and some wrapping paper. So being having your artwork printed is an amazing thing. Yes, you know, and I tell our students that if you go something printed, that is an amazing thing. And I can remember the very first card that I actually had a design on, it was life-changing for me becau se it really made me think that I was earning a living.

Phil 19:53

Brilliant.

Tom 19:54

I think that's incredible.

Self‑Help Not Charity Philosophy

Phil 19:57

Well, I think that we're running out of time, but uh I've enjoyed this. I didn't know half what you told me, and I knew of you, I knew what you were about, but I didn't know half of what you were about, did I? And the Ghana electric wheelchair, that is something else.

Tom 20:11

Well, we need to do uh we did we need to do a re-roll in Ghana, don't we?

Phil 20:16

We do.

Tom 20:17

We've just uh we've just put a really nice ramp here now, so fully fully wheelchair accessible.

Phil 20:22

I'll be out Sunday.

Simon 20:23

Well, I was just on a very practical level in terms of your transport. There's an organization called Proximo, and they have a lot of wheelchair accessible vehicles that you can rent and hire. Uh, and if you have an overspill, they might be useful, particularly for that airport transfer or whatever it might be.

Tom 20:39

Yeah, we work, yeah, no, that's great. We I mean we're working with a company uh from uh Farnham, uh an events company, is being really switched on. But um, yeah, it's uh I I find it incredible that we can you know when we went to when we went to um Rio de Janeiro, we couldn't find coaches. Uh so we bought two minibuses, had them clamped so that we could take in seven, uh, and then we left we left the minibuses for the local hospital. So we're also doing our bit around the world to uh show people that you know people do need accessible transport uh and they do need a living. Got to earn a living. So yeah. So Simon, you Simon, you need to start making a living.

Simon 21:26

This is gonna sound really weird, but I'm sort of envious that I have hands at the moment because I'm like, oh my god, this sounds amazing.

Tom 21:34

Uh my my my carpenter here hit his hand with a hammer uh yesterday the other day. And and I said to him, He came and said, I can't work today. I said you've got another hand, you've got feet. What's wrong with you? You're not getting you're not getting any sympathy from me.

Simon 21:50

Uh thank you so much, Tom. I kept bumping into you, and I'm really pleased that we've kind of got you on the podcast. And happy birthday. Great. Well, this will come out just before your exhibition, so Uh I hope the event and everything goes brilliantly.

Tom 22:03

Thank you very much.

Closing Thanks And Contacts

Phil 22:04

Good luck, Tom. Busy year. Good luck. Hope it goes well. Cheers.

Announcer 22:09

This is the Way We Roll, presented by Simon Minty and Phil Friend. You can email us at minty and friend at gmail dot com or just search for Minty and Friend on social media. We're on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.