Christmas Cards by Mouth & Foot Painting Artists

Four UK mouth and foot painters have discovered their unique artwork is being transformed into a Christmas card.

The artists are all members of the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA), which supports 28 artists across the UK and over 700 worldwide.

“Thousands of paintings are considered and only a handful become Christmas cards,” said Tom Yendell OBE, Board Member and President of the MFPA, which is celebrating its 70^th anniversary.

This year’s chosen cards were designed by Rob Trent, David Cawthorne, Peter Longstaff, and Keith Jansz.

For Rob it’s the second year in a row that his painting, ‘Robin in the Snow’, has been chosen as a Christmas card.

Born with arthrogryposis, a condition affecting the joints and muscles, 67-year-old Bob painted as a child at Chailey Heritage School, then built a career at Ordnance Survey in Southampton after gaining a degree in Information Systems.

David, a former miner, started work at Fryston Colliery at 16. At 18 he broke his neck playing rugby League and was introduced to painting in hospital as occupational therapy.

His card, ‘Wishing Well’ (pictured above), is the second card in the anniversary Christmas collection.

Peter, who paints with his feet, is celebrating a career first after his painting ‘Winter Landscape’ was chosen as a Christmas card.

Born without arms after his mother was prescribed Thalidomide during pregnancy, Peter ran his own pig farm in Norfolk for 20 years, driving a tractor and working the farm with his feet. When the pig industry slumped in the late 1990s he sold up, took an art and photography course, and subsequently was awarded an MFPA scholarship in 2002.

A painting of a polar bear and her cub, ‘Mother and Baby’ (pictured above), by Oxfordshire artist Keith, who paints by holding the brush in his mouth, is also one of the cards available to buy.

 Keith took up painting after a car accident in 1995 left him paralysed from the shoulders down, and only two months after he ran the London Marathon. A book about mouth and foot painters, given to him by his mother-in-law, had inspired him to give it a try.

His work has since been exhibited in the UK, the US and Italy, and in museums from Lisbon to Shanghai.

The cards costs £1, with discounts on larger orders, and are available from mfpa.co.uk or 020 7229 4491.