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Sarah Biffen was the first recorded
British mouth painter. Born in Somerset without arms or legs,
she lived from 1784 to 1850. During her adult life she managed
to make a living in a travelling sideshow by demonstrating
her ability to paint with a brush held between her teeth, yet
her talent was such that she had a painting accepted at the
Royal Academy.
A century after her death another mouth painter, Erich Stegmann was
travelling the world to seek out fellow 'handless' artists in order
to join him in his dream of establishing an organisation that would
give them the independence by marketing their work for them.
From the small group he gathered for the inaugural meeting of the Association
of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists held in Liechtenstein, the number of members
has reached more than seven hundred based in sixty-seven countries today.
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