Mouthful of pictures

Tom Yendell has been involved with the mouth and foot artists since the early 1980s and he now runs the association’s gallery. He is always on the hunt for new talent

I always said to the association that they should get a gallery that I could manage and where I could organise exhibitions. Then in 1992 when I was driving through the village of Selborne in Hampshire I saw that the village shop was up for sale and I convinced them to buy it and I’ve been running the gallery from there ever since.

Painting has always featured in my life. I learned to use a pen and a brush with my feet. When I got to secondary school I was too big to sit on a table so I swapped over to using my mouth.

I sometimes spend my mornings doing administrative work in the gallery, printing prints of our artists’ work and arranging to attend exhibitions to showcase artists’ work. Then I normally spend a couple of hours painting in the afternoon. I’m a quick painter, if something takes longer than a couple of days I get bored with it. I start by sketching on paper, put it behind silk and draw on top of it.

I enjoy painting on silk and I enjoy painting flowers. But I also paint the birthday Easter and Christmas cards that we sell in the gallery.

My dad was a master baker and used to decorate cakes. But my art teacher at Treloars school was fantastic and he had a huge influence on me artistically.

I’ve grown up holding brushes in my mouth. People think that you have to grip the brush hard and strain your jaw. But it’s similar to holding it in your hand where you only need to grip the brush enough to stop it moving about. You don’t get paint on your face either! Painting straight lines with your mouth is easier than doing it with your foot and probably your hand too.

We have rented some space to a collective of artists and the income it has generated allows me to travel to trade exhibitions to promote the association.

But one challenge that the association and I are facing is finding new members. There are only 34 of us in England and it’s hard to find new artists. So I’m hoping to go out to more exhibitions and fêtes to raise the profile of the association and find new members. Also, we are finding that people are sending fewer Christmas cards so we have diversified and producing calendars and books.

I’m keen to make a colouring book for children because I want to do some black and white images.

My advice to anyone without the use of their hands, interested in joining the association, would be to get in touch with me because we’re always looking for disabled people unable to use their hands. If you can paint to a high standard, you might even be able to make a decent living from it.

• tom@tomyendell.co.uk

•• Tom Yendell was talking to Sunil Peck


Tom Yendell Career Paths    
• 1980 – Left Treloars to study a foundation course in art at Hastings College of Art and Technology
• 1981 – Went to study expressive art in Brighton
• 1985 – Began working as a photographer taking pictures of people who set up in business
• 1987 – Began working as the activities co-ordinator at Treloars
• 1992 – Opened the MFPA gallery