Foot and mouth painter overcomes challenges to drive, go scuba diving

"I like scuba diving. The underwater world is so quiet and is full of so many colors. The ocean in fact is the source of inspiration for me in my paintings." This might sound like an ordinary statement from an ordinary painter. However, it would be quite a bit more surprising coming from a man who has lost both of his arms.

Foot and mouth painter Chen Shih-feng is infatuated with scuba diving. In addition, he is the first person on Taiwan to drive a motorcycle without the use of his arms. Moreover, he is one of three people on Taiwan without arms who have licenses to drive an automobile on their own. Chen regularly goes scuba diving and fishing on the open seas. When he is invited to give speeches at various places around the island, he gets to the venues on his own. He even goes traveling overseas by himself. Surprisingly enough, his level of mobility virtually surpasses that of a person who has arms. How has he done it?

"My first scuba diving teachers refused to go under water with me," Chen said. Since one has to have an oxygen hose that is connected to an oxygen tank in one's mouth when going under water, the only way of communicating with others is through sign language. Chen was out of luck in this regard since he did not have arms that would enable him to sign. Ultimately, he was able to persuade two coaches to go under water with him. "What we ultimately did was to translate sign language using one's hands into sign language using one's feet!"

Chen is presently 36 years old. When he was 14 years old, he had an accident in which electrical shocks caused him to lose both arms. Chen, who from the time he was young had talent in the area of fine arts and sought to be a painter, decided to change paths just a bit and become a painter holding the brush in his mouth. At that time, there was not the concept of a "foot and mouth painter" among society. Initially, he faced all sorts of difficulties that people not involved with him would not even be able to imagine. He would put the canvas on a table and then pick up a brush with his mouth and paint this way. "I would commonly drip my saliva all over the place," Chen said.

He gradually learned how to use his feat to squeeze paint from the various tubes. Even so, the agility of one's feet was nowhere near to that of hands. "Sometimes there would end up being paint all over the place, both on my feet and the floor." After he would finish using a brush, he would bend his neck under a faucet to wash out the brush. Then he would shake his head in order to get the water out of the brush. The end result is that his face would become totally wet with a mixture of water and paint. Friends often asked him whether his aim was to paint on the canvas or to get paint all over his body.

The process of cleaning the brushes did become troublesome at times because he would use kerosene to wash the oil paint out of the brushes. He would bend his waist and lower his head to wash the brushes and his face would come near the solution. If he was not careful, the kerosene would get all over his face and there were times when he even got some in his mouth. "Sometimes I would get so dizzy that I wanted to throw up," Chen said. After several years, however, he said that he gradually got used to it.

Chen designed a special motorcycle on his own that would enable him to drive without the use of his arms. At first, the boss of the motorcycle shop would not even entertain the idea of refitting a motorcycle to his specifications. "How could you drive a motorcycle without any arms?" Chen said he was asked constantly. According to Chen's design, the front and back brakes, clutch, gearshift and fuel lever were all moved to the lower part of the motorcycle so that he could control the devices with his feet. He then used a device to extend his arms and support what was left of his limbs. "Looking at the set-up from afar, no one could really tell that I was handicapped," he said.

Chen presently owns a 2,500 cc recreational vehicle. After getting the vehicle refitted to meet his needs, the steering wheel has been moved lower so that it can be controlled with his feet. Another man who had lost his arms and who had heard Chen speak about his experience in adapting the vehicle to his needs sought out Chen to ask him how he did it. Chen was delighted to provide his knowledge to the man free of charge. "One month later, Mr. Ku drove a car over to visit me and thank me in person for the assistance," Chen said. Including a classmate of his, there are only three people on Taiwan without arms who are able to drive cars on by themselves.

In 1988, Chen became a member of an international federation of foot and mouth painters. He specializes in nature scenes and still life, and especially likes to use carp as a subject. His artistic ability is quite advanced. He has accomplished what he has through lots of hard work and determination, and his life experience has even been documented in a reference book. Starting Thursday, Chen's paintings will be on exhibit with those of other physically and mentally handicapped artists at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Chen urged others in his position to show a passion for life and never give up.

(http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHeadlines/index.jsp?categid=11&recordid=89014)