South Africa
Meet the Artists Behind the Masterpieces
Get to know the talented individuals who make up Mouth and Foot Painting Artists South Africa. Each artist has a unique story of perseverance and passion, using their mouth or foot to create stunning works of art. Explore their backgrounds, learn about their journeys, and gain insight into the inspiration behind their creations. Together, they redefine what it means to overcome challenges and express creativity without limits.
John Louw
John Louw had an accident in 1967, at the age of 18, while riding his motorbike, resulting in paralysis of all four limbs. A few years later he began to paint with the mouth. He was soon able to make progress. In 1987 he received a scholarship from the Association. This allowed him to attend various art courses taught by artists of high standing. In 1993 he graduated in art and received a diploma. In 1997 he became Associate member of the VDMFK.
John Louw has a passion for scenes taken from the animal kingdom in Africa. He also likes to paint landscapes depicting his native country. His favourite techniques are oils and water-colours.
Today, John Louw lives in a small South African village called De Aar. The poverty that he saw and experienced in this region led him to establish a home for homeless children. At present, this home provides accommodation for 35 children.
Chris Opperman
Chris Opperman was born in 1969 in Lichtenburg. In 1988, he began studying theology, but his life changed dramatically at 19. On June 27, 1989, a playful prank led to a fall that shattered his C5 vertebra, leaving him a quadriplegic.
In 1992, he moved into a house for quadriplegics and was inspired by VDMFK artists to start painting. By 1993, he had completed several works but chose to pursue a diploma in Information Technology instead. After some time painting became his great passion.
In 2002, he was given a scholarship by the Association. Since 2011, he has been an Associate Member of AMFPA.
Chris Opperman prefers the technique of oil painting. His predominant themes include the landscapes of his homeland as well as animals and people.
Rudolf Lombard
In 1983 Rudolf Lombard was involved in a car accident, rendering him C4-C5 quadriplegic with paralysis of all four extremities. After completing secondary school the artist enrolled in a school for the disabled in 1986. He became interested in art while still at this school, creating the first pencil drawings with his mouth in 1986. Subsequently he focused on his university studies in computer science and on his professional career. It was not until 2002 that he took up mouth painting again.
He became a student member of the Association in 2003. In 2009 he became an associate member of the Association. His preferred media are oils and acrylics. Frequently he combines these two media, which constitutes “a mystic experience to him and provides the opportunity to use colour effectively”, as he himself says. His favourite themes are portraits, landscapes, animals and flowers.
Martin Sodoms
Martin Charl Sodoms was born in Voëlklip, Hermanus, on 20 April 1974. He attended both primary and secondary school. After leaving school he studied securities management and worked as an assistant for a branch manager. In December 1996, he had a diving accident in which he broke his neck at C5 and C6 vertebral level, leaving him tetraplegic.
A teacher of painting introduced him to art nine months after his rehabilitation and during his stay in hospital. She helped him to learn to paint by mouth. Since 2002 he has received support from the VDMFK in the form of a scholarship. The Association awarded him Associate Member status in 2014.
Martin has specialised in painting with acrylic colours. Even so, he also paints with oil paints that can be mixed with water; and sometimes with watercolours, too. His preferred motifs are the flowers, birds, landscapes and people of his homeland. He likes sport and is a skilled blowpipe darts player. His hobbies include painting, drawing, photography, fashion – and designing websites.
Patrick Botto
Patrick John Botto was born in 1970 in Grabouw, he dreamed of making a difference. After matriculating in 1988 from Portland’s SSS in Mitchell’s Plain, he joined the South African Police Service in 1991, becoming a fingerprint expert in Pretoria.
His life changed forever on November 12, 1993, when a car accident left him paralyzed from the chest down.
Despite this, he found new purpose in 1998, attending art classes at Bellville Library under Martie Westraad. Learning to paint with his mouth was challenging—his first painting took four months—but he persevered.
In 2000, he joined the Mouth and Foot Painters Association (MFPA) of Switzerland and was promoted to Associate Member in 2015. His talent flourished, painting vibrant landscapes, flowers, animals, and still lifes using water-mixable oils.
Grateful for the MFPA, he embraced this new chapter with passion, inspiring others with his message: “A dream will stay a dream unless you take action.”
Brenton Swartz
Brenton Nicholas SWARTZ was born on 30 October 1978 in Cape Town. Since a gunshot accident he is paralysed from the neck down. He spent eight months in hospital and was classified as a C4-C5 tetraplegic. He attended a school for the disabled. In 1998 he finished grade 12 and went to live in a home for tetraplegic people.
In 1999 he enrolled at college and studied computer-aided drawing. In December 2006 he received a state diploma as architectural draughtsman.
He was able to work at an architect’s office for 18 months and gain a lot of experience.
One of his friends who painted, asked him whether he wanted to try it. In 2001 he started taking art lessons. His aim in life is to lead an independent, normal and happy life. In December 2020 he was fortunate and honoured to be accepted as an Associate Member of the VDMFK effectively from 1 March 2021.
His main goal in life is to live independently and to live a normal, happy life.
Lezelda Lubbe
Miss Lubbe was born in Vanderbijlpark on October 29, 1970, without arms and with short legs without knee joint. She can only walk short distances and has only four toes on each feet. Yet her health is good. As a three-year-old she started at the “Hope School”, which she completed in 1988. She is a highly talented artist. She types with her feet, but paints with the mouth. Since 1988 she has been continuing her training and education in art.
Kagiso Modisane
Mr. Kagiso Modisane is a foot painter and was born in Soweto on August 21, 1969. His handicap was only diagnosed at the age of seven months when he was not able to sit or crawl like other children. Until he was nine years old he stayed at the hospital where he was treated with physiotherapy. Subsequently he started school and came up to the ninth grade of secondary school. Mr. Kagiso Modisane is able to walk normally. The artist prefers to paint with coloured pencils.
Bryan Jones
Bryan Jones was born in Port Elizabeth on 13 November 1961. In 1986 he broke his cervical spine (C-6) during a rugby match. His arms and legs have been paralysed since then. In 1993 he painted his first motifs using his mouth. The self-taught artist is very ambitious and wants to improve his technique by attending painting courses.
Anton Van Den Berg
At age 23, in 1992, I had a workplace accident that left me with a spinal injury. While connecting an electric cable, a passing vehicle caught the cable, pulling it taut and causing me to fall 10 meters from a cherry picker. Days later, I dived into a pool and permanently injured my spinal cord at C5/C6, becoming a quadriplegic.
In 1994, I moved into a home for quadriplegics and was introduced to mouth and foot painting. Though initially challenging, I grew to enjoy painting with practice.
In 1997 I applied for a scholarship with the Association of Mouth and Foot Painters and became a contracted student in 1998. Since then, I’ve loved creating art and traveling South Africa to showcase my work. Seeing my paintings on cards, calendars, and mugs fills me with pride. In 2022, I got married and now share my home with two Yorkies. I’m deeply grateful to the Association of Mouth and Foot Painters for turning my disability into an ability.
Jacobus Mans
Jacobus Johannes Mans (b. April 2, 1957) is a Mouth Painting Student with the Association of Mouth And Foot Painting Artists. Born in Bethal, Mpumalanga, and raised in Krugersdorp, Gauteng, Jacobus pursued a career in gold mining after earning a mining diploma. He later transitioned to security services and developed a passion for crafting hunting knives by hand to support his family. In 1989, a tragic accident on a Super Tube left Jacobus a quadriplegic. Despite immense challenges, including financial struggles and the lack of a disability grant, he was inspired by other mouth and foot painters.
In 2004, he became a student of AMFPSA, dedicating himself to learning mouth painting despite limited resources and accessibility. Jacobus credits his faith, family, and the support of mentors like Chris Opperman and friends like Abraham and Sannelé Esterhuisen for his progress. Despite setbacks, including the economic impact of COVID-19, he remains determined, reflecting AMFPSA’s motto: “We change disability into ABILITY!”
Konrad Gerber
Born on 27 May 1977 in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth.)
In 1995 he matriculated and thereafter furthered his studies in technical drawing and building.
In December of 1997 he sustained a Spinal cord injury in a diving accident which resulted in the loss of the use of his legs and arms.
After meeting a few mouth painters, and with his interest in drawing and growing up in an artistic environment he began to paint with his mouth in August 2002.
His favorite painting themes are seascapes, abstracts and portraits
Sefotsane Mokoena
Born on 15 July 1979. Sefotsane Mokoena was shot while washing a car and has been paralysed from the neck down ever since. The year 2002 was to be a turning point in his life. He became interested in mouth painting and derives great pleasure from it. The artist has a passion for African art.
Joshua Dithipe
Born on 17 January 1972 in Potchestroom (South Africa). Due to a gunshot wound to the neck on 15 January 2003 he became tetraplegic (C4 vertebra) and is confined to the wheelchair.
At the Huis Servaas centre for the disabled he met VDMFK student member Tom Webster (mouth painter) who encouraged him to try mouth painting (2005). He quickly developed a great liking for mouth painting and strives to make artistic progress.
Meyer Erasmus
Johan Hendrik Barkemeiyer Erasmus was born on November 19, 1977, he grew up on a farm in the Eastern Transvaal, where his love for nature and farm life began. After completing primary school at Kinross Primary and matriculating from Nelspruit High School, he worked as a farm manager in the Thabazimbi district, enjoying the bushveld life that inspired him deeply.
In January 1999, his life changed when a car accident left him a quadriplegic after a spinal cord injury. Following three months of rehabilitation at Eugene Marais Hospital, he faced his new reality with courage.
He later moved to Klerksdorp, where he discovered mouth painting through residents in a quadriplegic-friendly home. This led him to the Mouth and Foot Painters Association (MFPA). Starting with pencil sketches, he transitioned to oil painting and, in 2007, became a student member of the MFPA.
Inspired by the landscapes, animals, and flowers of the Northern Bushveld and Kruger National Park, he continues to capture nature’s beauty on canvas, turning his passion into art.
Jerome Hannam
In December 2001 Jerome Johan Hannam had a diving accident that left him tetraplegic (severe injury to the spine at C5/7). In November 2005 he tried to paint with his mouth for the first time. Spurred by ambition and being an autodidact, he quickly made progress.
Siyasamkela Toli
Siyasamkela (also called Siya) Toli was born on 27 May 1983 without arms, an abnormally curved spine and dwarfism. From early childhood he has been painting and drawing with his mouth and has more or less developed his artistic skill as an autodidact. His mouth-painted works in a typically African style are done in vivid colours, depicting daily life in South Africa.
Johanna Joubert
Johanna (Hanli) Joubert was born on 1977 in Windhoek with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, , a functional disorder. After matriculating, she started working as an office administration and has been doing so for many years. In 1998 she developed an intense interest in mouth painting and tried to express her artistic self by means of her mouth on all kinds of materials including ostrich eggs and tiles. She is an autodidact.
After the artist moved to a home for people with disabilities, she was very intent on learning more about art from the mouth and foot painters living there.
Although her first love is oil paints, she likes to experiment with different mediums such as watercolour and coloured pencils.
The artist especially likes to paint birds, floral and animal themes.
Ferdinand Prins
Ferdinand Prins was born on March 7, 1962, in Paarl, South Africa, and completed his schooling in 1979. In December 1984, a diving accident in a river left him a quadriplegic with complete paralysis from the neck down due to a spinal cord injury at the C5 vertebra. Despite this, he has built a fulfilling life and currently resides at Quasar Trust, a home for quadriplegics, where he is part of the management team. Ferdinand has a passion for astronomy and astrophotography, overcoming challenges posed by his disability with creative modifications to his equipment.
His love for the stars, particularly van Gogh’s Starry Night, inspired him to explore painting as another way to capture beauty. Working in a realistic style, he finds endless inspiration in the diversity of creation.
In 2012, Ferdinand received a scholarship from the Association of Mouth and Foot Painters (MFPA) and became a student artist. He is dedicated to honing his skills and actively participates in exhibitions, marketing, and promoting art for the MFPA, finding immense joy in expressing his creativity through painting.
Jacobus Niewenhuizen
On May 28, 1998, I broke my neck in a motor vehicle accident, resulting in a C5/C6 spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed in both my arms and legs. I spent a year in Klerksdorp Hospital before moving in with my mother.
In 2000, I relocated to Huis Servaas in Klerksdorp, a care center for quadriplegics. There, I met Tom Webster, who was also a member of VDMK. In 2010, he encouraged me to start painting. After a few attempts, I was thrilled to be accepted as a student of VDMK on 1 March 2012.
I am deeply grateful to be part of such an incredible organization. VDMK has opened many doors for me and transformed my outlook on life, making it much brighter.
In 2006, I got married, and since then, my spouse and I have been living in a two-bedroom flat on the Huis Servaas premises.
God has been so good to me, and despite challenges like sickness and bedsores, I continue to find joy and purpose in painting.
I want to thank VDMK for everything they do for me and all the artists they support.
Petrus Tshabangu
Petrus Tshabangu was born in South Africa on 16 October 1970. Following a car accident, he was left C5 quadriplegic with severe spasticity. He began painting with his mouth four years ago and shows considerable potential in his pictures. Every Tuesday he embarks on an arduous journey and travels to the Lat Wiel Self Help Centre for Tetraplegics in Pretoria where he paints with other artists.
Lizette De Beer
Catherine Lizette de Beer was born on 3 March 1976 in Durban, South Africa. She has been a quadriplegic since a car accident on 10 May 1997. After her accident she was cared for first by her mother, and then by her brother. Following the deaths of both people, she now lives in a residential home. Here she became acquainted with two VDMFK artists who have since died, Gert J. J. Olivier (scholarship holder) and Justice May (full member), who awakened her interest in painting.
Sagaria Stander
Sagaria Stander was born on 1 July 1963 in George, South Africa.
In April 1984 he became tetraplegic as a result of a car accident. The injury concerned the 4th neck vertebra, and affected both his motor and sensory functions.
Mr Stander spent 7 months in hospital, where he received the necessary medical care and rehabilitation.
Living as a tetraplegic brought an entirely different life with it, and he had to face many different challenges and overcome obstacles.
e lives in a home for people with tetraplegia in Parow, Cape Town. A very good friend, the art teacher Martie Vos-Westraad, encouraged him to paint with his mouth. This took place at the end of 2014 and since then he has been a student in her class.
In his leisure time he enjoys nature, art and music. Painting enables him to express his creativity.
Cornè Joubert
Corne Joubert was born on 17 August 1988 in a small town called Bethal in the Province of Mpumalanga in South Africa. On 2 January 2007, he broke his neck in a diving accident, and became a C5 tetraplegic. At the time of his accident, he was training to be a car mechanic, but his accident put an end to his apprenticeship. Corne Joubert was then in a rehabilitation facility for three months, and then he went to live with his parents for the first three years following his accident.
In August 2010, he moved into a Living Centre for quadriplegics to become more independent, where he met Gert Volschenk (a former Associate Member). He mentored Corne Joubert for almost a year. After the death of Gert Volschenk, Corne Joubert further educated himself autodidactically with the help of online videos. He is fond of oil painting, and draws inspiration from landscapes.
Joseph Heiron
Heiron Roneen Joseph, a 45-year-old tetraplegic, was born in Springbok in 1978. He completed his primary schooling in the Northern Cape before moving to Vredenburg on the West Coast in the early 1990s.
On January 5, 2005, a diving accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. Before the accident, Heiron worked in the engineering field, but afterward, he embraced mouth painting as both a passion and profession. While adjusting to life in a wheelchair, he also pursued studies in business administration.
Encouraged by his therapist in the 2010s, Heiron began focusing on mouth art. Inspired by the talent of students from the Mouth and Foot Painters Association, he applied to join the organization. He was accepted in December 2022 and began his scholarship in March 2023.
Heiron is now a proud student of the association, thriving in a community of talented individuals. In addition to painting, he enjoys reading and cherishes time outdoors, approaching life with energy and determination.
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Join us in celebrating our Association, our work and making a lasting impact. Together, we can ensure our artists continue to thrive and share their extraordinary talents with the world.