User:Drumsky/sandbox

''' Peter Longstaff "

Peter Longstaff paints landscapes and creates Christmas cards. He was born with no arms and paints beautifully with his feet. While his mother was pregnant she was given thalidomide to alleviate morning sickness. At the time, doctors didn't know the effect it could have on an unborn child. It turned out to cause serious deformities in new borns and Peter was born with no arms. After years of farming he enlisted in the "Mouth and Foot Painting Artists" as a student and now has his works of art displayed all over the world.

Personal Life

Peter grew up in Teesside, England and used to live in Stockton. He grew up working on a farm for twenty years and would help the family by using his feet to drive the tractor and do other activities. "I enjoy the football and I loved pig farming - I just learned to do it differently to other people. The work got done, just not conventionally. I drove tractors and mucked out the pigs and it was a great time," he said. After the British pig industry got too crowded, in the 1990s, he was forced to sell his farm and look for another outlet. This eventually led him to coaching football, and ultimately being an artist. Peter is currently divorced and has one kid, a twelve year old son named Milo, with his ex-wife. He is now happily with a new partner.

Painting

Peter says his right foot is like a normal persons right hand. He balances on his left leg, while painting with his right foot. After meeting with Tom Yendel, who was born with one arm, from the same drug thalidomide, he submitted his work to the "Mouth and Foot Painting Artist." The movement helps disabled artists financially and in 2002, he received an awards scholarship which allowed him to share his work with the world. The funds raised from the organization provide Peter with grants that help with fees that include tuition and painting materials.

His work has been shown at the Picturecraft Gallery in Holt, Norfolk