Paralysed hands don't hold back feet artist

Born with paralysed hands, Zheng Huamei makes a living by selling artistic works created with her feet. In order to make her paintings more vivid and detailed, Zheng practices for hours everyday in her seven-square-metre apartment in southeast China's Fuzhou city. Zheng began to train herself to use her feet for functions normally done with hands when she was young.



As she developed a great interest in painting, her parents poured all their savings into sending her to a school for fine art. To have control of the brush, she must nip the paintbrush with her toes. Zheng said painting gives her deep pleasure and disabilities are a mere test of character. "I think ordeals in life are there to test a person. If you can't go past the basic test, how can you survive?" she said.

Zheng is also able to prepare food, cook and eat with her feet. She was unable to find a job with a salary due to her disability, so she picked up needlework and weaving skills. Now she earns her income by selling 'footicrafts' to tourists in a park in Fuzhou. She creates small toys from beads that are meticulously sewn together.


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Zheng has been able to live independently. However, she said frustration still comes especially when she wants to reach out and help others. "For example, you happen to see someone falling when you are walking on the street, you feel helpless as you really want to give a hand but you are not able to do it," she said. She has also dedicated her energies to charity work and donates some of her income from painting.