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Taroudant – Moroccan-born artist Mariam Fatima Paré learned to paint wonderful drawings with her mouth and develop her passion for painting after a stray bullet struck her while driving nearly 20 years ago and left her paralyzed.
Despite the tragic accident that left her quadriplegic, the artist, 38, did not give up her dream to become a professional painter, an art she loved ever since she was a little girl.
In 1996, at the age of 20, Mariam was driving her car and sadly a stray bullet passed through the door of the car and struck her in the back between her shoulder blades and neck, which left her immediately paralyzed.
However, Mariam, learned how to control a pencil using her mouth with the help of intense rehabilitation with her physical therapist.
“When I was first disabled I didn’t know there were other people painting with their mouth let alone their feet so I was very happy to hear there was an organization of professional artists,” she say.
Mariam is now a member of the Mouth & Foot Painting Artists, an international, for-profit association formed in 1956, which wholly owned and run by disabled artists to help them make a living through their paintings.
With her strong determination and family support, Mariam managed, after a long painful struggle with the methods of holding the brush with her mouth, to carve out a career as a “mouth painter” and make her name shine among distinguished painters.
In addition to her talent as a mouth-painter, Mariam gives motivational talks at various institutions and conventions across the US.
Originally from Kenitra, about 53 kilometers from the Moroccan capital Rabat, Mariam moved with her parents to live in USA when she was a little girl.
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