Disabled Rector native finds career in art

When Rector native Shirley (Elam) Patton began to lose the use of her arms and legs due to chronic progressive multiple sclerosis, she began to chronicle her experience. Along the way, she made friends with a woman at church who happened to be an artist. Patton had never painted before, but thought it would be a good idea to keep her ability to epxress herself intact.

She learned to hold a mouth stick, and her art career began. Through a doctor who was familiar with Mouth and Foot Painting Artists, an international for-profit association wholly owned and run by disabled artists around the world, Patton found her way to submitting an application to the organization and was accepted in 1996 at age 49.

Since that time, the 1965 Rector High School graduate says she has been working diligently and practicing at every opportunity to improve her artistic skills, and her hard work is now bearing fruit.

In 2007, the MFPA chose to print a picture of Patton at work on the inside page of its annual calendar. They also chose one of her paintings to reproduce on a Christmas gift tag. Her life has now changed dramatically.

A Look Back

After her graduation from RHS, Patton, born in 1947, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Memphis State University. She was married and moved to California, where she lived for 17 years.

"I had a prosperous career in the field of medical transcription and opened my own medical transcription business in 1982," she said.

She was diagnosed with MS in 1988.

"I am now a quadriplegic due to my multiple sclerosis and am in a nursing home in Bartlett, Tenn.," she said. "In 1995, members of my church donated money and art supplies so I could begin trying to paint with my mouth.

"I'd like to make the disabled community aware of the MFPA, a wonderful organization that can change the life of someone who is disabled and quite possibly disheartened and despondent," she said.

There are three levels in the organization: student member, associate member and full member.

"As a student, you receive a monthly scholarship to enable you to pursue the expensive hobby of art," Patton said. "You are periodically evaluated by a jury in Switzerland (the international headquarters) and the amount of your scholarship increases as your artistic skills increase. When you reach the level of associate member and full member, you are guaranteed a salary for life...even if you become unable to paint due to your illness or your disability.

"This salary enables you to be able to live on your own, even with all the added costs of living with a disability," she continued. "It's a wonderful opportunity for the disabled community to know about. If you are disabled, have a desire to paint and are willing to work diligently and with great determination, you can have rewards beyond your wildest dreams. The respect you feel for yourself when you look at a work you have finished is indescribable. Please view the web site for the USA MFPA at www.mfpausa.com."

Earlier, Patton wrote a book about her experience with MS to be an account of her life. "Thanks to painting, I will be able to continue the story in a new medium," she said. She uses a pastel pencil for her work and prefers landscapes, birds, flowers and animals.

"For more information, please e-mail spmp@bellsouth.net and I will put you in touch with the MFPA, where you can receive all the information you need to start a great new life," she said with enthusiasm.