An exclusive award for painter

Photo: SHANE WENZLICK

AWARD-WINNING ART: Mouth painter Murray Cohen won third place at the Bruce Hopkins Memorial Art Awards.

A Manukau mouth painter has been awarded third place at an exclusive art awards.

Murray Cohen of Mangere Bridge won the prize at the annual Bruce Hopkins Memorial Art Awards on
February 13 with his oil painting Evening Over Auckland.

The awards were established 17 years ago to commemorate Bruce Hopkins who was responsible for encouraging New Zealanders with a disability to paint with a brush held in their mouth or foot.

Mr Cohen was rendered a quadriplegic after an accident on Christmas Day in 1988.

He started painting by holding a brush in his mouth just seven years ago.

"Before that I thought I was devoid of any artistic talent."

Now he paints up to five hours a day, four to five days a week.

"The first thing people say to me is: ‘I couldn’t do that with my hands’," he says.

"I probably couldn’t do it with my hands either."

Mr Cohen paints mostly landscapes of scenery from around Auckland, the South Island’s West Coast and from the view of his front deck.

In his spare time he tutors other disabled artists at the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit and is the president of the Association for Spinal Concerns.

He is a student member of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists – all of his paintings are sent to the organisation in the hope they will be made into cards or calendars.

Eventually he would like to be a full member, which would allow him to become financially independent.

- © Fairfax NZ News