"Art saved me. I'm happy to again join with the celebration." Two years after completing courses at this commercial art school, he miscalculated the depth of the Mississippi river and injured his spinal column. During his rehabilitation, he started to experiment with mouth painting holding a pen or pencil in his teeth. He never doubted that he would continue his career as an artist and persisted with the determination to create the art that for so long had been a part of his life.