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What identities are represented here. How would you describe the talents of this artist? Explain your reasoning.

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Since she was a child Susie Matthais has been painting beautiful pictures. That wouldn't seem unusual -- except for the fact that Matthais has hands, but no arms. She places her paintbrush in her mouth to create her accomplished works of art.

"My parents encouraged me to paint. I'm glad they did. Now I'm able to be financially independent with my art," Matthais said on Friday on CTV's Canada AM.

Amanda Orichefsky, a graduate of the Fine Arts Animation program at Toronto's George Brown College, also uses the same technique to create her impressive paintings.

"I started out at 13 making stick people," Orichefsky, 23, said on Canada AM.

"It was difficult, but my mom pushed me to do everything myself," said Orichefsky, who has arms and hands but cannot use them.

Matthais and Orichefsky are members of an organization called the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) association.

In their latest project, six Canadian members of MFPA have come together to work on one canvas. The project, called "Canvassing the Country: A Moving, Canadian Art Story," features regional scene that have been contributed by each artist.

The inspirational canvas has been travelling across Canada since April of 2012, including such destinations as Cloverdale, B.C., Edmonton, Alta., London, Ont., Saint-Foy, Que., and Halifax, N.S. The tour is currently finishing up in Scarborough, Ont.

"Our goal is to promote awareness and to let people know that despite our disabilities we can be financially independent through our work," said Matthais, a Thalidomide victim who lives in London. Ont.

Scarborough, Ont.-native Orichefsky was diagnosed with Arthrogryposis at birth, a rare congenital disorder that is characterized by multiple joint contractures and can include muscle weakness and fibrosis.

For these artists, and others like them, MFPA has played an inestimable role in their lives.

Formed in 1956, the roots of MFPA go back to Erich Stegmann, a polio-stricken mouth painter who gathered a small band of disabled artists from eight European countries.

Like many disabled people today, Stegmann and his colleagues disliked being pitied because of their physical limitations. Their goal was to earn a living through their art and to obtain a level of work security that had, until then, eluded them because of disabilities incurred either at birth or through accident or illness.

Today, the international, for-profit group headquartered in Liechtenstein is owned and run by disabled artists to help them meet their financial needs. MFPA has also grown to represent 750 members from more than 75 countries around the world.

The organization has operated in Canada since 1961, and currently has members located in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

Five decades later, the organization's motto in Canada remains the same: "Self Help -- Not Charity."

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Mouth and foot painters defy stereotypes in cross-Canada project

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Since she was a child Susie Matthais has been painting beautiful pictures. That wouldn't seem unusual -- except for the fact that Matthais has hands, but no arms. She places her paintbrush in her mouth to create her accomplished works of art. "My parents encouraged me to paint. I'm glad they did.

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Thanks you for sharing this D'Mishcha. This is brilliant! This is that I have been saying to the class. I am going to share this for sure!

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Cool hoverboardtricks

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This inspiring video will teach you to follow your dreams

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Have you found his words to be true in your school learning journey?

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Amazing things can happen when we take advantage of our talents!

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Amid years of uncertainty, the one constant in 10-year-old Marcel Ward's life has been music.

At 5, Marcel, a spunky boy with dark curls, taught himself piano on a small toy keyboard his father gave him in Syria for his birthday. He played Beethoven and Mozart by ear - one hand and one song bit at a time, his tiny fingers flying.

Marcel Ward, 10, plays a tune on the piano at his Hamilton home, shortly after taking a level 4 piano exam at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Marcel taught himself to play piano by ear when his family still lived in war-torn Syria. (Cole Burston / For The Toronto Star)

Then the war came. The family left their home in Damascus a day after it was attacked in 2012, and landed in Dubai. They uprooted again in 2015, bouncing here and there, and temporarily joining family in New York and New Jersey.

They applied for refugee status with help from Marcel's uncle, who'd lived in Canada for two decades, and came to Burlington later that year.

The family of four - Marcel, his 12-year-old brother Eilia, a pianist, too, mother Elham and father Manar - are now settled in a cozy Hamilton home, where Marcel plays on a wooden Kawai piano at all hours of the day and night.

Their path is emblematic of the roots Syrian families are beginning to spread after years of upheaval - and how resilience shines through adversity.

Wednesday afternoon, Marcel completed a level 4 Royal Conservatory of Music exam at a church in Hamilton. The exam, which he passed, sets him on a path to becoming a certified musician, said Elaine Rusk, the conservatory's vice president.

"I only had three mistakes," Marcel said, jumping out of the car and into his driveway afterwards. On the front door, a piece of paper ripped out of a notebook carries a message scrawled in blue crayon, warning people not to knock because he's on TV.

Inside he bounces up and down, from the piano bench where he launches into bursts of melody ( Fur Elise, Minuet in G Major, Turkish March), to his family sitting on the couch, to unknown parts of the house to fetch different instruments (a recorder, a horn). He poses for photographs.

His dream is to play his own compositions to the world over, to get better and better, and better, Marcel says. To be famous.

"My favourite part (of playing the piano) is to create my own songs." The composition of his he likes most is called Leil, Arabic for "Night," and was inspired by Beethoven's Fur Elise, his piano song of choice.

Rusk of the conservatory says, from what she's heard, it's clear Marcel is bound to be a musician "for life." Though she hasn't met Marcel, Rusk says the fact he taught himself and is already composing speaks to a natural ability. "He has a wonderful ear, by all accounts."

Rusk says his age isn't completely unusual for the level of exam he took (an average age for a level 1 test is about his age, 10), but his passion and persistence throughout his journey stands out to her.

"I play, like, anytime: afternoon, 12 a.m. - anytime. I'm serious, 12 a.m., press the peddle so no one can hear me," Marcel said last week in his living room, giving an example of how the peddle slightly mutes his melody.

His father, Manar, confirmed the boy's penchant for late-night playing. "Yeah, sometimes he plays then, especially when he gets angry," Ward said, noting his son has the temperament of an artist.

Marcel says he prefers to play in minor. "Because I like sad songs." Why? "They make me feel happy."

So do sports, his blue hoverboard, green beans and playing with friends, he says.

In the middle of the Star's visit, there's a knock on the front door.

"Hey, I saw you on CBC," a small voice tells Marcel and Eilia, who rushed to see who it was. He wanted to play with them. "Stay around here - 10-15 minutes," says Marcel, the master of his destiny.

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After fleeing war in Syria, boy, 10, finds joy in music | The Star

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Amid years of uncertainty, the one constant in 10-year-old Marcel Ward's life has been music. At 5, Marcel, a spunky boy with dark curls, taught himself piano on a small toy keyboard his father gave him in Syria for his birthday.

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I find that the idea of "Falling Forward" (D. Washington) to be very powerful!

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Ellen DeGeneres University Commencement Address