José Antonio GUALITO RESÉNDIZ

Short Biography

I was born on September 7, 1979 in Mexico, F.D. with cerebral palsy, condition that has prevented me from taking care of myself.

In 1980 and 1982 I was under treatment at the Hospital Infantil (Children´s Hospital). Since no signs of improvements were resulting, I was later given diverse types of therapies from 1983 to 1990. At this point my health started to show improvement day by day and this allowed me to start walking at the age of 9.  At that time I also learned how to read.

At the age of 14 a realized that I could write with my mouth and was motivated to do a pencil sketch on some napkins.  I noticed that I had talent for drawing but, unfortunately, I did not have the moral or financial support to develop this longing.
 
At the age of 20 I started practicing some oil painting on pieces of wood. My desire to improve my talent made me decide to ask my family to take me to the Institute of Culture in Coyoacán, here in the Federal District, but I was not offered any help there. The teacher that could help me told me that he was not qualified to teach people like myself.

My wish and eagerness to improve myself were so strong that I asked a good friend to take me to TV Azteca - to the program “A Quien Corresponda” (To Whom It May Concern) - to make my case known and request help with materials and painting classes. This happened in 2003.  

A year later I had the good fortune of meeting Teacher Alberto López who had seen the TV program “A Quien Corresponda” and became interested in my case. He also helped me to improve my technique and later introduced me to painter Erick Calvillo Borja, a scholardship grantee of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists. He also introduced me to Mr. John Grepe, Director of the Association at that time. It was in 2007 that I was accepted to the Association as a scholarship grantee.


Thanks to God and to the Association, I now feel useful and hope to improve much more to continue being part of this Association and in this manner, achieve my objectives.

Thank you.