Umemiya Toshiaki

Toshiaki Umemiya was born on 29 August 1966 in Tokyo. When he was 19 years old he had a car accident where he suffered injuries to his cervical vertebra and became tetraplegic. Since that time he has been confined to the wheelchair and has no feeling from the chest down. He does oils holding a brush in his mouth and uses a mouth stick to work on his PC. He dreams of hosting his own solo exhibition one day when he has created a sufficient number of paintings. Currently he is taking painting lessons twice a month at the conference on social welfare. Two years ago he exhibited his artwork for the first time at an art exhibition featuring works by disabled people. He received the "Prize of the federation of associations of parents of disabled persons". The following year he received the first prize.