Thorp House

"I love painting, and it's one thing that will always come from my heart."

—Lori Schmidt

Lori grew up in Hemlock, Michigan, a farming community near Saginaw, MI. She and her husband Joe now live in Kalamazoo, MI. Like many disabled artists, Lori discovered her talents surreptitiously. Born with arthrogryposis, Lori lost movement in all of her limbs. And so at age 10, while looking for a way to occupy her time, Lori began painting with her mouth, with an art kit her mom bought her for Christmas. Soon Lori discovered her happiness and special talent as a painter.

Lori is now a professional artist, accepting commissions for her brilliantly colored paintings,done in acrylics. Lori incorporates Pointillism into parts of her paintings—a style she executes well and a medium particularly well suited to mouth artists. Lori also has sold licenses to her paintings to greeting card companies and she has made a career for herself in her chosen field.

In college, Lori pursued the more practical business major of accounting and then pre-law, but she wasn't happy because she really wanted to paint instead.

Pretty Pair

Adaptations
Lori's adaptive tool is a 99-cent back-scratcher! Lori picks up her paper with it, turns on water, and carries her pet birds on it—once she picks them up, they don't want to get down!

Joe, also disabled, is Lori's hands, helping her set up for painting. Lori and Joe have been married for 11 years, after meeting through their friend's wedding where Lori served as maid of honor and Joe as best man.

Lori is also the president of her building's management board. She and Joe handle rentals and other management of their building, which houses seniors and people with disabilities.

Lori has just completed her autobiography; it can be purchased on her Web site http://www.artbylori.net/me.html, along with Lori's paintings. A grant from the Michigan Arts Council in Kalamazoo will allow Lori to publish her book with greater distribution.

Another big part of Lori's life is her bird sanctuary of stranded and disabled birds. She is up to seven birds now: a parrot with a bad leg, Ruby-Lori's cockatiel with a bad attitude (doesn't get along with her mate!), a finch, a canary, 2 parakeets, and a parrolette (miniature parrot) with clubbed feet on the way. Lori adores her birds and takes special care of them.

In summer, Lori makes up for being a winter shut-in by spending as much time out in nature as she can. An especially nice paved path nearby takes Lori and Joe through the woods and by a waterfall. Lori draws her inspiration from nature and passes it on to us through her paintings.