Artists in Training

The 14th Ayrshire Scout Group (Prestwick) were lucky enough to have a master art class by talented Mouth Artist Rob Trent over zoom on the 5th March.

Rob was born with arthtogryposis, which meant his arms and legs didn’t work as they should, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing his passion.

Before he was old enough to go to school a teacher came to his house and taught him how to hold a pen and a paintbrush in his mouth to write and paint.

At school he always enjoyed painting, but his passion was computers and he specialised in this field, going on to work at Ordnance Survey for many years. But when a Christmas card that featured a painting by a member of the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) came through his door around 20 years ago, he began to think about taking up painting again. And we are so happy he did!

Rob so kindly gave up his time to educate the Beavers, Cubs, Scout leaders and other family members about the MFPA. You could have heard a pin drop when the young people were listening to Rob and watching his video clips about his paintings and disability.

Rob guided the young people through painting techniques and he told us to be bold with colour. Then we were all let lose to create our own mouth painting masterpiece. Rob had made it look so easy!

The Beavers and Cubs had a ball trying something completely out of their comfort zone and they did exceptionally well. They asked fantastic questions, that Rob answered which lead further conversations. The young Scouts showed Rob their work and he discussed it with them giving them pointers and advice.

Beaver Harris said ‘That was great! My whole family loved it, and it was so difficult to do!’

Avril, Mum of Cub Sandy said ‘That was an amazing scouting zoom session,. We’re in awe of Rob’s skill and talent! What a tricky thing to do! We all had a go tonight – it gave us an understanding of the skill of mouth painting. A completely different feel of the brush than we’re used to. ‘

Fiona Hainey, Beaver Scout Leader for 14th Ayrshire Scout Group said, “This has been a challenging time for the Scouts association not being able to do face to face meetings, we feel really fortunate that Rob was willing to give up his time and teach our young people new skills with such a natural flair. The 14th Ayrshire Beavers and Cubs really enjoyed learning about Robs talents. We all loved every minute of the masterclass. Thank you again Rob and the MFPA for all the great work you do.