AUSTIN — With the stroke of a brush -- and a push of her chin -- Sara Jane Parsons makers her watercolor paintings come to life.
"I never considered myself somebody who could draw or paint. And it just opened up a whole new world," she said.
But unlike many other artists, Parsons users her mouth -- not her hands -- to hold the brush.
"It's something I never did before the accident, so it's huge to me," Parsons said.
A car crash more than three decades ago left Parsons paralyzed below her neck, but it's never stopped her from expressing her talent and creativity.
"It changed my whole world. It changed how I look at everything. It changed how I look at people. It made me feel like I can do this for the rest of my life," Parsons said.
Parsons can paint it all.
From flowers to sea shells, to a portrait of actor Matthew McConaughey, she does it with precision and acute attention to detail.
"I like faces. I like interesting faces, faces that move me, people that move me," she said.
Her latest project: a watercolor portrait of Whoopi Goldberg.
"I went with my [rehabilitation] nurse from the hospital to go see 'The Color Purple," and I loved it. It made sense to me. And she's got a great face," Parsons told KVUE.
It'll take Parsons at least three weeks to finish this painting, but time is on her side.
"This is something I want to do forever," she said.
And she won't let anything get in her way.
"You just gotta do the best you can with what you've got," Parsons said. "You just gotta keep living. You just gotta go."
Parsons' goal is to give both McConaughey and Goldberg her paintings of them. She also dreams of getting picked up by a gallery and making a living through her art.
She recently started an Instagram account where she shares many of her paintings. You can follow her here.
Parsons is also a member of the Association of Mouth & Foot Painting Artists. For more information about the organization, click here.