Meet Janae Matute

Hi, I am 23 year old Janae Angelee Matute, I was born with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and have thus far beaten all the odds stacked up against me. The doctor told my mom that I would not be able to walk, talk, go to school or even live a normal life. All my mom needed to do was to keep me comfortable until I passed away. I am proud to say that with the help of God, the overwhelming love and support of my family and friends, HERE I AM 23 YEARS LATER, pursuing my dreams and reaching my goals in life. I graduated from Pre-school, ranked third place among my peers at Primary School, and was honored to deliver the Vote Of Thanks at the graduation ceremony. I was on the Honor Roll in High School as well. Now, I put all of that knowledge to the test and created the Impossible. You are looking at the Founder/Director of Creative Toes Art Gallery (CTAG). I have been in business since 2018, inspiring the world one toe at a time, meaning that I paint using my toes, yes you heard right!!! I paint using my toes.

CTAG actually began on our porch at home when I played with some excess paint that we had and created my first masterpiece. After much admiration of that piece, my creative juices started to flow onto canvasses, then into the homes of family members and eventually extended to my valuable customers in Belize, the USA and Canada.

Over the years, this creativity has expanded to merchandising. CTAG’s first line of T-shirts were launched on December 20, 2023, in honor of my 23rd birthday. These shirts display my digital artwork and of course, my favorite bible verse, Philippians 4:13, which says, “I can do all things through Christ who Strengthens me.” This verse has literally carried me through my entire journey.

I am now seeking a company/business who would be delighted to join me on my journey of getting my artwork and these shirts out there.

The road has not been the smoothest. It has been fun, but I definitely faced many challenges along the way whilst trying to accomplish my dreams.

First of all, it can be very strenuous and frustrating at times, both on my mind and my body, since I am not able to coordinate my arms. Therefore, I have to try to grasp and hold the paintbrush between my toes; that in itself is hard enough, much less doing the actual painting. This puts me in a world of aches and pains, but it is worth it in the end.

Another challenge at times is getting in the right position to paint. Nevertheless,  none of these obstacle has deterred me from creating an inspiring piece.

My greatest challenge, I would say, is when I need help on a project, and I have to dictate my creativity to my assistant. It’s nice having help but I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my art, so you can imagine how stressful it is trying to create the image that I have in my head with someone else’s limbs.


I am an artist who paints using my TOES. I basically do everything using my toes, from navigating my chair,  to using my iPad.

When I started painting it was a form of therapy for me. Everyone knew me as the girl in a wheelchair who paints with her toes. However, somewhere along the road, it became much more than just therapy; it was also an inspiration to others. I am now using my art to make a difference, so my team and I have been working diligently not only to inspire through my paintings but also through the new line of T-shirt’s that I have digitally designed. You see, CTAG is not only inspirational but also a voice for the Differently Abled Community (DAC) as well, and we want everyone to know that we deserve to be included in society as much as everyone else.  That is being showcased on some of our T-shirts and paintings.

I am very proud of our progress over the past few years and I am excited to see how far we can take it.

First of all “The future belongs to the risk takers” –  I was born a risk-taker!!!

The doctors told my mom that I would be a vegetable and that I would not live too long, so my Mom risk it all and discharged me from the hospital.  She took me to a different country for medical treatment.  Since then, those words spoken over my life did not define me, God gave me abundant life and declared that my destiny is great! Sometimes in life, you have to make bold moves.

There has never been a day that I thought I could not do something because I know with God by my side, all things are possible. As a result of being differently abled, people would assume, “I am not smart enough, I can’t live a normal life,” but Thank God my family never treated me differently or less. I have overcome so many obstacles in life, showing others and empowering differently-abled individuals like myself to take risks in their lives. Do not be afraid of what life throws at you, just take it head on. Furthermore, due to my hard work and ambitious personality, I was recognized in my Country, Belize, and internationally for my strong will to open my own business.

So just call me Janae Risk Taker Matute. I believe life is about taking risks, it may not always turn out the way you want it to but when it does, the rewards are sweet. When I started my business, I thought, “Is this even gonna work?” “Is this worth the energy and hassle?” Almost 6 years later and here I am, no regrets! The risk of moving from my home in Belize to come to Dallas was an even bigger challenge. It basically meant that I would be starting all over from scratch and that scared me a lot. My mom and I spent countless days praying and going back and forth about this decision. In the end, we decided to risk it all and take a leap of faith; I must say it was well worth it. We have since expanded to designing CTAG’s first line of T-shirts. To sum it all up, risk taking has placed me where I am today and it will do wonders for you as well but it requires faith, courage, determination and most of all believe in yourself.

“SOMETIMES LIFE IS ABOUT RISKING EVERYTHING FOR A DREAM NO ONE CAN SEE BUT YOU!!!”