Theresa Lucas sits down at the desk in her bedroom and leans over toward a Smuckers Red Raspberry jar filled with water and paintbrushes.

She pulls one out with her teeth, shifts her head over to a palette and swirls the brush in several colors. Lucas, a local artist, proceeds to delicately add strokes to a painting of a winter scene — all while holding the brush between her teeth.

Lucas, 40, was born with arthrogryposis, a condition that curves her joints and limits the use of her arms and hands. Doctors believe it is caused when a baby doesn’t move enough in the womb and muscles don’t develop, she said. It causes weak muscles and in some cases, like in her arms, she only has one set of muscles instead of the needed two.

“I don’t have the muscles to raise my arms up,” she said, lifting her arms less than 90 degrees.

Starting as a young child, Lucas began learning to surpass her disability and do everyday things her own way. One skill she picked up was painting by holding the brush between her teeth.

“I always enjoyed art since a little kid. In high school I always took art classes,” she said. “My art teacher always encouraged me to keep doing it.

“I was shy about how I painted — I hold the brush in my mouth. I did it at home and brought it in the next day. Now I’ve overcome that shyness.”

Lucas, an accomplished artist, has 10 of her paintings exhibited at the Madison County Visitor’s and Convention Bureau from January through the end of March.

Those are her best paintings, she said, talking through her teeth as she smoothly added blue tones to the snow covering the ground, a tractor and a tree in her painting.

“My paintbrushes are awful — but I chew them!” she said, giggling. “I can use my hands to paint but I have more control of the brush with my mouth.”

Lucas’ mom, Nina Lucas, took the photograph of the scene her daughter is painting. She herself has started painting as well.

“She amazes me,” Lucas said. “The detail is amazing. I’m always in awe. It’s a God-given gift. I always bug her — ‘When are you going to paint more?’”

At her desk, where Theresa Lucas paints facing a window to her front yard, are photographs of her family and friends. A few photos are of her nephew Michael playing baseball. The two art awards she’s won have been for third place and honorable mention — with the ribbons hanging in her room — for paintings she made of Michael.

Lucas has also been the treasurer for the Art Association of Madison County for two years. When she joined the association, she became the president within two years and remained there for four.

When Lucas was born with curved joints and weak or missing muscles, no one told her she was different. She was treated as an equal and led as fulfilling a life as the next girl.