Meet: Vicky Barber, a talented deaf artist

I am profoundly Deaf and I grew up in Southampton, Hampshire. My family are hearing; I am the only Deaf person in my family.

I grew up using SSE (Sign Supported English) as my communication method. As an adult I discovered the Deaf community and learnt to use BSL fluently over the years, working with the Deaf community. I currently work as an Early Years Deaf Instructor for Hampshire County Council, as well as being a Deaf artist in my spare time.

I have always been into art since I was a young child, I come from a creative family background so I experimented with many different art & craft hobbies as I was growing up.

Art was my favourite subject at school, as I could relax and enjoy it without the anxiety of communication barriers. I was the only Deaf person in my school, so I was very shy and quiet.

My art teacher was amazing and so encouraging. As a creative child, I was always making crafty gifts for my family and friends, I even sold jewellery I had made at the school summer fairs. I then did some work experience in a small local jeweller’s shop in my home town when I was 16.

I studied Art & Design at GSCE, GNVQ and Foundation Diploma level, as well as attending short evening courses in pottery and jewellery at local colleges.

At 18 years old I moved to Birmingham to study Jewellery & Silversmithing at University for 2 years which was very hard due to a lack of Deaf awareness and communication support; I missed out on a lot of information, but luckily I still passed the course!

When I was at University, my tutor submitted one of my jewellery design sketches to a competition in a major jewellery company, without my knowledge – probably because I missed out on hearing her telling the studio class! So I was shocked that my design won a place in the competition. The prize was a work experience placement in the company after the course finished, but unfortunately this never happened due to the lack of deaf awareness.

It was 20 years ago and I was not aware of my rights as a Deaf person and the company did not know how to employ a Deaf person, which knocked my confidence in pursuing a career in the jewellery industry. I had no idea how to set up my own business; at that time there was no social media, and limited access to information.

But now life is very different with the development of technology, online resources and more deaf awareness in the world and more access to communication support. I am a lot more confident now and aware of the support available for Deaf people.

To increase my confidence, I started volunteering for a Deaf charity. I became involved in the local Deaf community and worked with Deaf children/youth projects for many years. I learned to communicate fluently in BSL, and learned to work with BSL interpreters, which opened my eyes to finally being able to fully understand everything going on around me without struggling. I became aware of my rights as a Deaf person and how to get the communication support that I needed to access full information.

I’ve still continued with many creative hobbies throughout my life, alongside my career in the Deaf community.

It was actually about 10 years ago I rediscovered my passion for abstract painting as a release for my emotions, especially through the dark times of anxiety and depression. I was purely painting for myself. I felt free and happy when I was painting, as I could create whatever was in my mind in the form of art. Art is my mindfulness practice to connect with myself.

About 2 years ago I decided to set up my own art pages online and start sharing my art through Instagram and Facebook. Social media has opened my eyes in connecting with other artists and learning to develop my art skills and styles.

Last year I decided to exhibit my artwork for the first time at the DeafFest in Wolverhampton. I was very nervous, but with lots of encouragement and support from my friends and family, I found the courage to do it.

Since then I have sold many of my pieces to people all over the UK, which I am still surprised about and feel very honoured that people actually like and want to buy my paintings!

My paintings have also been in a local art gallery at King’s Community Church in Southampton from July 2019 to January 2020.

I have always been inspired by the art of Vincent Van Gogh for his use of bright colours. My favourite artist is Georgia O’Keeffe for her beautiful organic nature-inspired style of art. I actually love a lot of her quotes.  One that resonates with me as a Deaf artist in the hearing world is:

“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” Georgia O’Keeffe.

 

I paint with acrylic on canvases and wood in different sizes and shapes. For the last 2 years I have been learning to create using the fluidity of acrylic pouring methods, which is so much fun and very therapeutic! There are so many different methods of pouring paint onto canvas to produce different results, I am still learning the fluid art form by constantly practising and experimenting.

All of my artwork is unique, especially the acrylic pouring. I have received commissioned orders in the style of splashing bright, vivid colours to create the abstract effect of meadow landscapes. Last year I created printed calendars with different paintings for each month which sold out quickly!

People are welcome to contact me if they see a painting they like. I like to create colourful, inspiring paintings that people would like to have on a wall in their home.

For anyone who wants to work as an artist, my advice would be to research on the internet for ideas and inspiration: Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube are all good sources of information. That was how I learnt the art of acrylic pouring, with lots of research and practices over the last 2 years.

Really good work takes a long time and a lot of practice to learn and create, so be patient with yourself. Have fun with art, experiment with different mediums, do what you enjoy. Art should be fun to feel free and joyful.

Never give up on your dream; if you can dream it, you can do it!

You can find Vicky Barber and her art work via the social media pages below:

https://www.instagram.com/vb_deaf_artist

https://www.facebook.com/VBDeafArtist