Ember Kelly tells us about printmaking and her call out for Deaf printmakers (BSL)

Hi, my name is Ember and I live near Frome in Somerset. I gradually became deaf through my childhood and I’m now severe/profoundly deaf. Spoken English is my first language and BSL is my second. I say second because of the order I learnt the languages, not because of importance. BSL is very important to me.

Throughout this article I will tell you more about printmaking and what it involves, and if you’re a Deaf printmaker yourself, I’d love to connect.

Printmaking can be commercial, like printing newspapers, or it can be artistic, like original prints created by artists. I’m an artist printmaker and I work in linocut and wood engraving. I also do some mixed media monoprints.

I find that to be an artist printmaker you automatically have to express yourself in a very visual language. This works perfectly for anyone who is D/deaf.

Printmaking allows me to express all the visual data that I have to pay attention to. It helps me make sense of the world.

I first did printmaking years ago in college when I completed an art foundation course. I returned to it in 2018 when I did a wood engraving course with Chris Pig at Black Pig Studio in Frome. I’m now a keyholder there and go to the studio once a week.

Chris Pig has been a major inspiration for me. He is an amazing tutor. He teaches all the technical skills required to be a wood engraver (and linocut printmaker), but also encourages you to develop your own artistic vision with gentle, thoughtful feedback.

There are definitely obstacles for Deaf people learning printmaking. A lot of printmaking is taught by artists in their own small studios, so there often isn’t any BSL interpreter provision unless you organise and fund it yourself.

I was lucky because Chris had taught Deaf people before in London. The class sizes were very small, which made a big difference. I would email questions beforehand, then use a combination of lipreading and copying during sessions.

With wood engraving, Chris was able to demonstrate patiently, and I learned a lot by watching and copying him directly. Printmaking is very visual, so it is possible to follow along.

Since then, I’ve had some one-to-one sessions with other wood engravers. They are a very friendly group, and they understand the need for patience. Wood engraving itself requires patience, so people tend to be very willing to show things slowly and clearly.

You see Deaf artists on Instagram and on Deaf Visual Artists UK on Facebook doing some great things, but I don’t personally know many other Deaf printmakers. Hopefully through this project I will meet some soon.

I am planning to develop a glossary of BSL for printmaking. This would combine written definitions with BSL video, making printmaking more accessible for Deaf printmakers.

Working together with Leonie Bradley, we are putting together a working group of Deaf printmakers to share any signs already being used for printmaking. We would then work collaboratively to develop signs for printmaking terms that don’t currently have established BSL equivalents.

These would be tested with the Deaf community to check that they are clear and meaningful. The final outcome would be a video glossary of BSL printmaking terms.

This could be used by Deaf people accessing printmaking, as well as interpreters. I would also love it if hearing printmakers learned some of the signs too. But the key thing here is that the project is Deaf-led.

There are currently very few video recordings of signs in British Sign Language for printmaking techniques, so we are looking for BSL users who have some experience of printmaking or who work in an art environment.

Importantly, this project would increase accessibility but also help to raise the profile of printmaking in general.

Our first steps include securing funding and agreeing a list of key terms to translate. So far, a group of people have expressed an interest, and I am about to set up a Zoom meeting to start the conversation.

I’m really excited that the project is Deaf-led. It is still early days, especially around funding, but I’m hopeful about where it could go.

The call-out information for the BSL working group can also be seen in Printmaking Today magazine.

To express an interest in joining the Deaf Printmakers Working Group, please email:
leonie_bradley@cellopress.co.uk