“The ASL Flag” by Betty G. Miller

"The ASL Flag" by Betty G. Miller

“The ASL Flag” is one of a series of paintings Betty did featuring the American flag. For this one, Betty rewrote the words to our national anthem, the “Star-Spangled Banner,” to show both the beauty of ASL, and the oppression deaf people still face:

“Oh can’t you seeee…. by dawn’s early light
what proudly…. we Deaf wave at visual beauty
we see in sign language burst in air…
no matter people hearing stare…
show proof that… Deaf and ASL still here…
oh why why Deaf people opressed?
over the land of the free…. and the home of the brave…??”

This is a diptych— one image on two canvases. The painting also embraces duality in other ways. For example, while the real flag is red, white and blue, this one is pink, off white and light blue— pleasing and eye catching. But the faded colors show that deaf people aren’t considered full members of American society. Recent controversies arising about the rights and abilities of deaf and hard of hearing people to sit on juries is a case in point. Another duality is the reference to sign language and people staring. While some are staring because they are interested, others stare because they see it as strange, or think that the deaf people are angry when what they are really seeing is emphasis.

So, is this a negative or a positive painting? Just like life, it’s both.

Do you have other interpretations for this painting? Go ahead and add a comment.

The original painting is for sale on our Etsy shop: http://purpleswirl.etsy.com and in honor of Betty’s 75th birthday this month, we are giving $75 rebates and free shipping with insurance.

*** Just finished putting this image on products in our Cafepress shop: http://www.cafepress.com/purpleswirlarts/6823437. There’s one tote bag and a lot of different t-shirts listed, so you’ve got some choices! ***

 

Etsy online store for original art is now open

Now that Betty G. Miller’s retrospective is open at the Dyer Gallery in Rochester (more in a later post), I finally completed the writing and image preparation for the online store for original art on Etsy: http://purpleswirl.etsy.com. We reserve the right to use the images, but you’ll be buying the original. Etsy allows you to use PayPal to pay for the artwork, which is a good way for us to accept credit cards, and you to maintain your financial privacy.

I’ll be adding more artwork to this store soon– in the meantime, check out the first five works posted– four by Betty G. Miller, and one by her father, Ralph R. Miller.

 

De’VIA Creative Space at the NAD Conference

Betty got a request from Chuck Baird (CB) and Patti Durr for photos of several of her artworks to be part of a poster project for the De’VIA Creative Space that’s going to happen at the NAD Conference in New Orleans in July. So, I’m working on getting the photos with the proper dpi and size ready to send to Patti at RIT.

What’s De’VIA? Deaf View/Image Art, also known as De’VIA, is created when the artist intends to capture their deaf experience in their artwork– by sharing the beauty of American Sign Language (ASL), or showing the world how it feels to be deaf. Much of Betty’s work is De’VIA, not a lot of mine is, but I am a deaf artist. I just don’t choose to make a lot of art expressing my deaf experience (not yet anyway!) For more about De’VIA see http://bettigee.purple-swirl.com/DeVIA/DeVIA.html.

CB is going to guide folks– adults and children– in creating their own works of creative expression of their deaf experience, through hands-on visual art creation and ASL stories and poetry performances. The De’VIA Creative Space is going to be open for four days of the Conference, and the walls are going to be covered with posters. That’s why I’m pulling together Betty’s photos. It looks like it’s gonna be good, makes me wish I could go to the Conference this year.