I was one of those weird kids who actually enjoyed reading Shakespeare. I think Hamlet was my favorite. Among other things, I loved trying to figure out the strange words Shakespeare used. But, none of this is the subject of this post, but just a teaser to get started.

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For the last 35 years, primarily due to my deafness, words have been my life. I probably read about 10 hours a day now. I still order and read some books of paper, but e-books are now my preferred mode. Even when I am tired and just want to relax in front of the TV, words are always there. That is called ‘closed captioning’.

Then there are my bionic “ears”. Those are apps on my iPhone and iPad that turn people’s voices into words, so that I can read what people are saying.

My life is primarily made up of reading words.

I don’t mind, as the alternative would be untolerable to me. But maybe that is the reason I am now turning towards my visual arts projects. Of course, there are words to be read to learn how to do it, but the art itself is wordless. Sometimes I just want to have a place where words don’t matter so much.