Cherish ASL

Cherish ASL

• Artist: Connie Clanton
• Title: Cherish ASL
• Media: Intaglio
• Dimensions: 14 in. x 14 in.
• Date: 1996

• Biographical Information: Connie was born hearing in Bonneville, MS and became  deaf around the age of nine months old due to a reaction to a medication she took because of a high fever. Connie was sure by the age of nine that she wanted to be an artist. Her family later moved to Nashville, where she graduated in 1967 from the Tennessee School for the Deaf in Knoxville. She moved to Raleigh, NC and studied art at Meredith College. In 1994, she moved to Concord, NH. Her paintings can be seen on display at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson and also at White Interiors in Raleigh, North Carolina. She currently displays her artwork Interior Additions in Concord, NH. As well as Intaglio creations, she also claims to enjoy painting images of the beach using oils. (Biography)
• Artist's Statement: "I also enjoy doing Intaglios which are a challenge and that is what makes them so much fun. The subject of hands is a big part of what I do in Intaglio. When I first started to sell these pieces of art people were so excited that it inspired me to do more."
• Background Information: "I wanted to express how we do value our language and communication. The meaning of this work is obvious - two hands signing and fingerspelling 'Cherish ASL'."
• Connection to Theme: This piece connects to my theme because it is so simple and accurate. I cannot physically explain how much Deaf people cherish and value their language and culture. It is unbelievable! I think that is one of the biggest reasons I fell in love with ASL is because of the people. The only word I can think of to describe the Deaf community is "pride" and that is obvious because I have used that word many times throughout my gallery. When I began taking ASL classes, I thought learning sign language would be cool because it is communicating with the hands, but it is so much more than just a form of communication. Deaf people live in their own beautiful and amazing world and I cherish Deaf culture just as much as they do. I chose to show Cherish ASL in my exhibit because it looked different than the rest of my artworks and it sent a strong message of how Deaf people feel about sign language and how much they value their lifestyle. I really love the soft colors Connie used. It makes it look very beautiful and charming. This is also the only piece I have created through Intaglio. After some quick research, it appears to be a type of printmaking. Very fascinating!

Artist's statement (ctrl + click here) 

Background information (ctrl +click here) 
Artwork information (ctrl + click here)