Episode 23: Brandy Mimms: Listening with Your Eyes

02/12/20 • 59 min

Growing up in the hearing world, Brandy Mimms didn’t realize for years that there was an entire other community she could participate in. “I grew up mostly in the hearing world,” Brandy explained. “So we have the deaf world and we have the hearing world. I grew up in the hearing world because my family wanted me to be hearing so badly. I appreciate them, thank you, but they never really exposed me to the deaf world as a kid.”

Still, she followed her interests, which included music. To listen, she simply has to feel it. “I have to feel the vibration,” she explained. “I can hear it a little bit in my hearing aids, yes, and I’m not saying it has to be rocking loud, but it has to be loud enough for me to really feel it where I can feel, okay, this is hard or this is soft. I need to feel that. If I don’t feel it, I feel like, ah I’m lost. I don’t know where I’m going. I feel very crazy. That’s how I listen to music -- feeling the beat. And I have bluetooth hearing aids, so music is always in my ears when I’m not talking to people. I’m always listening to music. The vibration is right there. I have a love for music and music helps me with my dancing and helps me to express myself.”

Find more about Brandy:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/uniquethedeafdancer/
Unique the Deaf Dance Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Unique-The-Deaf-Dancer-304624890492835/?ref=br_rs
Listen With Your Eyes Dance Troupe Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ListenWithYourEyesDanceTroupe/
Personal Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brandy.mimms.35
Website - http://www.brandymimms.com/

Sustaining Craft is a passion project of Hew & Weld Writing. There are no fees for artists and craftspeople to participate. Music provided by Jim Ciago (Seven Second Chance on iTunes and Spotify & Nomad Neighbors in the Denver area most weekends).
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sustainingcraft/
Facebook - http://facebook.com/sustainingcraft

Find more from Hew & Weld:
Website - https://www.hewandweld.com/news
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hewandweld/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hewandweld/

Special Guest: Brandy Mimms.

Find more from Hew & Weld:
Website - https://www.hewandweld.com/news
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hewandweld/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hewandweld/

Special Guest: Brandy Mimms.

Previous Episode

Episode 22: Stacey Bowers: Stamping an Edge on the Delicate

Stacey Bowers wanted to make her friends laugh. She used some of her previous knowledge of jewelry making and learned how to stamp metal to make delicate pieces with interesting phrases on them.

“I think it has a lot to do with my own personal taste in jewelry,” Stacey said. “I typically wear things that are small and discrete, and I think a lot of other people appreciate that, too. But my attitude is not small or discrete. It's a little combination of the inner and outer me.”

She worked full-time as the communications director for the Thea Foundation while making jewelry every hour she wasn’t at work. As of February 2019, she decided to transition to jewelry design full-time with her company, Bang-Up Betty.

Find more of Stacey’s work:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bangupbetty/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bangupbettyjewelry
Website - https://www.bangupbetty.com/
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/BangUpBetty/
Stifft Station Gifts - https://www.stifftstationgifts.com/

Find more from Hew & Weld:
Website - https://www.hewandweld.com/news
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hewandweld/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hewandweld/

Special Guest: Stacey Bowers.

Next Episode

Episode 24: Hannah Genevieve Lawrence: Weaving Functional Art

And then COVID-19 hit the United States. “A few weeks beforehand, my boss was telling me, ‘No one’s gonna, with all the stuff going on, no one’s gonna go to your show,’” Hannah said. “I was like, ‘It’s not gonna be a big deal. It’s gonna be fine.’”

Ultimately, the exhibition was postponed until February 2021. “Then it just all gets taken away,” Hannah said. “I taught a lot of extra classes to have money to buy art supplies. I missed out on things with friends to stay home and make stuff. One of my friends recently moved away, and one of the last dinners they had before they left, I didn’t go to because I was like, ‘I really need to stay home and make stuff. I’ve already been out too much this week.’ It makes me a little bit sad that I missed stuff like that.”

Read the rest at: https://hewandweld.com/news/

Find out more about Hannah:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hannah.genevieve/

Find more from Hew & Weld:
Website - https://www.hewandweld.com/news
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hewandweld/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hewandweld/

Special Guest: Hannah Genevieve Lawrence.