Besides what you said earlier, how does being deaf shape you as an artist?
For me, breaking the ice is extremely difficult. The first thing I do when approached by a person is to read their color, decipher their mood and narrow down potential vocabulary they are likely to use in order to more proficiently (hopefully) read their lips. Spoken Japanese is much more difficult for this task compared to English. As a visual task, even this process can act as inspiration, be it good or bad.