a major problem – covidcard no. 105
"Wealthy countries donating COVID-19 vaccines with a relatively short shelf life has been a "major problem" for the COVAX dose sharing programme, a senior official at the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The proportion of wasted doses is smaller in countries receiving doses through COVAX than in many high-income countries" - Kate O’Brien, the WHO’s vaccine director | Reuters | December 9, 2021. Drawn using H and HB pencils on almost LP-sized 250g/m2 acid-free Clairefontaine paper. Find more of my covidcards on Instagram.
Man on the TV Say – covidcollage no. 1
We learn a lot from the man on the TV. He tells us a lot of things. I took this photograph of a man on the TV on 5 July, 2020. It was the same day I read in The Atlantic that "COVID-19 won't change us forever", No matter how horrific the disaster, no matter how damaged our psyches, we wounded humans always bounce back. We rebuilt San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. We rebuilt Chicago after the great fire. We rebuilt Dresden, Warsaw, Hiroshima, Nagasaki. We grieve, adapt, endure, progress. And frequently we thrive. The Black Death was followed by the Renaissance. The 1918 pandemic was followed by the Roaring Twenties. All of which seems to tie in with where I stole the title of this post from - a poem called Man on the TV Say by Patricia Smith. I hadn't heard the poem before I made the collage. Her poem is about Hurricane Katrina and the man on the TV is the weatherman. He's telling people to Go. Back in July, 2020—because of COVID-19—a lot of people were telling us to Go, too. Man on the TV SayGo. He say it simple, gray eyes straight on and watered,he say it
drawn to… Country Tropics by Old Saw
I started drawing this a week or so back after first hearing the Country Tropics LP by Old Saw. I've had this four-track musical wonder on all week and—whenever I had an hour or so spare (not often, as it's been a bumper-sized, busy week)—I worked on this drawing while the music played. In no way does the drawing do justice to the simply AMAZING LP, nor, I think, does it really reflect the music. In retrospect, I think this drawing is just something I did while listening to the LP. Country Tropics is ambient, analogue, avant-garde, Americana, spattered with pedal steel, bells, banjo, fiddle drones, burring nylon, and pipe organ, and it is incredibly soothing. I like this description of the band by worriedsongs, A network of New England string pluckers, organ drivers and bell ringers crafting a rusted and granular shadow world where the dive bar meets the divine. Search out Old Saw on Bandcamp - you won't be disappointed (unless that is, the vinyl is sold-out). And, here is an interview with Henry Birdsey, one of the brains behind Old Saw. His take on how and why he makes music is enlightening and spot on, Sound is innately terrifying and haunting. And