#movemay 2020

#MoveMay was a Twitter art challenge.

 All artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

May sketchbook.

 

 

All text, pros, poetry, photos & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

M-m-m-My Corona part 10.

 “Are you drawing Thoresby Hall?”

The voice comes from behind me. I am facing Thoresby Hall and obviously drawing it.

“No”.

She doesn’t get it. Or maybe it’s a sh*t likeness.

Now the lockdown has loosened its grip slightly on some of my favoured regions for sketching and strolling, my sketchbook opted for Thoresby Park as first choice. There are few visitors today.
Since UK TV has started to include several art programmes in its lockdown schedule, I am finding more and more people wanting to approach me with questions about what I’m doing, no doubt trying to imitate the judges and commentators they’ve seen on TV. Normally this would drive me nuts, but in the present circumstances the company is rather nice, albeit socially distant and possibly unsighted.

All text, pros, poetry & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Alternative Skegness 2. Plastic Pollution.

 

 Finished today. I was going to hold this one back from social media for a while in the hope it would have more impact come exhibition entry time, but I’ve weakened. No exhibitions during lockdown.

I made an ink drawing of this scenario in November 2018, then started this painting at the end of 2019. It’s my second painting about plastic pollution. It does make me angry when every I see at least a dozen different children’s comics along the supermarket shelves, each with a plastic bag containing about 6 free plastic toys. And that’s every supermarket across the UK, every week. Do the maths.

Not currently having a model to pose for me I took a very iconic pose from a very famous black & white James Mason movie and developed the girl from that. Those plastic toys in your grandchildren’s toy box will serve as teaching aids when they want to know what elephants and tigers once looked like.

All text, pros, poetry & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

M-m-m-My Corona part 9.

 I couldn’t understand why the covid infection rate for the East Midlands (153.9), is higher than that of Nottinghamshire as a whole (145.3). The East Midlands does not have the overcrowding, the international student population, the high immigration, nor the poorer quarters that the city itself has. Then I looked down the list of the East Midlands’ towns and villages most affected:

Gedling – 199
Broxtowe - 222
Rushcliffe - 155
Newark and Sherwood - 129
Mansfield - 109
Bassetlaw - 176
Ashfield – 206

I saw in a heartbeat what links all those places. They all had a colliery. Indeed, in some cases more than one. A significant proportion of the retired male population now living in those areas would have been coal miners; employment which took a toll on their lungs, affecting many for life. (An uncle of mine spent his final years with oxygen tanks constantly on hand).

I have no idea if anyone has considered this as a so called “underlying condition” when assessing chances of infection or fatality, nor if it would be of use to do so anyway. But it perhaps does explain what I thought to be a curious statistic.

(Note: All above statistics are official as published on-line by the Nottingham Post).

 All text copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

M-m-m My Corona part 8.

 This is how it works: The pandemic doctor calls first. As if the diagnosis has already been diagnosed. That’s why the BBC is careful to say died “with” Corona virus rather than “of”. Keeping it legal. And don’t forget the all important “underlying causes”. Or is that simply under lying.

Either way I’ve stopped applauding the NHS on Thursday nights. It’s not just the dance routines in empty wards, wearing expensive protective clothing we are told is in short supply. It’s the knowledge of how many hours those routines take to rehearse when they could have been doing something more useful.

The pandemic doctor had no bad news. She just wanted to clarify details: Yes, mum's DNR notice is correct. (Do Not Resuscitate). Yes, if the tests are positive, we think care in the care home would be better than care in the hospital, whether full of strangers or empty.


 All text, pros, poetry & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.