Adrift on the Pandemic Sea

ByPeter Newland, Robyn Johnson, Flynn Elde-Sylvester
Quilcene, Washington: Pied Typer Press, 2023. Edition of 4 hardcover, 4 softcover.
9 x 12"; 4 pages. Colophon: "Layout & printing in InDesign by Gramma Robyn Johnson. Concept, text & mechanics by Peter Newland aka Grampa Peanut. Illustrations by Grandson: Flynn Elde-Sylvester, at age 8. Digitally printed on an Epson SC900 on Moab Lasal Matte paper. Four unique folio copies numbered 1-4 and four unique hard cover versions lettered A-D were produced. The hard cover versions are contained in a protective cover of Cave Paper and include two of Elde-Sylvester's original drawings" Signed on the colophon by the three collaborators.
"Adrift on the Pandemic Sea" was produced at Tarboo Studio for the 2023 Puget Sound Book Artists annual member exhibit themed "Collaboration". "Adrift" was created through the efforts of two grandparents and their grandson.
Grandson Flynn spent second and most of his third grade years in front of a computer at home. COVID kept him and his classmates isolated. During this time Flynn was asked by his Gramma how he was feeling. Flynn often expresses himself by drawing pictures so he announced “I need to go draw”. His drawing responses run across the top of the interior two pages. Certainly they reflect all of our pent up emotions concerning isolation and the pandemic. The faces range from a caption of “Sometimes I wonder” to “Should I zip My lips” and “or laugh until I cry?”. The captions were written by Grandparents Robyn and Peter but Flynn had final approval.
Peter Newland, “Adrift” text: “Many media commentators searching for a Covid metaphor claimed we were in ‘uncharted waters and all in the same boat’. In truth there is virtually no significant body of water on earth that has not been meticulously documented.
“Covid was a time when many were simply lost and bereft of how to chart a path forward … As the world worried that a sniffle or fever might be Covid, hand sanitizer and self-testing became all the rage and along with disposable protective gear from hospital isolation wards, tons of Covid related disposable materials entered the waste stream. Some of it flowed ‘downstream’ and is now adrift in our oceans.”
Using the metaphor of a boat on uncharted waters Newland has included a pop-up boat in the middle of a chart of water. As he states at the end “We all hope better days are ahead and our boat returns safely to shore.”
$75 Soft paper cover
$200 Hard cover
$250 Set of the two