Halfway through spring break in March, East Mississippi Community College art instructor Cindy Buob got word that the global pandemic labeled COVID-19 would give faculty and students an extra week off from classes.
“And midway through that, it became very apparent we’d probably be isolated the rest of the semester,” recalled Buob. “The impact of it started coming to my mind that, wow, this is going to be big.”
The Columbus artist decided to begin doing a drawing a day during this unusual time of social distancing, “not realizing I’d be on number 36 now,” she told The Dispatch Friday. Buob named the series “Drawn to You.”
“Drawing is my mode of communication,” she said. “We can’t get together, so we’ll communicate through drawing.”
At first, the images — the majority of them in charcoal — were centered on the coronavirus. The series has evolved. “Some days I draw what is in front of me,” Buob said.
The artist is posting the artwork on social media and on her website, cynthiabuob.com. Reaction has been positive and widespread.
“When I did this, I could say ‘join me.’ I was hoping to encourage people to do whatever creative thing that they do,” she remarked. Some have. One follower has even penned a collection of poems inspired by some of the drawings.
When the series is completed, Buob anticipates mounting a “Drawn to You” exhibition, and perhaps a book. In response to requests, she is making originals and prints available for purchase. Details are available at her website.
Buob observed that the virus, the isolation, the adaptation to life as we’ve not known it before, has impacted so many lives in so many different ways.
“I hope my drawings help people remember what life was like,” she said.
Editor’s note: See more drawings at cdispatch.com and at cynthiabuob.com. Read more about Buob in the Spring 2020 Progress magazine, published by and available at The Dispatch.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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