As you have probably heard, on Saturday, Typhoon Ketsana (known in the country as Ondoy) hit the Philippines hard. The first 6 hours of the storm dumped a reported 34 cm (13.4 in) of rain, which is the usual rainfall for a full month. This caused epic flooding and mudslides which resulted in the loss of many lives and rendering nearly 400,000 homeless. The water was so high that cars and homes were completely submerged. I believed that many people are still stranded on their rooftops waiting to be rescued as I am typing this. It’s very hard to put into words right now what I feel about all this. I have relatives (thank goodness, they’re safe!) and plenty of friends over there. So, even though I’m thousand miles away from it all, I still feel the whole thing hitting way too close to home. As a public service for anyone who comes across this blog, I encourage everyone to get involved and to help in every way possible.
People are short of food and some are needing medical help. If you are not from the Philippines and wish to send donations you can do so through the TXTPower PayPal address. You can also donate directly to the Philippine National Red Cross. You can help by helping spread the word too. Any type of help will go a long way!
(Note: Photos via CNN, various news sites and blogs online) Regular posting on Sweet Station will resume ON FRIDAY.
‘ Paul Roberts was born in Tiverton Devon in 1948. Brought up by artist parents in Wales. He studied at Newport, Cardiff and Goldsmiths colleges of Art. Gaining early recognition in the 1970’s his career as a painter was interrupted when he had worldwide success with th rockband Sniff’n'The Tears in 1978.Commitments to music meant that until 2000 time needed to develop his career as a painter was to some degree curtailed. In 1988 he moved with his family to Somerset, where he has continued to paint and make music. His work can currently be seen at the Plus One Gallery London. ‘
Enjoy some mighty impressive work from Philadelphia-based artist JoKa. These are all painted with toothpicks and each one is just stunning. Visit his site or Myspace for more.
” Just nineteen, born and raised under the Brixton sun, London. T. S. Abe has successfully progressed from early aged doodling, felt tip tattoos and subway sketchings, to firmly realized pencil works. The drawings (typically surrealist portraits) have graced a multitude of mediums from album covers and novels, to exhibition walls, mags and a London bus. ”
As an avid photographer and camera enthusiast, investing in one of these babies is pretty expensive. So if you’re still saving for a nice glass to go with your full frame camera, you can feast your eyes on these crafty and very resourceful paper replicas by Tom Sachs for now.
Dface is a street artist coming from London. He’s got extraordinary skills to match his clever handle. Check out his site to read his interesting blog.
