“And high above, in Salt Lake Farm, Mr Utah
Watkins counts, all night, the wife-faced sheep as they
leap the fences on the hill, smiling and knitting and
bleating just like Mrs Utah Watkins."
Hello Friends,
First can I thank you all for your encouragement over these last few difficult years. Without your support and feedback I would never have got this far with my Under Milk Wood Arts Project.
Not only is the first public exhibition starting at Llantarnam Grange on the 18th May, but thanks to your support, next week on 3rd May I will be launching a Kickstarer Campaign to help me publish my illustrations along with the full text in a brand new hardback edition of Under Milk Wood.
To receive notification of when the campaign is live simply register using the link below.
Its well worth registering as there are some truly unique rewards you can pledge for including being in the book as a character from the play!
Here is a sneak peek at some possible pages from the book - please note these are only samples; I will probably make lots of changes and refinements as I develop the design.
Greeting cards, signed mini prints and original art will all be amongst the rewards on the Kickstarter campaign and every book will be signed by myself.
The book will include a marvellous Foreward written by my friend the internationally best selling author Joanne Harris. Here are just a few words from that Foreward:
“Bonnie’s ........illustrations to Under Milk Wood are, just like the text itself, both elusive and intimate; disruptive and extraordinary. There are no charming drawings of Welsh seaside villages here. Instead, she has chosen to dive right into the heart of the work, to connect directly with the voices. The result is spectacular, both in terms of the art itself, its humour and detail and complexity, and the way in which the style mirrors the text, subverting the rules of perspective and narrative to create something thast is more important than reality; something that is emortionally true."
The team at Llantarnam Grange have put together this wonderful poster and are currently working on the exhibition catalog.
The Private View will be on 18th May between 12-2pm. There will also be a talk from Prof. John Goodby who has kindly written a commentary to some of the art.
For an invitation to the exhibition please contact me via this website. A Press Pack is available upon request and I am available for school visits, workshops and interviews.
The exhibition will be traveling to several other venues across Wales including the Mid Wales Arts Centre Aug-Oct 2024 and MOMA Machynlleth Feb-April 2025. As well as several libraries, festivels and bookshops. I will post more details as dates are confirmed, but in the meantime if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you