10 handmade signed copies
Poems translated in french & forword by Charlotte Longépé
Four handmade signed gouaches by Barry L. Wilmont
Pavillon Neuf Press, Danemark, 2016
52 pages, 25.2 x 18.1 in, hardcover book, letterpress printing
includes CD of poems recorded by Irish-American poet Thomas E. Kennedy
A GRAIN OF SAND
“When I was a child, six colourful lithographies, which curved lines outlined vigorously the characters portrayed, used to catch my attention. Barry L. Wilmont was the mysterious artist, Robert W. Service, my great-grandfather, the source of inspiration.”
In a nutshell this is how the story of A Grain of Sand started few months ago. Several years after having colourfully illustrated some of Robert Service’s famous Yukon poems in the limited art book entitled Pale Port of Amber, artist Barry Lereng Wilmont mixed again his brushes with colours for illustrating other Robert Service’s poems.
The result is ten copies of A Grain of Sand gathering four original gouaches Barry L. Wilmont in each book seven poems both in English and French translated by her great-granddaughter and biographer Charlotte Service-Longépé who is also signing the Foreword.
A Grain of Sand carry us away to a flabbergasting and dramatic journey on the adventurous trail of One-Eyed Mike with the Men of the High North heading towards their destiny while coping with the omnipotent wilderness.
The first copy of A Grain of Sand had been acquired by The Royal Library (Dept. of MSS) in Copenhagen.- - The Yukoner- A Grain of Sand- Men of the High North- The Lone Trail- The Ballad of One-Eyed Mike- The Mountain and the Lake- The Land God ForgotA Grain of Sand encloses a CD recording three of Robert W. Service’s poems (A Grain of Sand, Men of the High North and The Ballads of One Eyed-Mike), recorded and recited by Irish-American poet Thomas E. Kennedy.
Born in Manitoba Canada, Barry Lereng Wilmont roamed through Canada, from Gods Lake Narrows northeastern Manitoba, to the dangerous banks of Peel River, nearby Fort McPherson. Observing and travelling through Canada Great North like Robert Service, Barry‘s inspiration had been brought up by living in the raw with aborigines and with the Gwich’ people in Canada’s North West territories.
Reaching Dawson City during autumn 1989, Barry Wilmont came across Men of the High North, a poem epitomizing, in a vivid and colourful language, the soul of the harsh Northern Territories. While roaming on the Mackenzie River and the Peel River, he decided to illustrate seven of Robert W. Service‘s best poems with his own vivid drawing.
His spontaneous line both provoking and the innovation in a pure spirit of unpolished art makes think of the “Cobra School” or the contemporary artist Georges Rouault as they share the same experiences of the use of string simplifications, deep and powerful colouring and the emphatic black outline of the figures in their paintings.Barry L. Wilmont participated to several broadcast to speak about his work at Danish Radio. His monumental art works can be seen at the University of Copenhagen, at Dan Turèll Sociery’s Grant, Vingsted Sports Centre, Dronninglund High School and some other places in Denmark.
As a stone printer, Barry Wilmont is represented in the Asger Jorn Museum in Denmark, in the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and in the Centre de la Gravure, Belgium.
Barry L. Wilmont received several awards from Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, grand in Memory of Mogens Poulsen, Henry Heerup’s Grand of Honour, Augustinus Foundation…Let's talk about poetry with Robert W. Service
