the beautiful cover
Many readers and soon-to-be readers of The Wonder Of Little Things have said how beautiful the cover is. We were thrilled when we first saw it. Based on a painting by First Nations artist Venita Woods, it’s used with her permission and under a license agreement. The publisher’s book designers came up with an equally beautiful typography to go with it.
Venita was born in the Kaltukatjara / Docker River community, nearly 700 kilometers south west of Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Both her grandmother, Maringka Baker, and her mother, Elaine Woods, are also acclaimed artists. These days Venita lives further east, in a community on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, also known as the APY Lands. Over the years, Vince often visited different APY Lands communities for his work with Aboriginal hostels and Aboriginal sport programs.
The painting is called Minyma Kutjara and is a Dreaming story passed down to Venita by her grandmother. It tells the story of two sisters as they travel home across Country. In The Wonder of Little Things you can find a copy of the original painting on the last page of the photo section.
Venita’s agent who manages her artworks for her has a gallery in Mparntwe/Alice Springs called This is Aboriginal Art, where you can find more of Venita’s work. When the book was published I got in touch with Venita’s agent and sent her a copy to pass on. When Venita picked it up from the gallery, she sent me a lovely message. The gallery also did a great little post Instagram post about it, with a photo of Venita with the book.
© 2023 This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Acknowledgement: Vince’s continuing legacy has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.