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| Pablo Browne - Judith Martinez and Craig Billingham, The Empty Jar, page 2, 2014, children's book |
Pablo Browne is a creative partnership between Judith Martinez (illustrator) and Craig Billingham (writer). Together they created The Empty Jar, a children’s picture book launched at The Melbourne Writers’ Festival last year. They live in the Blue Mountains, NSW.
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| Pablo Browne - Judith Martinez and Craig Billingham, The Empty Jar, page 1, 2014, children's book |
Craig Billingham is a poet and fiction writer. His work has appeared in many Australian journals, including Meanjin, Heat, Review of Australian Fiction, and Antipodes, as well as having been twice selected for The Best Australian Poems. A slim collection, Storytelling, was published in 2007. Craig has a Masters in Creative Writing from The University of Sydney.
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| Pablo Browne - Judith Martinez and Craig Billingham, The Empty Jar, page 3, 2014, children's book |
"My poems and stories typically involve some form of misunderstanding, and the confusion that ensues. These misunderstandings could be of emotions, or actions, or identities, etc. Very often they arise from misheard statements, or from words taken to mean something other than what their speaker had intended. Working with this confusion – chasing the next word, or the next image – propels the story, and not always towards a resolution." Craig Billingham
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| Pablo Browne - Judith Martinez and Craig Billingham, The Empty Jar, page 4, 2014, children's book |
Judith Martinez is a artist, illustrator and graphic designer. She studied at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW, and has completed various printmaking courses at the National Art School. She has worked on the creative for major festivals and events in Sydney, designed book covers, historical interpretation graphics for The Rocks, and worked on numerous publications. Judith's work has recently featured at The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre exhibitions Keepsake and The Black and Blue Project, as well as Seven Illustrators at The Everglades, Leura. The Empty Jar is her first picture book.
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| Judith Martinez, Illustrations from The Empty Jar, 2014 |
"My work is made up of carefully salvaged objects, textures and images – which allow me the privilege of creating new narratives. This is a technique I use in both my fine art and illustration work – through collage, photomedia and drawings. The use of layers in my work creates visual maps for the viewer to navigate – inviting them to return and decipher the stories within the works." Judith Martinez
You can see more of Judith's work in Katoomba and on her websites hopestreetpress.com.au and judithmartinez.com.au
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| Judith Martinez, We must give them shapes and names, 2013/14, digital photo montage with scanned and manipulated found photographs |
During their Gunyah residency Judith and Craig plan to develop their second book for children - The Alphabet Thieves, aimed at children 5 to 9 years old. This picture book seeks to entertain and to contribute to the development of children’s literacy skills. The artwork for The Alphabet Thieves will be hand drawn illustration, digital collage and mixed media. A draft of the story has been completed, but their previous experience on The Empty Jar suggests that the storyline will grow as writer and illustrator work more closely together. This is a time consuming process that requires a period of focused concentration – the Gunyah residency will be an ideal opportunity to progress the project.
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| Craig and Judith, with their book - The Empty Jar Blue Mountains Gazette 11 Nov 2014 |
