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| Pablo Browne, Gunyah collage, 2015 |
We arrived at Gunyah just after the sun was setting, so it wasn’t until the next morning that we realised how magical our location was. Our home for the next 12 days had a wild native garden leading to a jetty, and resident wallabies and pelicans dotted the scenery.
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| Judith working at Gunyah, 2015 |
Craig and I settled into our new environment very quickly. At first, we had a sense of urgency about what we'd set out to achieve – we were only too aware of what was waiting for us when we returned and we wanted to make sure everything was completed before we left. But that approach soon faded as we let the days at Gunyah unravel by themselves – reading, writing, sketching, stitching, scribbling, thinking – it all just fell into place.
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Pablo Browne, Gunyah collage, 2015
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We developed the characters for our manuscript. The storyboarding process saw a change in our initial narrative – one we welcomed. This inspired Craig to start work on a story we have had planned for a couple of years and never got down on paper. I spent a day working on the facial expressions of the main character and another developing the mannerisms of his companion. All this sketching led to a breakthrough in my drawing technique that allowed much more movement in the characters but still retained the naïve style in line work. This is something that has consumed me for many years! - and could not have happened without time and practice.
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| Pablo Browne character development drawing, 2015 |
On a rainy afternoon, I categorised the antique photographs I have collected for my work. Seeing the photographs laid out made me realise what I had and how I could use them. I completed seven of my ‘Last Engineers’ for an exhibition that will take place in November. This pottering fed into my daily routine and became part of the creative process.
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| Judith sorting photos in the Gunyah studio, 2015 |
A few short day trips allowed me to take some landscape photographs for my photo-media montages and inspired some short story writing.
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Pablo Browne, Gunyah collage, 2015
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Craig also managed to do some writing for his doctorate and had time to process what the next two and a half years will be like for him as he completes it.
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| Judith Martinez, The three fates, 2015 |
The days, uninterrupted by phone calls, emails, internet or television, were longer – measured by waking up, working, walks, mealtimes and preparing the evening fire to keep us warm. This allowed many ideas to come into sharper focus, and for several to materialise.
Thank you Gunyah.
Judith Martinez
July 2015
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| Judith Martinez, The last engineers, 2015 |
