Between, written & illustrated by Anna Walker
Published by Scribble
“Between day and night
Between near and far …”
(Between by Anna Walker)
Interview with Anna Walker about Between
Between is a poetic, artistic picture book for all ages. It evokes the imaginative, the intangible, the profound…
Thank you for speaking about your powerful, contemplative picture book with Paperbark Words, Anna.
What is the genesis or concept behind Between?
‘Between’ began as a personal project in 2023 exploring questions of life, love, loss, and connection. It was around this time that I discovered a cricket and cabbage moth resting on the windowsill in the studio. I wondered how their precious lives were spent…and realised these two creatures embodied the transience, fragility and connection I had been thinking about. Their story was the story. I felt like I had been given a silvery thread, and all I had to do was follow.
What genre is the story?
I think of picture books as an art form and hoped for the reader to experience ‘Between’ as a ‘feeling’, rather than following an intricate narrative. For better or worse, I’m not sure ‘Between’ has a genre. As a story it’s a simple idea of two characters meeting and the world being a better place because of their friendship but with exploring this in with so few words, the pages step into a space that is hard to define with the subtle nature of the imagery.
How do your two characters complement each other?
The Cabbage Moth and Cricket have distinct differences, with the Moth being surrounded by air and sunlight, and the Cricket bound by earth and night. Similarly, though, they are both searching for something more. When they meet at the border of day and night, there is sense of surprise but also somehow of destiny. They complement each other with curiosity and care, as the world opens with the sharing of new experiences.
How does this book conjure feeling or emotion? What does it hint at?
I’m interested in the idea of sadness helping us understand our lives, and the experience of joy being more poignant with recognising the fleeting nature of our time on earth. When eyes well with tears, it’s possible for the world to glisten. I think emotion is conjured in the imagery because beauty is sometimes tinged with sadness. The loneliness we experience can make connection even more precious.
What are some of the profound yet simple themes you explore?
Not being afraid to feel lost.
The possibility of love always being there.
The search for connection.
Meeting someone who understands you and the world being illuminated.
Between is a true poetry of ideas. You use spare, sparse words to evoke layers of meaning. How would you describe its language or words?
In making picture books I believe in trying to distil ideas to their essence. I see ‘Between’ as a ‘dew drop’ reflecting life rather than an expansive lake. Both can hold beauty and sadness…perhaps with the dew drop though, a pause is needed to look and see within. I hope the sparse nature of the text encourages immersion in the images and thought for the reader.
Your illustrations, created with hand cut stencils, spray paint and a pencil, are incomparable. Why have you used this technique? What extra dimension does it give?
For so long the images were a precious brocade I carried in my mind. I would meet with Miriam Rosenbloom, the publisher at Scribble Books, and we would laugh that making the illustrations was like being a lacemaker from the 15th Century, with the way I would carefully cut out intricate stencils and make sure every detail was crafted and unique.The delicate spatters and mist of spray paint had a beguiling delicacy and movement which I couldn’t achieve with other mediums. The ‘fly away’ spray echoed shadows of the twilight setting and seemed to have a life of its own when I pulled the stencils away to reveal the images.
Why do your beautiful double-page spreads ‘bleed’ to the edge of the page?
To bleed the images to the edges helps create the feeling of endless sky and lands within the pages of the book. When I visualise a story in the early stages, I think of it like a film. It’s slightly blurry in my mind but I have a strong sense of the atmosphere and colours. Between takes place across a night and the full bleed images lend themselves to moving through the landscape in velvety darkness. And finally, the coarse textures at the edge of the pages provide a lovely contrast to the delicate details of the expressions of Cabbage Moth and Cricket.
I love the plants and flowers. I see Australian natives, fungus and possibly snowdrops … What do you see?
I’m fascinated by delicate mosses, and plants, including fine threads of mushrooms in the undergrowth of Australian Flora. I smiled when I saw that you had seen this in the organic shapes as I had barely realised they were evident! There is also a strong influence from old Japanese woodblock prints featuring lilies and ponds. Printmaking and the craftsmanship of this process has played a role in the way the lands of the Cricket and Cabbage Moth have been detailed. And lastly there are tributes to the fairy tales of my childhood with a scattering of delicate snowdrops and bluebells. Working on this story had a fairy tale quality in escaping with lily pads on ponds and wings above brambles.
How do your entrancing endpapers embody your story?
It’s always a challenge to place a story and world within only 32 pages. The endpapers gave me a chance to set the scene of the story by hinting at sunlight in the first endpaper, suggesting the paths of the cricket and cabbage moth in the late afternoon. The last endpaper was a way of saying that the paths of the Cricket and Cabbage Moth will forever intertwine because of their connection. A tribute to the experience of love and friendship.
How is Between related to any of your other books?
In 2022 I illustrated ‘Bedtime Story’ by Chloe Hooper. I created the imagery in response to feelings rather than literal sections of text. In trusting the process of letting go, the inky paintings seemed to unfurl from a place within and I loved illustrating this way. I realised it might be possible to explore images and thoughts without knowing exactly where they were heading… and this is how ‘Between’ began.
[Joy: link to my Instagram post about Bedtime Story]
How has Between been inspired by other book creators, writers or artists?
There have been many inspirations from various writers and artists for ‘Between’. These are some of the ones that come to mind…
The beautiful shapes and textures of Minä Perhonen, Japanese fashion and textile brand founded by Akira Minagawa. played a role in crafting the organic shapes.
In recent years, Delftware has been a strong influence on my work. In part because of the beauty and tradition of craftmanship and in part because of the deep colour blue. For me, blue holds the sky, joy, sadness, and the infinite reach of possibility.
Poetry has been inspiring and helped form the ideas explored within the pages. I collect fragments of poems and writing, which became some of the scaffolding of interplay between image and text in Between, such as these beautiful words by Kathryn Schulz, ‘Disappearance reminds us to notice, transience to cherish, fragility to defend’.
Anna, thank you for your exceptional picture book Between, and also for your thoughtful, generous responses here. Both are an absolute gift.
Thanks also to Jen Kean from Kean & Creative for arranging the interview.
Interview with Anna Walker about Snap! at Paperbark Words
paperbarkwords.blog 