View source for Judy Horacek

{{Short description|Australian cartoonist, illustrator, children's writer}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox writer 
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| name        = Judy Horacek
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| birth_date  = 1961
| birth_place = Melbourne, Australia
| birth_name  =
| occupation  = Comic book/strip artist, illustrator
| nationality = Australian
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| website     = {{URL|https://horacek.com.au/}}
}}
'''Judy Horacek''' (born 12 November 1961) is an Australian [[cartoonist]], artist, writer and children's book creator. She is best known for her award winning children's picture book ''[[Where is the Green Sheep?]]'' with [[Mem Fox]], and her cartoons all over the world. She has been a regular cartoonist for newspapers including [[The Age]] newspaper, [[The Canberra Times]], [[The Australian]] or [[The Australia Institute]] Newsletter. Horacek's latest book is ''Now or Never'' (2020), her tenth cartoon collection.

In 2005, a selection of her work was acquired by the [[National Library of Australia]] for its collection. She said at the time that "I really like being recognised for having done work that is part of the social discourse. And it's always nice to see cartoons get another lease on life – now they represent a particular time and context and become part of the portrait of who we [Australians] are".<ref name = "Favelle10">Favelle (2005) p. 10</ref>

==Life==

Horacek graduated with a BA from the [[University of Melbourne]] in 1991, majoring in Fine Arts and English. She then studied for a Diploma in Museum Studies at Victoria University.  In 2007, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Visual) in Printmedia and Drawing from Australian National University.

She lives in [[Melbourne]].

==Writing==

Horacek started her career as a writer, and was a member of a community writing group in North Melbourne.<ref name = "Favelle8">Favelle (2005) p. 8</ref> Words are an important part of her cartoons, and sometimes dominate the pictures.<ref name = "Favelle8"/> Her stories have appeared in a number of anthologies.

After collaborating on a children's picture book with [[Mem Fox]], she began to write and illustrate her own children's books, something she had always wanted to do, in addition to continuing to work with Mem Fox.

==Cartoons==

"My life has been a quest to find new and better place to stick cartoons", Horacek has said.<ref name = "Favelle7">Favelle (2005) p. 7</ref> Accordingly, her cartoons can be found in newspapers and magazines, online, on various merchandise items and as limited edition prints.<ref name = "Favelle7"/> Her cartoons have been described as whimsical and quirky. As she says, "I take every day situations and make them strange"<ref name = "Williams">Horacek (2007)</ref>

It was her interest in feminism which "drove Horacek's early work and established her reputation as a cartoonist".<ref name = "Favelle8"/> Since then, in addition to an ongoing interest in women's issues, her cartoons have covered a wide range of social and political issues such as the environment, climate change, the [[Australian Republican Movement]], immigration, indigenous issues and [[FlyBuys (Australia)|FlyBuys]]. Cartoonist [[Peter Nicholson (cartoonist)|Peter Nicholson]] describes her work as follows:

{{Cquote
|For most of her professional life her cartoons have been more on the theme of people's everyday lives and worries. When this is your subject matter you start in more of a vacuum. You need a powerful imagination, a great sense of humour, a real understanding of the human condition and you must have something to say ... there is an advantage to this type of cartoon. It has lasting value.<ref name = "Nicholson x">Nicholson (1999) p. x</ref>
}}

Horacek's first commissioned work for ''[[The Age]]'' newspaper was published on [[International Women's Day]] 1995, next to the obituary of Senator [[Olive Zakharov]]. This was her cartoon, ''Woman with Altitude'', a work which has since appeared on fridge magnets greeting cards, tea-towels and T-shirts.<ref>Judith Maria Horacek (2003)</ref> In 2007, she said that "The woman with altitude ... represents who we could be".<ref name = "Williams"/> At various times she has had regular spots in such newspapers and magazines as ''[[The Age]]'', ''[[The Australian|The Weekend Australian Magazine]]'', ''[[The Canberra Times]]'', the ''[[Australian Book Review]]'', the ''[[Australia Institute]]'' newsletter and currently ''[[The Monthly]]''.

==Illustration==
She illustrated Mem Fox's non-fiction book, ''[[Reading Magic]]'', and in 2004 she illustrated her first children's book, [[Mem Fox]]'s ''[[Where Is the Green Sheep?]]''.<ref name = "Favelle9">Favelle (2005) p. 9</ref> It was shortlisted for several book awards, and in 2005 won the [[Children's Book Council of Australia]] Book of the Year – Early Childhood Award and the 2005 Speech Pathology Australia Award. She has since started writing her own children's books, the first being ''[[The Story of GROWL]]'' (2007), followed by "These are My Hands" (2008), "These are My Feet" (2009) and "Yellow is my favourite colour".

''[[Where is the Green Sheep?]]'' was published both in Australia and the USA in 2004 and has been translated into Spanish, Korean, simple Chinese, Hebrew, Krzg and two Australian Indigenous languages, Pitjantjatjara and Kriol.

In 2024 Penguin Random House released a special edition of ''[[Where is the Green Sheep?]]'' with a gold foil cover. Additionally, the Royal Australian Mint produced a commemorative 20 cent coin with a Horacek illustration derived from the original book.

==Children's books==
* ''[[Where Is the Green Sheep?]],'' with Mem Fox (2004, {{ISBN|0-15-204907-X}} and {{ISBN|0-670-04149-1}})
* ''[[The Story of GROWL]]'' (2007, {{ISBN|978-0-670-07045-9}})
* ''These are My Feet'' (2007, {{ISBN|978-0-14-350224-1}})
* ''These are My Hands'' (2008, {{ISBN|9780143502593}})
* ''Yellow is my favourite colour'' (2010, {{ISBN|9780143504283}})
* ''[[Good Night, Sleep Tight (Fox book)|Good Night, Sleep Tight]]'', Mem Fox, Illustrated by Judy Horacek (2012, {{ISBN|978-1-74283-257-9}})
* ''Yellow is my colour star'' (2014, {{ISBN|9781743622728}})
* ''[[This & That (Fox book)|This & That]]'' with Mem Fox (2015, {{ISBN|9781743622537}})
* ''[[Ducks Away!]]'' with Mem Fox (2016, {{ISBN|9781760158514}})
* ''[[Bonnie and Ben Rhyme Again]]'' with Mem Fox (2018, {{ISBN|9781742996240}})
* ''Hey Diddle Diddle'' (2024, {{ISBN|9781760658632}})
* ''Meerkat Mayhem'' with Mem Fox (2024, {{ISBN|9780143777687}})

==Cartoon collections==

* ''Life on the Edge,'' Introduced by Dale Spender (1992, {{ISBN|1-875559-11-6}} and 2003, {{ISBN|1-876756-41-1}})
* ''Unrequited Love: Nos. 1–100'' (1994, {{ISBN|0-86914-349-2}})
* ''Lost in Space'' (1997, {{ISBN|9781864484755}})
* ''Woman with Altitude'' (1997, {{ISBN|1-86447-101-8}} and 1998, {{ISBN|0-7336-1029-3}})
* ''[http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1548721 If the fruit fits]'' (1999, {{ISBN|0-7336-1051-X}})
* ''[http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn832127 I am woman, hear me draw]'' / ''cartoons from the pen of Judy Horacek'' (2003, {{ISBN|1-876944-10-2}})
* ''Make Cakes Not War'', (2007, {{ISBN|9780740769634}})
* ''If you can't stand the heat'' (2010, {{ISBN|9781921640025}})
* ''Random Life'' (2017, {{ISBN|9780987612908}})
* ''Now or Never'' (2020, {{ISBN|9780987612946}})

==Exhibitions==
Horacek has regularly shown her prints and watercolour painting in commercial galleries in solo and group exhibitions.

She has had retrospectives at the [[National Gallery of Victoria]], ''Laughter, the Universe and Everything'',<ref>Beaver Galleries (2022) p. 1</ref> which toured regional [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]], and at the National Museum of Australia, the exhibition ''I am woman hear me draw''<ref>Beaver Galleries (2022) p. 1</ref> in 2002. This exhibition toured throughout Australia.

==Other works==

* ''[http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1167364 Mary Jane: living through anorexia and bulimia nervosa]'' / Sancia Robinson with Foong Ling Kong and cartoons by Judy Horacek (1996, {{ISBN|0-09-183266-7}})
* ''The women's power pocket book'' / Joan Kirner and Moira Rayner with illustrations by Judy Horacek (2000, {{ISBN|0-14-029540-2}})
* ''[[Reading Magic|Reading Magic: how your child can learn to read before school and other important things]]'' / [[Mem Fox]] with illustrations by Judy Horacek (2001, {{ISBN|0-330-36282-8}}, {{ISBN|0-15-601076-3}}, {{ISBN|0-15-100624-5}}; 2004, {{ISBN|0-330-42140-9}} and 2005, {{ISBN|0-330-42222-7}})
* ''The Night Before Mother's Day'', Doug MacLeod, Illustrated by Judy Horacek (2012, {{ISBN|9781742379401}})

==References==

{{Reflist}}

;Citations
* Beaver Galleries (2022) "Judy Horacek" in [https://www.beavergalleries.com.au/wp-content/uploads/horacek-5.pdf Solo Exhibitions] (page 1)
* Nicholson, Peter (1999) "Introduction to Judy Horacek" in [https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/1548721 ""If the fruit fits""], Hodder Headline (page x)
* Favelle, Kathryn (2005) "A new lease on life" in ''National Library of Australia News'', XV (12), September 2005, pp.&nbsp;7–10
*[http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/act/content/2006/s1904010.htm Horacek, Judith (2007). Interviewed by Philip Williams, on ''Stateline Canberra'', 2007-04-20] Accessed: 2007-09-20
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn310104  Horacek, Judith, artist and cartoonist (1998). Interviewed by Ann Turner]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070830235837/http://www.unimelb.edu.au/150/150people/horacek.html ''Judith Maria Horacek (1961–)'' (2003)] Accessed: 2007-09-20

==External links==
* {{official website|horacek.com.au}}
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3069700 Judy Horacek collection of cartoons] – held and digitised by the National Library of Australia
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an13684141 Portrait of Judy Horacek, cartoonist, by Virginia Wallace-Crabbe]
* {{LCAuth|n00046722|Judy Horacek|14|ue}}
* https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/judy-horacek-20160212-gms7ju.html
* https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/About-Us/News-media-campaigns/Campaigns/Book-of-the-Year-2024/previous-winners.aspx
* {{cite web|url=https://www.ramint.gov.au/publications/where-green-sheep-its-on coin#:~:text=coin%20in%20card%20is%20%2417.50,am%20Thursday%2015%20August%202024}}
* https://www.penguin.com.au/news/4530-where-is-the-green-sheep-20th-anniversary--collectors-edition
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Horacek, Judy}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Australian people of Czech descent]]
[[Category:Australian comics writers]]
[[Category:Australian women editorial cartoonists]]
[[Category:Australian editorial cartoonists]]
[[Category:Australian illustrators]]
[[Category:Australian women children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:Australian children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:Australian children's writers]]
[[Category:University of Melbourne alumni]]
[[Category:Australian women children's writers]]
[[Category:Female comics writers]]