Cath Sheard Art

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  • Moving beyond realism

    I have been reading a book called “Beyond Realism” by artist Brian Ryder, who paints and teaches in the UK.

    The lighthouse landscape is based on a step by step project in the book so that I could try out his techniques. He puts on very thin layers of acrylic, waits till the paint is beginning to dry a bit, then uses a damp cloth to remove some of the colour and blend different areas. He uses a similar technique with oils. He also uses oil pastels amongst the acrylic layers, with it acting as a resist and also adding texture.

    It took me a while to get over the idea that it was “wasting paint” to put it on then wipe it off again – and I don’t even have Scottish ancestry.

    The moonlit landscape is my first attempt at using his techniques to interpret one of my photos; in this case a late evening one I took of the moon in early spring. I really enjoyed doing these two, but should have worn gloves as I managed to get smothered in paint!

  • Experimenting…


    Well, I’m still working my way through a series of paintings on the sea. To move things along a bit, I decided to have a play with some different materials and techniques.

    I’ve had a play with glazes, dry brushing watercolours, scratching back into the paint, rubbing the paint on with a cloth…

    I’ve also been experimenting with how realistic an image needs to be before we “read” it as being the sea. I suspect the answer is “not very”!! Our minds are quite happy to go – oh yeah, that looks like the sea.

    I had hoped to paint from real life at the beach over the weekend, but it was so hot I couldn’t stand to leave the house. So I paid the bills, finished the paper we publish, chatted to Mum … and painted, painted, painted…

  • Water, water everywhere.

    I’m still obsessively painting my way through a series of work based on my memories of the sea and sunsets.

    Over the last week I’ve played with oil pastels, watercolour, alkyd oils, and acrylics. I’ve worked on pastel paper, white paper, black paper, cardboard…

    I particularly like this one, based on my recollection of the tide coming in around the rocks at Mana Bay, Patea.

    Today my main excitement was having to wash the kitten’s feet after she landed right in the middle of a very wet painting of the sea and then tried to run off with bright blue feet!! Luckily it was water based paint … but she certainly didn’t enjoy being dumped feet first in a basin of cold water!

  • Adopted by a bundle of inspiration!


    Between Christmas and New Year a 7 week old bundle of fur and claws turned up, seriously hungry, at our house. Of course we sent it packing!


    Okay, no we didn’t – we fed it, cuddled it, took it to the vet, welcomed it onto our bed…


    Goldie has only been with us four days and already I’ve taken more than 80 photos and starting turning some of them into watercolours – I love the way her fur colour contrasts against the lawn when she is playing outside.

  • Sunsets and the moon on the brain!!

    I have a real obsession with sunsets and the early evening moon at the moment – I’ve been photographing them, painting them, drawing them, dreaming them!

    Having done a lot of watercolour and acrylic versions, I got out the oil paints this weekend and tried a fairly abstract version. I put gloves on and smeared the paint with my fingers – not a brush to be seen 🙂

    Think I’ll keep playing with it yet…