Cath Sheard Art

Category: Uncategorized

  • Starting Chemo…

    Meg started her chemo at Massey University yesterday. She was a total star – and as you can see looked very cute in her new pink Canteen bandanna.

    The treatment was really easy. It was all over in an hour. So far she has been fine – no sign of tummy upsets or anything. So hopefully wer’re not going to see any adverse reactions, this time anyway.

    We got all the supplements she needs to help flush out the toxins – $130 at the health shop later. And a spare wool mattress for her bed cos one of the tablets, we know from experience, will make her pee the bed. So that was another $100 LOL

    I got heaps of chicken mince and green veges so I can cook her food until the commercial anti-cancer food turns up – but even then I’ll do half n half. Tedious but, once the habit’s established, not too bad. We also bought serious anti-cancer foods such as grapes, soy flakes, strawberries, acidopholus yoghurt. Poor babies sure gonna miss chocolate and white bread!!

    It *may* be a combination of wishful thinking and imagination but I think the bigger glands already feel a wee bit smaller.

    This afternoon Meg and I made very cute thank you cards for a few people who deserve them, all featuring this photo of her because I just love it.

  • Looking into the mirror…


    I spent part of Easter painting. In fact I spent Easter in frantic activity, to take my mind off the fact that our beautiful dog, Meg, was diagnosed with Stage V Lymphatic Cancer on Friday. We start chemotherapy this Friday – so fingers crossed, and prayers appreciated.

    The self portrait is more about how I feel, than how I look. It’s done in watercolour with oil pastels over the top. Tony said my eyes look hooded – which is exactly how they feel after nights without sleep…

    The other painting is one of the many moon ones – this is one I have entered in the hope of it being selected for showing at the Peters Doig Marlborough Art Awards in May.

  • Creative weekend…

    I’ve had a peaceful weekend, playing with my art supplies.

    I’m still working through my sun and moon obsession, as you can no doubt see…

    Someone enquired the other day about whether my work is for sale. The short answer is yes, most of the work seen on my blog can be purchased. If you woud like details email me on cathsheard@xtra.co.nz

  • 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…