Cath Sheard Art

Category: Uncategorized

  • The gap between vision & reality

    At the weekend Pen Kirk and I taught a couple of classes in Greymouth, including a gelli printing one with Abi Gully. It was great fun and I meet some new local artists.

    I asked one full time artist how it feels when something doesn’t turn out as expected. She said she’s fortunate that things always work out as envisioned. What a great position to be in!

    That’s definitely not my experience. I’ve talked before about days when I’m ‘in flow’ and the art happens instinctively, and the days when everything is a struggle.

    Yesterday was a struggle – what was in my head, and what appeared on paper, was a mismatch. Why? It’s usually because I’m making a change in style, colour palette, shapes or even substrate.

    Does it matter? No. It’s frustrating at the time but often leads to a breakthrough. The key is to just keep going. Below are four of the pieces I started yesterday that I’m going to try and fix today.

  • In pursuit of

    There are forms and marks I come back to over and over. Sometimes a new mark appears; often I don’t know what the shape or mark represents. I might have to play with it for months before I have an “aha!” moment.

    A cave-like shape is one that has been appearing in my art for years. It varies in form, from an actual cave, to a series of overlapping lines … but the general idea remains.

    It took me years to realise it refers to the old ‘cave beach’ island at Waverley Beach. When I was a kid we used to spend summer there in a caravan, and later on Mum & Dad bought a beach bach. Dad would come down after work, and weekends – we’d fish off the sea side of the island.

    Dad’s good friend Ian had seven children. They would visit and, as we all got older, often stay. We used to climb onto the island and dive off the far left side into the waves, then climb back up the slippery papa rock (soft mudstone) to dive again. The more we dived, the wetter the slope got, and it became increasingly slippery. Looking back, it wasn’t the safest thing ever!

    I’ve been playing on some cheap postcard sized watercolour paper, just letting my hands work without thinking of the outcome. The photos below are quick night photos on my phone, but show what I did in one evening, and the theme is clear!

    This was taken in the early 2000s. The island doesn’t exist in this form any more, but shows what is was like when I was young.

  • Being true to yourself

    I have entered the Awagami International Miniature Print Exhibition in Japan. Prints have to be on A4 washi paper. I made a few prints on copier paper to get used to the size, then swapped to washi. I loved the first prints but keep going for another two or three weeks because “it needs to be my best print”.

    I ended up with around 35 prints, and 25 of those were worth considering. I laid them out on the floor and quickly got down to 10, then 6. I showed them on Facebook and Bluesky, and people told me their top pick.

    So did I package up the one that got the most votes? No, far from it. I need to send the worth that speaks to me, and that represents my art, and that’s the only criteria that matters aside from the regulations. The piece I chose was one of the very first I did. I should have know that fiddling around would not be helpful!

  • Being in flow

    Creating can be a struggle. Marks look wrong, paint colours don’t sit right, shapes feel awkward – the whole thing feels forced. Ugh!

    Then there’s magic days when my hands, brain & soul are connected, and works come together easily. The more time I spend creating, the more likely I am to be in flow where I intuitively know the next step.

    Is there a down side to being in flow? Not really, except I run out of room, have glue all over my hands and deep blue paint on my pale pink sweatshirt because I forgot to put on my apron!

    Occasionally a non-artist will comment painting must be easy if you finish a piece so quickly. The time spent on an individual piece is a small part of the act of creating. I completed a 4-year Advanced Diploma of Art & Creativity (Honours) in 2008 and have spent countless hours creating since then. I watch art videos, study art books, work on colour mixing, practice my skills. All of that is part of the process of creating every single piece.

    Starting a small mixed media series using paint and hand painted collage papers
    15cm mixed media using paint. & collage
    Working large as the start of a commission piece.

  • (not) drawn to drawing

    At the beginning of the year I set myself the goal of relearning the skill of drawing. When I studied art we had to draw throughout the first year and I was ok enough to get through. I decided improving my drawing skills would benefit my art generally, so dedicated a notebook to regular practice.

    Almost 5 months in I know exactly why I haven’t been drawing for the last few years. It brings me zero joy. Zero! I make mark with crayons, pencils etc, and love it. Realistic drawing … nope. So I’ve stopped. Art is my passion, not my career, so if it’s not bringing me joy, I don’t do it.

    I’m currently reading ‘Drawing in the present tense’ by Claire Gilman and Roger Malbert – it’s a fascinating look at contemporary drawing.