Cath Sheard Art

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  • A wedding, a beach, some sandflies!

    Alan’s daughter Debbie and her fiance Jason got married in Ashburton recently, and we were fortunate to have friends Cushla and Kevin join us. Friday night was the rehearsal, Saturday morning was hair etc, then the wedding itself was mid-afternoon. It was held in the stunning gardens of his parent’s property – they had done so much work to create a beautiful setting. I didn’t take any photos, which is unusual for me, but the wedding was just so lovely that I was concentrating on the ceremony. Debbie looked beautiful, Jason and his son Dante looked handsome; even the two dogs looked great in their wedding bibs.

    Sunday morning we had a lovely walk round the Ashburton Domain before heading back to Jason’s parents for brunch with everyone. Later in the day we drove to Lake Tekapo and spent the night with Maryrose. Lake Tekapo is beautiful; the three of us walked into town for dinner and it was lovely in the evening air. On the way out the next day we braved the queues and it was worth it because now we both recommend the pies at the bakery in Fairlie – so good! We drove back to Hokitika via Lake Coleridge, way up a gravel road so we could see Mt Algidus which had featured in Mona Anderson’s book “A river rules my life”.

    We were fortunate to have the use of an off-grid beach bach for two nights, about an hour from Hokitika. It was a bit of adventure getting there as we had to ford a river a few times, towing the boat, and the final crossing didn’t quite go to plan. That’s enough about that 😉 He did some fishing, we watched a South Island Robin come in and roam the bach to clean up any insects, Alan went out at night watching the deer and … I provided a tasty snack for the local sandfly population!

    We’d stayed an extra night with Kevin and Cushla before heading to the beach so when we got back we stayed with Scott and Helen, which meant Alan could do some farm work too. I caught up with Pen Kirk for lunch so we could start planning what comes next for our collab art. We’re not working towards another joint exhibition for now, but we do have a mission, which feels good. There’s something magic about collaborating with an artist you trust so you both have freedom to create without fear.

    We had lunch in Kaikoura – the seals are majestic but smelly.
    We were fortunate so see a large pod of dolphins on the move; this is just a few of them.
    At the wedding reception.
    The Lake Coleridge area.
    This is the path to the toilet at the bach – the area is so pretty.

  • Trying ArtStacks

    One of my YouTube favs is the wonderfully talented Claire Stead (Art_Journal Love). The other day she made a page using ArtStacks and I just had to check them out. They offer themed paper packs, so three sets somehow ended up in my cart. Got to love a quick digital download!

    I’ve used them in my 6×6 Dina Wakley Media Kraft journal, with DWM paints and stencils. I had printed them on 160gsm white paper, so they’re a bit sturdier, which I prefer. The colours are bright and the images are, mainly, easy to fussy cut. I’m thrilled with them and will no doubt be buying more.

  • Hand of the artist

    I’m going through a “strictly Dylusions” phase; my Dina Wakley journals haven’t been touched for a couple of weeks. Sometimes I work in both, using their products plus a few others such as Tim Holtz and Claire Stead. Other times, I feel compelled to just do one thing.

    I’ve been painting or inking, then stencilling dozens of pages in three journals. Once they’re dry I add borders with stencils, washi tape or collage. In the evenings I sit in the lounge doodling with black and white Posca pens while Alan watches tv or we listen to music.

    I outline all the collage, add stitch lines round some elements, doodle round the stencilling, and so on. I’m not fussy about it – if the line is wonky or goes over the collage it doesn’t matter.

    All of this means that, although I’m using products designed by someone else (a lot of the collage is straight from Dyan Reaveley’s own journals), the final pages are mine – they clearly show the hand of the artist. I love that!

    The pages below are sections from some of the ones I’m working on. I flip back and forth in the three journals, so I don’t have to wait for the pen work to dry.

  • Festival of Lights

    Alan and I went to the Festival of Lights in New Plymouth last night. We also wanted to go to the Orchid Show, and only clicked yesterday that it was also this weekend. Because of the Festival there was no accomodation but it didn’t make sense to come home late, then be back in NP mid morning. I rang Flamingo Motel, where I stayed before my surgeries etc, and explained. Sure enough, they had one room I could have. Yes! I recommend them for a cheap, central, motel.

    The lights were fantastic but god it was busy. Alan’s sister had been during the week and it was quieter than previous years. Yeah, well, they were all waiting for Saturday night!

    We also went to the Orchid Show at Highlands Intermediate – amazing orchids, lovely people and some bargains. Why, yes, we did bring a couple of new orchids home.

  • Revisiting old techniques

    Revisiting old techniques

    My art practice is a mix of art and craft; my art has been centred on collab with Penny Kirk for our most recent exhibition in Greymouth. When it comes to crafting, for months I’ve been working predominantly in my Dina Wakley Media journals with DWM paints and stencils etc. Love love love … but also feeling the need to change things up a bit.

    During the Covid-19 lockdowns in the UK artist Dyan Reaveley started doing online classes, as she couldn’t teach and travel as normal. Although converting GBP to NZD is pretty gruesome, I was fortunate to do quite a few classes and loved them.

    I decided to rewatch the videos, knowing there’d be techniques and ideas I’d forgotten about. Sure enough, I’m loving the videos and am having fun working in a Jumpstart journal I had squirreled away.

    I don’t normally complete a page at a time. The Jumpstart journal is blank pages on the left, and a colour copy of one of Dyan’s pages on the right. I start by using the babywipe method to colour a bunch of left hand pages, stencilling as I go. One that’s dry, I randomly add borders, cut shaped edges, add silhouettes and so on. Then I outline everything, doodle and add faux running stitch around elements. I sit in front of tv with Alan in the evenings, with a couple of sizes of black and white pen and just flick my way through adding details.

    None of these pages are finished, but they show work in progress…