Cath Sheard Art

Tag: abstraction

  • Patea Freezing Works paintings – Derelict XI

    A couple of months back I withdrew all my works from my website, Etsy etc while I thought long and hard about the direction my work was going. My intention was to come up with a body of work that sat well together, that I could show as a whole, and that all said “she painted it”. I took the advice of a good friend whose work and business ethic I admire, did lots of research, immersed my self in the subject and then got painting.

    And I am happy! I have done 6 works so far, with four more almost done. I set myself a standard size, a limited number of colours, and an overall style. It’s amazing how much freedom I have felt with those boundaries in place, because it lets me be very free in other ways but still know they will ‘hang together’.

    I think  for me there are two really pleasing outcomes from all this work. The first is that the works do all look like one person did them – I can see my own style in them. The second, and most important thing in a personal sense, is related to that. These feel far more true to what I really what to paint, and how I like to make marks, than all the works I have done in the last 18 months or so. I am not sure why this is, but I am glad it is.

    So, here is the first of the series. I’d love to hear what you think.

    Oh, and here’s where I am at with writing an artist statement to go with them: The Patea landscape, both seen and remembered, is the starting point for my current work, especially the derelict Freezing Works which is being dismantled even as I paint it. These works explore the boundary between reality and abstraction; the colours are an expression of my feelings about a place or a moment in time. The Freezing Works was a multi-layered environment, built over many years and in many geographic directions, and in the same way the paintings are layered with marks made by scraping, wiping, dripping and pushing the paint around until the surface matches the memory.Derelict XI

  • Odd and ends in our house

    Well, Christmas is over, I have a few days holiday left, and it’s raining so, yes, I have been painting hard out. I should have some work to show you tomorrow as I have 3 40cm square canvas all but finished. Initially things weren’t going so well with them, but once I realised the problem was I had other people’s work in mind, not my own, the problem vanished! People worry about artists copying their work but I couldn’t if I tried. Seeing other might influence me, but once I pick up my mark making tools it is *me* that comes out on that canvas each and every time.

    Today I purchased Alyson Stanfield’s book The relatively pain-free artist statement – you can read about Alyson here.  Why? As I mentioned a while back, I have started on a new body of work; it’s quite different from what I have done before and I want to market it well. That means writing and talking about it, so I figured the advice of a professional was warranted. I’ll be working through the book starting tomorrow, and will let you know how it’s going.

    When I’m not painting I’ve been busy with Mum as the chest infection I gave her sprang back to life as soon as she finished the antibiotics. I think since she had pneumonia in the middle of the year she’s been a bit more susceptible. Here’s what our dog Faith had to say about it today:

    Today I have been relaxing on Grandma’s knee, on the mohair rug in 26 degree heat, cos Grandma’s been sick. Mum went to the hospital with her the other night and waited 4 hours – she was a bit cross when she got home. But not very cross, cos she says sometimes it has been Grandma that makes the doctors and nurses run late, so fair’s fair.
    Grandma has a chest infection, but the staff kept asking about the big bruise on her arm – and Grandma couldn’t remember how it happened. When we got home Mum and Grandma were laughing, saying that a this rate the Police will be round any day to accuse Mum of beating up Grandma.

  • Feeling better, doing more layers

    Having passed my chest infection on to my husband (remember marriage vows – for better or worse – this is worse) and my mother (blast! at 85, it’s not a good thing) – I’m feeling a bit better. Although the house still sounds a bit like a TB ward really. Now that I have my coughing under control, and a wee bit of energy back, I need to get creating. The longer I don’t create anything, the worse I feel and the harder it is to get going again. I am sure many of you know exactly what I mean. So today I have been playing with this idea again:

    I’ve taken one of the two large backgrounds and added some transparent freezing works imagery over the top. I want to print this out at roughly A3 size then work back over the top in oil stick and charcoal. I had already done one, and was pleased with it, so some more will help me decide if this is the path to follow or not.

  • Looking at the lines, ready to start drawing

    fe 2fe 5I have been looking at my inspiration wall of photos for a couple of  days now. Today I chose about 20 favorite photos and used the “find edge” function in PhotoShop to have a closer look at the lines in them. It’s interesting what turned up; I have shared a couple of them so you can see what I mean.

    Tonight or tomorrow I will start drawing them in Indian Ink and pastels, concentrating on the lines and the bigger shapes. At the same time, I am rereading one of my most-used books on abstract art, thinking about the theory behind what I am doing. Thinking about the words, the layers of meaning and what I am bringing to this project.

    fe 1

    fe 4

  • Back to mapping the land

    Mapping the land #2Over the last few months I have been looking at Aboriginal Art, especially works which map the land using an aerial perspective. It fascinates me, but it turns out I find it quite hard to do; the traditional Western viewpoint is so strongly ingrained. You can see my original post about this here, and some unsuccessful attempts here.  

    Yesterday I was having a ‘play’ day – just spending time with paint, stamps, glue etc. I did some mono-prints, some mixed-media collage, a little scrapbooking. A bit of this and a bit of that. I sifted through a few books on my shelf, including some that show the land from above.

    After I had relaxed a bit I pulled out some heavier weight watercolour paper and did some monoprints using a bonded plastic bag I had saved from something-or-other. I started just casually working on top of the monoprint. And there it was – the first attempt at aerial mapping that starts to approach what I had in mind. It feels like I have broken through an unseen barrier.