Cath Sheard Art

Tag: art journaling

  • Recording words that inspire

    As people who read my blog know, I often use lyrics when I don’t have the words myself – or just because I like the song. I’m trying something a bit different; recording parts of Ted Talks and similar that inspire me. This is from a talk Tim Minchin did at UWA. I love his humour, but also the messages he shares. I suspect there’ll be more pages with his thoughts yet. 

    Dylusions: small journal. Paints: Bubblegum pink, Funky fuchsia and Lemon Zest. Stencils: Honeycomb, Retro & Teardrops. Stamps: Dy’s alphabet. Other: Tim Holtz tall text stamps, Archival ink Distress collage medium, Distress ink, white gel pen, Pitt big brush pen.

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  • Look for the miracles

    Anyone who has known me for a while will realise I don’t believe in God, but do believe the universe looks after us if we are clear in our intentions. It’d be fair to say there’s some big stuff happening in our wider family at the moment, and some huge challenges.

    Last weekend I said to my sister “at least we haven’t seen four horsemen” and she (sort of) laughed and said she could hear hoofbeats! The next day, we were presented with more challenges.

    Yet this week there’s been some amazing stuff too. Some medical issues are improving or are being well looked after. My niece Rosie and her partner Jason got engaged, and their baby bump started to show. So much love ❤

    Even when things are dark and life seems bloody difficult, it’s worth being crystal clear in your intentions and watching for the miracles.

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  • Cats, gods, art

    This week’s #ColourMePositive quote came with a challenge to use black on the page and include a portrait of a cat you own or know; of course I used Goldie. She turns 14 shortly – we’re not sure exactly when she was born because we rescued her from the neighbours. Although, really, she rescued herself by leaving them and yelling in our front garden until we took pity on her. She’s been yelling ever since…

    She’s incredibly healthy for her age, despite having dementia and skin cancer on her ears. She’s also missing a few teeth but it hasn’t affected her appetite!

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  • Calling the angels

    There’s a story behind tonight’s page, but it’s not my story to tell. Just know I believe those that have gone before watch over us, ‘angels’ if you will. This weekend I am calling on my angel mother to watch over my family.

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  • The sacrament – and my process

    I was away last weekend and didn’t work in my art journals, but did get plenty of art time to work on more Hokitika Gorge paintings. But I miss the freedom that comes with an art journal, where the process matters more than the outcome. I’m not sure I’ve ever documented my process for a layout like this, so will try to capture it.

     
    Before I do though, this is another song by HIM, with Ville Valo singing. HIM disbanded a while back and Ville has moved on, but I still love their music. The lyrics, often quite dark, really speak to me. Villa reads a lot, including poetry and classics, and his writing frequently includes references to religion and Edgar Allan Poe’s works.

     
    This layout was done in my small Dylusions journal, which means there’s no need to gesso the pages as they’re really strong and colours generally don’t bleed through.

     
    Using ink blender foams I put down Dylusions paints in Polished jade, Lemon Zest and Vibrant turquoise. Using the same colours and the ink blenders, I stencilled using Dylusions Teardrops, Squares and Diamond in the Rough – I use each colour, and each stencil, in all three sections.

     
    Once that was dry I used Distress Collage Medium to glue down the magazine cut-out, leaving a medium strip of gel medium around it. Next, I blend a shadow in once the gel is dry, using a walnut Pitt Big Brush Pen to outline the collage. The slickness of the gel means you can blend out the pen, which is India Ink, if you work quickly.

     
    I write out my words – often song lyrics or my thoughts – and print double spaced. I insert a line at the top of the Word doc so I know how wide each line can be and adjust my font size to fit; for the small journal 10.5cm works well for me. I roughly cut out each line and use a foam blender and Black soot Distress Ink to ink the edges to take away the harshness of the white paper.

     
    I put them aside and use Archival ink in black to stamp the title with Dylusions Dy’s alphabet stamp set and Stamper’s Anonymous Tim Holtz Tall Text stamps. While the lettering is drying I use Tombow glue to adhere the text strips; I’m not too fussy about lining them up, spacing etc. Once they’re down and the stamping ink is dry, I use a broad tip white Signo pigment ink pen to add highlights to the stamped letters.

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