Cath Sheard Art

Tag: art journaling

  • Sketchbook Revival 2026

    I follow Helen Wells on YouTube. She posted recently about Sketchbook Revival 2026, a free course in April to refresh your sketchbook practice. Heck yes! I love working in my sketchbooks so this was a no brainer.

    There’s a pre course class where you make a book to use for the course if you want … of course you can use what you already have, or buy one. I can do a simple sewn signature journal, but not much else. This looked achievable so I have it a go.

    I’ll use the Australian Piano Hinge style again. Is mine perfect? Of course not, it’s my first attempt, and anyway nothing’s ever perfect. The paper I used for one element is a bit heavy, so it cracked on the fold. My cutting is slightly off, so some pages are a little bit shorter. But you know what? It doesn’t matter … I love it!

  • Inspiration journal

    Through the years of looking after Tony my self care slipped a lot. I lost fitness and put on weight. Some people’s bodies cope fine with extra weight, unfortunately mine isn’t one of them. It’s four and a half months since Tony died. It feels like yesterday and forever at the same time … but what I do know is it’s time to take back control. Tony will be cheering me on.

    I’ve bought a second hand elliptical for at home, rejoined the gym (a different one that offers better support) and gone back to a proper eating plan.

    I’ve just had a three day weekend and spent it sorting stuff, getting used to the elliptical, and making an art journal that’s all about taking control and being capable – it’s an encouragement journal for me.

  • Mark making & Cy Twombly

    I have always loved the work of Cy Twombly, with his expressive gestural mark making and scratchy lines. It’s not what I create, but I love seeing it. Pen Kirk and I were talking about that the other day, that for many artists what we like to view is not the same as what we create. Which is not to say we don’t love what we create! Anyway…

    I’ve been doing a course from Marabeth Quin called Mixed Media Collage and the Intuitive Landscape. I’ve been working on the 4 larger pieces from the second part of the course and I’m struggling to finish them so have put them aside.

    Last night I grabbed an art journal and was playing with layering and mark making … and boom! Suddenly there was a combination of my old mark making, which I’d lost at some point, and a new visual language that’s emerging thanks to the course. I can see hints of Cy Twombly and the Abstract Expressionists and that makes me happy.

  • Chaos and calm

    Last weekend was busy by my standards. Alan and I were out both days because we’re looking at properties. Then we went out Friday night with a bunch of people, some I’d never met before – introverted me was working hard! This weekend I needed to relax & spend time in my art room.

    I spent Saturday making a variety of concertina journals from plain paper, ready for a trip we’ve got coming up later in the year. Then I started prepping some large A2 sheets of paper for more journals, so I’d have some with marks & colour on them already.

    This morning I started pulling some more large paper out of my stash and suddenly … there it was … creative block & a sense of overwhelm because of the chaos I’d created. I had to stop and tidy up, and that turned into a huge ‘sort, reorganise, rearrange’ mission.

    It never happens at work because I control my office environment tightly. Everything has a place, and the thing I’m working on is to the left of my keyboard, my pile of other work is well to my right so it’s out of my line of sight. At home, creating, it’s a different matter.

    Our family is all neurodivergent, in varying degrees and manifested in myriad ways – but it’s always there. The more I’ve learned about Mum’s birth mother, the clearer it’s become her genes are the gift that keeps on giving!

    My chaos and calm art room pendulum is a manifestation of my neurodivergence and that’s ok. The before and after photos shown are far from peak chaos!

    There’s work on the floor because both desks and the printer are covered in wet paper.
    Tidy, organised and fairly clean
  • Keeping my hands busy

    Keeping my hands busy

    The world is, quite literally, burning. Australia is experiencing terrible fires. Parts of New Zealand are facing temperatures up to 12 degrees higher than average. Then there’s the general state of the world.

    It impacts on my art. Sometimes I look at what I’ve been creating and realise there’s blood, crosses, or the colours are suddenly more somber than usual. My shapes get simpler, the layouts less complex, and though my mind is looking for moments of quiet. These aren’t conscious decisions, but a reflection of what’s happening in my mind.

    When I notice the colours are getting sombre I deliberately brighten my palette a bit, but I let the crosses etc come out. Creating is good for my wellbeing, and keeping my hands busy is a great antidote to doom scrolling and doom posting.