In October & November I had work in the Awagami International mini print exhibition in Japan. I received a highly commended and the work, Summer nights in the New Zealand bush, sold.
Yesterday I came home to a package from Japan – a lovely certificate, the exhibition catalogue with my name listed under Juror’s Choice, a letter and some beautiful paper to print on.
The exhibition had 1,067 artists from 58 countries enter 1,524 works and over 1,200 people visited the gallery. I’ll be entering again in 2027.
A lot has happened in the last month. I’ve been doing more in the #100TinyTreasures series and find it fascinating seeing what shapes and marks consistently represent the hand of the artist. I’ve been working in my art journals, including the new Dina Wakley Media ledger journal – absolutely love it, but they’re sold out already.
Sadly, the next shipment might be post-tariffs so may not be affordable. I feel bad for artists like Dina Wakley, Tim Holtz and Dyan Reaveley who have built a loyal following, through sheer hard work over many years, and will have their business impacted by the current US situation.
I had sold three small paintings to one collector on the East Coast and she asked if I’d make something bigger. I don’t do commission work as such but was happy to make some larger works – the three green pieces below – and if one suited her, great! They are based on the land around where she lives, which includes apple orchards. We tweaked the piece on the far right by adding 3 red apple shapes to the left and she messaged me that “The painting arrived and it’s BEAUTIFUL. I absolutely love it.”
I’ve also been getting ready for this year’s Greymouth Art in the Park. Pen Kirk and I have a stand and will be selling matted works, and greeting cards. Normally we’d teach as well, but Pen has a demanding new job and I’m not doing so well.
A couple of weeks ago someone came through a stop sign and hit my car at speed. I had a couple of seconds to react after I saw him go, and got as far out of the way as I could. Very similar to when a drunk driver hit me in 2012. Despite this being at a stop sign in a 50km area, he was going fast enough that both cars are written off. State Insurance paid out promptly, and I have a lovely new 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander plug in hybrid.
I also have a sore shoulder and concussion, which has turned out to be more of a problem than first suspected. I’m resting a lot, and have been working only half days. I have trouble sleeping at night, and get headaches. Still, it could have been a whole lot worse.
I haven’t blogged since March. It’s taken me all that time to figure out why WordPress wasn’t working properly. Once I figured it out, the solution was easy! Sigh…
Pen and I are between exhibitions at the moment. I’ve got a few things I’m playing with but, so far, nothing has grabbed me enough to turn into a series or even hold my interest for long. I know to just keep playing – it’ll come. Helen Wells talked about this recently on YouTube Vrbo YouTube Occasions Wins & Losses NZ EN 16×9 15s
I’m teaching a basic Dylusions art journal class. We’re meeting one night a week for 10 weeks. It’s lovely watching people have that “aha” moment when they realise how freeing an art journal can be.
Alan and I have been out into the back blocks of Eltham twice recently, staying in a cabin well away from the world. Log fire, no noise or light pollution, surrounded by steeps bush-covered hills and deer, with the sound of a stream nearby. Bliss!
I’ll share a of few photos of where I’ve been and what I’ve been creating. There’s no real rhyme or reason to the art at this stage, and that’s exactly the point.
When I was at The Learning Connection my tutor, in the 4th year, commented that my work was “all about the edges”. Peter was absolutely right, and the edges of the work are still critical to me. In the last couple of years I’ve become increasingly interested in the idea of texture, while keeping the work very flat. When I was a scrapbooker, and scrapbook tutor, I could never get into lumpy things on my pages…
Pen Kirk and I are working on our next exhibition, titled Shattered Landscapes which opens late October. We’re showing our own work, and joint collaborative works. I’ve been working on a few pieces this afternoon and I’ve been quite focused on creating a sense of texture.
Yes, it’s more of the music I love – “Body like a back road” by Sam Hunt. This morning I’ve been doing some of the boring bits needed to get paintings ready for exhibiting, like painting the edges white. As I work, Tony’s been reading a book, Faith’s been sleeping/barking, and we’ve been listening to some of our favorite music on iTunes. The sun is out, the washing is drying in the back porch and (almost) all is right with the world!
As I did this page I dropped the letter b from my Dy’s alphabet stamp set. We must have spent 20 minutes looking for it. I was beginning to think it had joined all the odd socks in the universe somewhere. But, no – it had somehow gone under the bottom drawer next to me. I have no idea how…
Dylusions. Small journal. Paint: Vanilla custard, Rose Quartz, Slate grey. Stencils: Diamond in the rough, Star struck, Holes. Stamps: Dy’s alphabet. Other: Tim Holtz Tall Text stamps, Pitt big brush pen, Archival ink. Distress ink, Distress collage medium.
Cath Sheard Art 