Cath Sheard Art

Tag: experiment

  • Pausing, resetting, something!

    Pausing, resetting, something!

    I’m not sure what to call it, but I’m taking 2026 off from selling my art, perhaps even from exhibiting. There’s a number of factors driving the decision, which has been forming for a while.

    I’ve been selling on Felt for a couple of years and love it as a platform, but it does best when you drive people there via social media and I’m on social media less and less.

    Sales this Christmas have been poor, which makes the time and effort involved not worth it. There’s other things I’d rather be doing with my time if the payback isn’t there.

    The rise of AI, image theft, and all that bad stuff, has seen me deactivate FaceBook, delete Instagram and TikTok, and so on. I’m still on Bluesky as it feels safer, for now anyway. Leaving those sites decreased my audience, but it’s at a time when TikTok is changing art marketing so it’s performative, which I hate.

    As a side note, there’s increasing online dissatisfaction with how TikTok is making adult colouring, reading and other relaxing hobbies into performative over-consumption.

    What’s my plan for 2026? It’s loose yet, but my main goal is to spend the year exploring new directions, rediscovering what I love most when saleability isn’t a factor, and create for the joy of it. I’ll do online courses, explore various media, fill endless journals with experiments. Who knows what directions I’ll discover along the way.

    I’ve been making gelli prints ready for a course I’m starting 5 January
    I needed to make around 60 A5 papers, and ended up with over 280!
  • Enduring themes

    Enduring themes

    My best friend’s granddaughter is arty and discovering oil pastels. I’ve been finding papers for her to try and, in my art room search, found a couple of old Sennelier sketchbooks. They didn’t suit how I work, so had been abandoned. The pages are perforated so I’ve removed my old work and Sandra’s handing the sketchbooks onto J.

    The pages I removed were mainly gelli plate prompts. It looks like I was using masks to print directly onto the pages. What’s interesting is, despite being perhaps 6 years old, there’s many of the same shapes and marks I use now.

    I’ve been cutting the pieces up and using them for collage in a small 5×5” journal. I like seeing that history reimagined.

  • Collage ideas

    Today I’ve made nine A5 collages, using a variety of gelli printed and stenciled deli, tissue, rice and copier papers. The circles were inspired by Froyle, who I’ve started following on YouTube. I love doing small collage, it’s a great way of testing ideas. The ones that are successful are a good price point for selling.

    Here’s a sample of today’s work, plus a shot of the chaos while I was creating; I make a point of cleaning up when I’m finished so I don’t feel overwhelmed by the mess when I next sit down to create.

  • Painting the full moon

    How did I manage a peaceful night’s sleep at full moon? Light dinner with a friend, two small gin and tonics, and sheer exhaustion 😉  It felt good to almost sleep right through the night, despite the silvery light of the full moon pouring in through the bedroom curtains.

    Despite that, I couldn’t help but delve into my moon images for a quick play round with colours and layouts. Here’s one of my current favorites. I think it appeals to me because it’s dark and moody without being drab, I always enjoy purples, and it has a sense of unreality about it. By the way; is ‘unreality’ a word? Probably not…but I hope you know what I mean.

    I have been wanting to experiment with adding Golden Interference Fluid Acrylics to my other paints, and this might be a good time to haul them out and onto my art desk. The reason I hesitate a bit to use them is that someone I went through art school with used them extensively for some amazing works, but found when it came time to exhibit them that it was rare to find lighting that suited them. Without appropriate lighting she felt the that often the whole point of the works was lost.

    I think in my case though, the interference colours will be an added extra, rather than the main focus of the work. I’d like to try them as a bit of highlighting on top of some really dark glazes; indigo, purple and Atelier Interactive’s Red Black. Their tube Red Black is an amazing colour; I use it a lot – from deep and dark, to just a hint of colour mixed with white or titan buff. For me it’s a very versatile colour, and one I hope they keep producing for a while yet.