Cath Sheard Art

Tag: landscape

  • Stepping back, leaping forward

    I’ve been stepping back into old methods and ways of mark making … no pressure, no sales, nothing but play. I’ve been surprised my work seems increasingly realistic, which isn’t my preferred style. I’ve been prepared to go with it, on the premise it would lead somewhere.

    I keep my workspace relatively clear, except when actually working on something. As a mixed media artist, I feel I’m not doing enough mixing and layering. I decided to leave a bunch of supplies on my desk in the hope I’d reach for different media. My desk’s currently got paint, inks, fluro paint pens, NeoColour I and II, Stabilo Woodies and collage papers. I’ve also got a couple of new journals I’m working in.

    I started a couple of pages last night and I was playing with materials while on a video call to my sister, then a friend. And there it was … bright, semi-abstract, layered. It feels like I’ve gone back to my artistic roots and also leapt forward. I couldn’t be happier!

  • Enjoying the landscape

    Enjoying the landscape

    I’m looking at the landscape with no expectations about outcome: just thinking about shape, colour, light, combinations of materials. This year is about play, not outcomes. This relaxed attitude seems to be pushing me further in both directions – abstraction and realism.

    This one’s been out aside while I contemplate next steps

  • When a journal disappoints

    I was excited to get a couple of Stillman & Birn Delta journals on sale – they’re expensive here in New Zealand so had high hopes. I chose 7×7” Delta because they have heavy weight 270gsm which the website says is ‘ideal for wet and dry media, including watercolour and ink’.

    I taped every second page because I like a clean border, but also enjoy a more organic edge sometimes. I want to love my new journals, but don’t. The paper pills easily when you use water, so washes have spots in them. Even with heating the tape prior to pulling it, the paper tears easily. They’re just not great for the way I work, and at that weight I expect the paper to be more robust.

    Putting that aside, I visited Ethel Anne Antiques in Hāwera today. They’re running a pop-up shop with 60% off. I picked up four music score books for just $12. I’ll be going back to find maps, more music and maybe an old textbook or two. The owner is lovely, and was happy to chat about what I’d be doing with the music. Like me, she loves seeing old things given new life, rather than ending up in the rubbish.

    I came home and gelli printed on a few pages to get started, then grabbed one of my collage landscape journals. New papers inspired me and I completed about 8 pages in a row. I can see some themes emerging, as is often the case when I work in a hurry.

  • What we love vs what inspires

    What we love vs what inspires

    Alan and I went bush for the weekend. I love being out in nature – trees, hills, quiet, no power or cell cover. No other people. Listening to Morepork at night, watching Tui during the day. Bliss!

    I knew Alan would be doing his thing during the day. We both accept I have limited physical capacity some days. I had prepped two small art journals, and took water soluble crayons and pencils, and a few other bits and pieces. The journals are a new brand for me, and turns out the paper isn’t as durable as I like despite being a bit dearer than some of my fav journals. I bought them to try because they were 30% off. I also wish I’d taken actual watercolours, but both those problems are incidental.

    What’s fascinating, as an artist, is while I absolutely love being in the bush it doesn’t inspire me to paint in the way I expect it to. It might just be that I haven’t done enough to loosen up and create the sort of work I like, but I’m also not sure I want to. And yet when I go down South I find the water, and the colours of the Hokitika Gorge, inspire me to create over and over and over.

    What we love, and what inspires us to create, are not necessarily the same thing. Why? I have no idea really, but I’m mulling it over. In the meantime, here’s some samples of the pages I did do…

  • What makes a landscape?

    Sometimes I veer off into florals, faces, or other distractions, but my deepest artistic love is the landscape. Memories of the landscape, fragments of the landscape: colours, shapes, shadows, glimpses…

    I’m interested in what makes something read as landscape. Is it the colours? Shapes? The way things are stacked up from land to sky? I’ve been exploring the idea in small 6×6 collages. As with any series, they’re getting looser and more abstract as the series progresses.