Cath Sheard Art

Tag: Mum

  • Looking at the landscape

    I am still adjusting to all the time I have now that Mum has died. Six months on I find the evening has vanished and, all too often, I have achieved nothing. Yet when she was alive, I juggled it all, and found art time. I think I’m still catching up on rest, and learning to live with the gap in our lives.

    So one of the things I am slowly doing is going back to some of the things that have been good in my art in the past – like exploring the landscape to see just how far from a ‘real’ landscape you can get before it no longer says landscape. I’d be been using my Gelli Plate, foam stamps with words on them, and a bunch of bubble wrap, to get messy landscapey layers. What I love is that with printing you get bits of paint left over and they come out in a layer later on, adding more colors and texture.

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  • First Mother’s Day without Mum beside me

    It’s been an odd day – it’s the first Mother’s Day where I haven’t had Mum beside me, but I know she is with me anyway. I miss her. End of story….

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  • Combining the elements

    I’ve been piling up the gelli prints, writing and drawing in my journals, and playing with photos. So the next step was to combine some of it in Photoshop. This is fairly small, and has about 7 layers. I’m slowly learning to do more in Photoshop but it’s still feels a bit foreign to me. I need to head over the Michelle Ward’s blog and reread her information about making digital brushes masks – she’s an awesome teacher and incredibly generous with  her knowledge.

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  • A theme emerges

    Mum’s funeral service, conducted by a local JP who had a lot to do with Mum, has made me think about what I do and don’t believe. Mum was an atheist, as was her dad. I spent some time in the church as a teenager but I suspect that was about belonging more than anything. I certainly don’t call myself a Christian. Thinking all that through seems to be a recurring theme in my journal, as does my changing relationship with my now-retired husband, and career/art time, now that Mum is gone. Here’s what I have been creating with all this in mind:

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  • Remembering Dad

    It’s 22 years today since Dad died unexpectedly, a month before his 66th birthday. He retired at 60 and spent his days helping farm mates, pig and deer hunting, and going fishing. He and Mum made 3 trips to Asia once he retired. He was a busy, and seemingly fit, man.

    He went fishing at Waverley Beach one Sunday morning and had a massive heart attack. The young man next to him did CPR but had to leave him to get help and, by the time he got back, Dad’s heart had stopped again. As bad as we all felt for the young man who had tried so hard, I’m pleased Dad did not survive. He’d have hated being a patient, being told what to do, being incapacitated. As Mum used to say “Mansel got it right, he just died ten years too early”.

    So today, and every day, I remember him with love. He was a hard working, patient man who gave huge bear hugs. I miss him.

    Dad teaching Catherine to ride motorbike
    Dad teaching me to ride his motorbike.
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    Mum and Dad’s wedding.
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    Able Seaman D M Barker
    Dad at Lions CLub
    Dad receiving a Lions Club award.
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    Taken after a swimming competition.
    Dad and Jenny
    Dad and granddaughter Jenny.
    Catherine & Dad
    Dad and I on holiday somewhere.
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    Mum always used to say I was whispering secrets to him. Corduray overalls, knitted cardigan and bare feet! This is one of my favorite photos and probably the most like how I remember him.
    Catherine & Dad feeding ducks, Wanganui
    Feeding ducks with me at Virginia Lake in Wanganui.
    Catherine, Mum & Dad and Marion Scott, Palmerston North 1967
    Me, Mum & Dad, and Marion Scott, Palmerston North 1967
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    Ailsa and Jim’s wedding. Mum, Ailsa, Jim, Dad, me in the front.