Cath Sheard Art

Tag: Mum

  • Visiting time

    Oprah used  to talk about things she knew for sure. What I know for sure is that some years are easier than others, and few things stay the same forever. This is not turning out to be an easy year but, you know what, no one ever promised things would be easy…

    Tonight I visited Mum and she was having a good night. We chatted for about half an hour and she was quite connected. It was a nice visit. Some days I really don’t feel much like going up but I  know how important it is to keep our connection going.

    Is Mum the bright intellectual person she once was? No. Is she still my mother? Yes? In the end it’s family that matters.

  • Choosing art over (almost) everything else

    In November 2007 I posted about finding time for art. I am going to repeat that entry below, because it is something that is as relevent to me as ever. Perhaps more so, with social networking taking up more time than 2 or 3 years ago.  So tell me, do you make your art your #1 priority, after self and family? Or is art right at the back of the line? It’s a choice we can each make every day…  (I may put a couple of edits in – and will make sure it is clear they are changes form the original)

    Do you ever stop and think and what your responsibilities are? And how best to juggle your time so you get things done and still have “art time” or “me time”. It’s a topic I often come back to.
    I work full time as a librarian, study art by distance learning, publish a monthly community newspaper and Tony and I are Mum’s caregivers. Am I going to gripe about how busy I am? No way. I think that is one of the things we do wrong. People seem to play “I’m busier than you are” like it is some sort of game, and I think all it does it drain your energy. Accept you are busy and get on with it.
    So how do I get art time? Well, for starters…I employ a housekeeper for 3 hours a week, someone comes and does the lawns once a fortnight, and someone else tames the gardens from time to time. (we now have a dishwasher as well, and all the laundry goes in the clothes dryer. Hey, it’s only a power bill, right?)
    Due to serious health issues, the medical system provides a breakfast helper, lunchtime helper, and home delivered midday meal for Mum on weekdays. (We still have this level of support, for which I am grateful. I should also have said, my sister comes down once a month for the weekend, to visit Mum and help out. I love her to pieces.) That way I can go to work and not be worrying about whether she is okay, out of bed, had her breakfast and meds etc. Night time is my responsibility. Two days a week a rest home collects her for day care so she has some other company, and I pick her up on the way home from work. Weekends the care is up to Tony and I. So, we are getting a good level of help with Mum. Even though it can be really tiring, I am very grateful that we still have her with us; not everyone is so fortunate.
    So, what else? I forgo television. Yep, that’s right. Except for the news, and some art programs, while Mum and Tony watch it while I head for my art room. I try to do other jobs in batches, like paying bills etc, rather than fluffing round endlessly with that sort of task. I try and relax about the state of the place; whilst clean enough and tidy enough, this is no show home.
    In the end is comes down to – what would I rather do with this moment, these moments? This, that, or art. Unless my family wants or needs me, art wins most of the time. For me, it’s about knowing what my passion is and going for it heart and soul.
    What do you choose most days?

  • Gratitude

    Every Christmas I give small gifts to the people who keep our rather complicated household running; Teresa who cleans for us, Mum’s weekday caregivers Wai and Carolyn, the staff at the  rest home Mum visits 2 days a week and who deliver a midday meal the other 3 weekdays, our fabulous doctors clinic, and the Hawera Hospital A&E and Hawera Hospital Inpatient’s Ward Doctors and staff.

    Yes, I know they are all ‘only doing their jobs’ but without some of them Mum would have died years ago now, and we would not be able to care for her at home. We just couldn’t, so I am immensely grateful. I give a range of gifts – this year A&E and the inpatient ward are getting (slightly late) a handmade gift box each with fancy coffee bags, fruit tea, butter shortbread, cashew nuts and a few chocolate truffles. And a card that says “never underestimate the difference you make in our lives” because I think in the hustle of the day-to-day they must sometimes lose sight of just how powerful what they do really is.

  • Odd and ends in our house

    Well, Christmas is over, I have a few days holiday left, and it’s raining so, yes, I have been painting hard out. I should have some work to show you tomorrow as I have 3 40cm square canvas all but finished. Initially things weren’t going so well with them, but once I realised the problem was I had other people’s work in mind, not my own, the problem vanished! People worry about artists copying their work but I couldn’t if I tried. Seeing other might influence me, but once I pick up my mark making tools it is *me* that comes out on that canvas each and every time.

    Today I purchased Alyson Stanfield’s book The relatively pain-free artist statement – you can read about Alyson here.  Why? As I mentioned a while back, I have started on a new body of work; it’s quite different from what I have done before and I want to market it well. That means writing and talking about it, so I figured the advice of a professional was warranted. I’ll be working through the book starting tomorrow, and will let you know how it’s going.

    When I’m not painting I’ve been busy with Mum as the chest infection I gave her sprang back to life as soon as she finished the antibiotics. I think since she had pneumonia in the middle of the year she’s been a bit more susceptible. Here’s what our dog Faith had to say about it today:

    Today I have been relaxing on Grandma’s knee, on the mohair rug in 26 degree heat, cos Grandma’s been sick. Mum went to the hospital with her the other night and waited 4 hours – she was a bit cross when she got home. But not very cross, cos she says sometimes it has been Grandma that makes the doctors and nurses run late, so fair’s fair.
    Grandma has a chest infection, but the staff kept asking about the big bruise on her arm – and Grandma couldn’t remember how it happened. When we got home Mum and Grandma were laughing, saying that a this rate the Police will be round any day to accuse Mum of beating up Grandma.

  • Wonderful gift from Jeanette Jobson

    When Watermarks first started I visited all the contributing artists blogs, including Jeanette Jobson at Illustrated Life.  Watermarks is a small community of artists who make art from water. They all sketch, draw and/or paint water – the sea, the coastline, beaches, rivers, streams, waterfalls, fountains – in all contexts, styles, genres and media.

    Anyway, just by commenting on one of Jeanette’s post on her blog, I won a watercolour portrait done by her. How generous is that? Boy, was I excited!  With Mum’s 85th birthday coming up I decided it would be great to have Jeanette paint a portrait of Mum, so I emailed off some photos.

    Guess what turned up in the mail yesterday, all the way from Newfoundland? Not one, but two beautiful watercolour portraits of Mum. (my scans are not doing the work justice, sorry about that, can’t seem to fix) So now I am even more excited, because it means I can give one to Mum and one to my sister Ailsa.

    Jeanette is a generous and talented artist; I am thrilled to have some of her work way down here in New Zealand.

    Watercolour portrait of Pam Barker by Jeanette Jobson
    Watercolour portrait of Pam Barker by Jeanette Jobson
    Portrait of Mum by Jeanette Jobson
    Portrait of Mum by Jeanette Jobson