Cath Sheard Art

Tag: music

  • Saying goodbye

    Yesterday we held a small, private service for Tony, attended by family, close friends, some of his ex-colleagues and my work family. It was recorded so people who couldn’t attend are able to watch online.

    His daughter Yasmine, son Ben, brother Roger and I were comforted by the memories shared, and love in the room.

    Music was important to Tony – when he was struggling with pain I’d put his headphones on and he’d fall asleep to the music. In the final days when nothing seemed to get him comfortable, and he was too generally sore to wear headphones, I put the radio on and he settled a bit.

    Tony had chosen two songs – Beautiful trauma by Pink and The Ghosts that haunt me by The Crash Test Dummies. I added a third, Guide me home, sung by Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballe from the Barcelona album which he loved.

    I want to finish this with some of the lyrics from two of those songs, but before I do there’s one last thought I want to share. While we were planning the service Kelly, from Hardings Funerals, said to people don’t understand until it happens that, in the moment the coffin closes or they leave the service, their loved one becomes an ancestor.

    And so it is with me. After 33 years, in an instant, Tony became my late husband and, to use Kelly’s words, that’s a pivotal moment. Rest in peace Tony – in the words of the poem I read, you continue to be my star, my dear.

    From ‘The ghosts that haunt me’

    There will come a time I fear when all my days are done
    And they will come collect my corpse and bury me
    And then I hope you’ll come over to the Other Side
    To join me in our new life, keep me company

    From ‘Guide me home’

    Now the wind has lost my sail
    Now the scent has left my trail
    Who will find me, take care and side with me
    Guide me back safely to my home
    Where I belong, once more

    Where is my star in heaven’s bough
    Where is my strength, I need it now
    Who can save me, lead me to my destiny
    Guide me back safely to my home
    Where I belong, once more

    Who will find me, take care and side with me
    Guide me back safely to my home
    Where I belong, once more

    How can I go on?
    How can I go on this way

  • Colour my world

    Today’s journal page is in my Dina Wakley mixed media journal; there’s only a few pages left it in, and I can’t get a new one till lockdown finishes. This was done on a canvas page that I put a good coat of gesso on, then scraped on paints, and layered on mark making with my fav Tim Holtz stencils. I used a Dyan Reaveley mask for the person, then wrote round the edges with a Uniball white gel pen. The page was inspired by Niamh Baly, who I follow on YouTube.

    colour my world 20200418

     

     

     

  • Good girls go to heaven

    A bit of Meatloaf for a change from my usual P!nk, HIM etc. This is more the music of my teens, and I still love it today.

    Dylusions – large journal. Sprays: Dirty Martini, Vibrant turquoise, Calypso Teal, After Midnight & White Linen. Paints: Fresh lime & Calypso teal. Stencils: Circles, Spring flowers, Teardrops & Diamond in the rough. Stamps: Dy’s alphabet.
    Other: Distress collage medium, Archival Ink, Distress Ink, Pitt big brush pen – walnut, white gel pen, Tombow marker – pink.

    bad girls 20191117.jpg

  • P!nk on my mind

    On the way to and from work I listen to music on the car stereo, from my iPhone – isn’t technology wonderful! A lot of the time I listen to P!nk, closely followed by HIM, Def Leppard and Guns ‘n Roses. Sometimes I choose the song because of the beat, or the message in the lyrics, or a bit of both. Looking back at previous pages reminds me of music I love, and of where my head was at when I did the layout.

    Dylusions – Small journal. Paint: Rose quartz, Vanilla custard, Slate grey. Stencils: Diamonds in the rough, Love hearts, fronds of foliage. Stamps: Dy’s alphabet.
    Other: Archival ink, Distress collage medium, Distress oxide ink, white gel pen, Pitt big brush pen.

    20191014 beat.jpg

  • The sacrament – and my process

    I was away last weekend and didn’t work in my art journals, but did get plenty of art time to work on more Hokitika Gorge paintings. But I miss the freedom that comes with an art journal, where the process matters more than the outcome. I’m not sure I’ve ever documented my process for a layout like this, so will try to capture it.

     
    Before I do though, this is another song by HIM, with Ville Valo singing. HIM disbanded a while back and Ville has moved on, but I still love their music. The lyrics, often quite dark, really speak to me. Villa reads a lot, including poetry and classics, and his writing frequently includes references to religion and Edgar Allan Poe’s works.

     
    This layout was done in my small Dylusions journal, which means there’s no need to gesso the pages as they’re really strong and colours generally don’t bleed through.

     
    Using ink blender foams I put down Dylusions paints in Polished jade, Lemon Zest and Vibrant turquoise. Using the same colours and the ink blenders, I stencilled using Dylusions Teardrops, Squares and Diamond in the Rough – I use each colour, and each stencil, in all three sections.

     
    Once that was dry I used Distress Collage Medium to glue down the magazine cut-out, leaving a medium strip of gel medium around it. Next, I blend a shadow in once the gel is dry, using a walnut Pitt Big Brush Pen to outline the collage. The slickness of the gel means you can blend out the pen, which is India Ink, if you work quickly.

     
    I write out my words – often song lyrics or my thoughts – and print double spaced. I insert a line at the top of the Word doc so I know how wide each line can be and adjust my font size to fit; for the small journal 10.5cm works well for me. I roughly cut out each line and use a foam blender and Black soot Distress Ink to ink the edges to take away the harshness of the white paper.

     
    I put them aside and use Archival ink in black to stamp the title with Dylusions Dy’s alphabet stamp set and Stamper’s Anonymous Tim Holtz Tall Text stamps. While the lettering is drying I use Tombow glue to adhere the text strips; I’m not too fussy about lining them up, spacing etc. Once they’re down and the stamping ink is dry, I use a broad tip white Signo pigment ink pen to add highlights to the stamped letters.

    sacrament 20190914