Cath Sheard Art

Tag: painting

  • In pursuit of

    There are forms and marks I come back to over and over. Sometimes a new mark appears; often I don’t know what the shape or mark represents. I might have to play with it for months before I have an “aha!” moment.

    A cave-like shape is one that has been appearing in my art for years. It varies in form, from an actual cave, to a series of overlapping lines … but the general idea remains.

    It took me years to realise it refers to the old ‘cave beach’ island at Waverley Beach. When I was a kid we used to spend summer there in a caravan, and later on Mum & Dad bought a beach bach. Dad would come down after work, and weekends – we’d fish off the sea side of the island.

    Dad’s good friend Ian had seven children. They would visit and, as we all got older, often stay. We used to climb onto the island and dive off the far left side into the waves, then climb back up the slippery papa rock (soft mudstone) to dive again. The more we dived, the wetter the slope got, and it became increasingly slippery. Looking back, it wasn’t the safest thing ever!

    I’ve been playing on some cheap postcard sized watercolour paper, just letting my hands work without thinking of the outcome. The photos below are quick night photos on my phone, but show what I did in one evening, and the theme is clear!

    This was taken in the early 2000s. The island doesn’t exist in this form any more, but shows what is was like when I was young.

  • Being true to yourself

    I have entered the Awagami International Miniature Print Exhibition in Japan. Prints have to be on A4 washi paper. I made a few prints on copier paper to get used to the size, then swapped to washi. I loved the first prints but keep going for another two or three weeks because “it needs to be my best print”.

    I ended up with around 35 prints, and 25 of those were worth considering. I laid them out on the floor and quickly got down to 10, then 6. I showed them on Facebook and Bluesky, and people told me their top pick.

    So did I package up the one that got the most votes? No, far from it. I need to send the worth that speaks to me, and that represents my art, and that’s the only criteria that matters aside from the regulations. The piece I chose was one of the very first I did. I should have know that fiddling around would not be helpful!

  • Being in flow

    Creating can be a struggle. Marks look wrong, paint colours don’t sit right, shapes feel awkward – the whole thing feels forced. Ugh!

    Then there’s magic days when my hands, brain & soul are connected, and works come together easily. The more time I spend creating, the more likely I am to be in flow where I intuitively know the next step.

    Is there a down side to being in flow? Not really, except I run out of room, have glue all over my hands and deep blue paint on my pale pink sweatshirt because I forgot to put on my apron!

    Occasionally a non-artist will comment painting must be easy if you finish a piece so quickly. The time spent on an individual piece is a small part of the act of creating. I completed a 4-year Advanced Diploma of Art & Creativity (Honours) in 2008 and have spent countless hours creating since then. I watch art videos, study art books, work on colour mixing, practice my skills. All of that is part of the process of creating every single piece.

    Starting a small mixed media series using paint and hand painted collage papers
    15cm mixed media using paint. & collage
    Working large as the start of a commission piece.

  • When it’s a struggle

    Sometimes I sit down at my desk and the art flows – the skies look stormy, the hills have the right amount of light, and the finished pieces feel cohesive. Tonight wasn’t one of those nights!

    I masked the edges on half a dozen small pieces of heavy watercolour paper, grabbed watercolour paints & water soluble pencils, and my favourite brushes. And then … nothing. The marks didn’t feel right, the paint didn’t act like I wanted, the colours felt muddy. None of the pieces gave me any joy, so I stepped away.

    Why does that happen? Sometimes it’s because I haven’t warmed up in some way, maybe with a few minutes in an art journal, so my actions are awkward. Other times I’ve got a definite outcome in mind and it’s stopping me working in my natural way. Occasionally it’s because I’ve been watching a lot of one artist on YouTube and, without meaning to, I’m trying to make their art, not my art.

    Will these pieces go to waste? Heck no! I’ll work over the top of them, adding crayon and acrylic, and possible collage, because a base layer I don’t like is an invitation to play.

  • Art heals

    I have often said art heals. It’s good for me to create – it soothes my soul. Working regularly in my art journal lets me say in words, images and gestures all the things I can’t put into spoken words. I believe the act of creating is good for all of us, whether we’re creating art, making music, baking, gardening … there’s an outlet for anyone who will listen to their inner voice.

    What I don’t often talk about is that art can also heal the viewer. Whether that’s the power of seeing art in a museum, having a piece of art that commemorates or celebrates something personal, or realising through a piece of art that you’re not alone.

    Recently I sold three small works to a woman on the East Coast of New Zealand. They live in an area that was devastated in Cyclone Gabrielle. She commissioned me to make a bigger work referencing the hills they see daily, and the apple orchards in the area.

    I’m not big on commissions so, instead, I created three works that fitted her general request. If one suited her needs, great! If not, I’d just sell them. That way, I don’t feel restricted to making work in a way that doesn’t fit with how I create. It’s a tactic I’ve used successfully before.

    I showed her three pieces, and she asked me to make a small adjustment to one. Once I’d done that, she bought the work and I shipped it off. I got a message a couple of weeks ago that it was off to the framer. Tonight I got the Bluesky message shown below. Reading it made my eyes well up, and my heart feel full. My art helped her heal and that’s a magic thing to be part of.