Cath Sheard Art

Tag: photos

  • More mapping, of a sort.

    I am still deeply fascinated by the way in which Aboriginal artists map the land. I have been going through some of my stash of photos, and there’s quite a few of them, looking at the land and what has taken my eye in the past. Is it mountains, the sea, grass, buildings – what? Turns out the sea and Mt Egmont feature pretty prominently.

    Then I got to thinking about what I like in others people’s work, and in my art journals. And what I like – and don’t like – about the mapping sketches I have done so far. I like simplicity, but I also like layers. Into Photoshop for a while, and I came up with 3 images that I like. This week I will be taking them onto paper for a play round to see if the ideas translate into the material world. You just never know until you try it. For the record, the images are a combination of  Waverley beach and the lillies we have growing outside Mum’s room so she can enjoy them.

    beach flower 1

    beach flower 4

    beach flower 3

  • Working on a project

    I’ve been working on a boxed book project that involves photos, collage, paint etc. I made a start at the weekend, sitting at my home-office desk instead of in my art room – due to the almost sub-zero temperatures we’ve been experiencing my outside art room is off limits. Here’s a peek at the underlayers on the box the book will be housed in. evidence 009

  • The moon in pastel

    1 moon
    For those who have visited my blog from time to time over the last three years or so, my moon obsession has no doubt become familiar. I am one of those people who suffer from “full-moon-itis”. You know what I mean. It’s full moon and you’re wide awake, making art at 3 in the morning, or drifting idly round the house longing for sleep.

    The moon is waxing gibbous,  74% of full tonight. I know this because I have a moon calendar so I can see, as well as feel, the moon’s phases. As I came home from work tonight the sky was clear blue, the 3/4 moon was up and there were parallel jet plane trails just underneath.

    I grabbed my camera…and the results make me want to get out my pastels next weekend and attack some full sheets of Colorfix. I’ve had a quick play with these in Photoshop, cropping and colouring. In any form, the moon fascinates me and when the colours are inverted – wow!

  • 2nd NZ Art Guild Challenge

    The second of the new series of NZ Art Guild challenges is due by 8am tomorrow morning. This time the work could be in any medium but had to include, in some way, the following: umbrella, orange, innocence, triangle. The orange background in my work is a painting I did while studying orange about 18 months ago. The baby is my grandson Rory. The umbrella is obvious I hope. The triangles? There are two triangle shaped groups of flowers and a lighter triangular patch of orange in the centre. The final piece is a mixed media digital work, 10x12cm, titled “sleep of the innocent“. sleep innocent flowers

  • Latest NZ Art Guild challenge

    I love the NZ Art Guild challenges and I really appreciate the time the guild puts into running them. Recently they have changed the way the challenges run, and this is the first one under the new guidelines. The quick version is; they provided a photo reference as a starting point and guild members are free to interpret it any way they choose.

    The original photo is of a huge city building, all glass, with amazing reflections. I was interested in how unwelcoming the main building appeared; the door seemed small compared with the building itself, and in the photo is almost out of view. It reminded me that, in much the same way, many of us protect our hearts…hence the doors, lock and single, incomplete, key.

    This is 23x30cm, mixed media. Digitally altered photo, collage, rubber stamping, ink.

    where is the key

    One of the reasons I tackled the challenge this way, instead of painting the building, is that I wanted to “make it my own”. Over at the Crusades, Michelle has been blogging about making our art our own. Michelle talks about taking something and adding your own twist – making the artist’s hand visible. I hope that is what I have achieved with this piece. Thanks, as always, for the challenge and the inspiration Michelle.