Cath Sheard Art

Tag: process

  • There’s freedom in collab

    Pen and I have been creating collaborative artwork for years now. We’ve had two exhibitions, shown collab work in multiple gallery exhibitions, sold pieces, taught classes together. We’ve built a huge amount of trust in each other as artists, and in the ability for our relationship to cope with real honesty and our authentic selves.

    Want to write giant black words over something the other did? Do it. Cut a piece into four and make them into a book? Why not! Pour neon pink ink all over something and let it drip. Go for it. We stopped asking permission years ago 😂

    There comes a point, after the pieces have been mailed back and forth between the North to South Islands numerous times, where we start asking if it’s finished. Does it need one more mark, a line, a gold dot? There’s a time when we just know. That time always comes when the pieces are high contrast, richly textured, multi layered.

    Are the collab works like the work we make individually? Yes, and no. There are elements that are absolutely our own. Penny is the queen of “feckn shiny things” and I can’t resist a good drip and some splatter. Penny’s all about rich blues, I love neon pink and orange. The hand of the artists show, but the works are uniquely ours, not mine and hers. It’s a very magical thing and I feel privileged to be creating with someone whose skills complement mine so well.

    The images below are tiny sections out of large works I’ve been adding to tonight. I spent maybe 90 minutes working and used collage, transparent embossing powder, acrylic paint & ink, a green star-filled sparkly paste and a highly textured opaque embossing powder.

  • More playing with florals

    I’m still on a florals kick – exploring materials, styles, mark making, scale… Just playing with ideas to see what sticks.

  • Experimenting with florals

    Months ago I started two 8×8 wooden panels. I’d created multi layer backgrounds, in two or three sections. They were nice, but what next? They sat, and sat…

    I’ve been watching art videos as part of my Christmas break. There’s maybe 20 artists I subscribe to, and it’s been a chance to binge watch their play lists. I was watching Gaynor Pattle create vibrant, over the top florals, and had an aha moment. What if I created florals over the top? Very different to my normal semi-abstract landscapes, but maybe a significant change is what I need.

    Wow, did I have fun! They are fairly abstract, incredibly bright and far from my usual more minimalist approach. I love them, and loved the process – I don’t have a good photo of the finished pieces yet, but will take one in the daylight.

    Last night I started two more 8×8 wooden panels. Tonight I grabbed two huge sheets of Art Spectrum Colorfix paper out of my stash and started another work. What’s shown below is just the starting layer. I don’t know how long this idea will hold me, but I have a feeling it might be a while!

    This is the part of the original background on one of the panels.
    Starting to make some marks, and adding collage.
    Beginning to take shape.
    Almost complete.
    Almost complete too.
    Starting a 3rd 8×8 wooden panel.
    Starting a 4th 8×8 wooden panel.
    Initial layers on a large sheet of Colorfix.

  • A proving ground

    My journals are a safe place to play but also somewhere for ideas to prove themselves or die… Sometimes an idea isn’t sustainable for practical reasons, perhaps because of the materials or energy required.

    Other times I start to play with an idea and, 2 or 3 iterations along, I’m getting bored with it. If an idea is going to become a series, even a small one, it’s needs to hold my attention for a sustained period of time.

    There’s been a couple of things recently I’ve tried and dropped for the above reasons. So I’ve gone back a bit to go forward – relooking at ideas that have captivated me in the past, and putting a fresh twist on them.

    I’m playing with ridge lines, mountains and the landscape generally. Because it’s a familiar subject I’m able to play around with my materials more. These early trial works incorporate gelli prints, acrylic paint, acrylic ink, water soluble pencils, Kuretake watercolours and Ranger Distress Foundry Wax.

  • Progress, and planning

    I’m making slow progress with filling my journal before I commit to paper. I think the journal is a bit small, so the mark making is too fussy to make my happy. I’m determined to keep at it though. My scanner won’t pick up anything vageuly fluro, so I’m finding I can’t scan a lot of the pages to share.

    Pen Kirk and I are planning a day of “working big” at Left Bank Art Gallery is Greymouth – I’m heading down that way in a couple of weeks. We’re going to work on stretched canvas, paper, cardboard and work in rounds, so we spend a set amount of time on something then move on, working into each other’s work. We’re limiting our colours to black, white, buff, turquoise, deep blue, Indian yellow, fluro pink and silver but can use any medium, so we’ll have paint, acylic ink, pastels and collage. It’ll be fun to work together – there’s real magic in letting go and just trusting each other.