Cathy Sheeter Essay

For my report I decided on Cathy Sheeter. Cathy was born in Eastern Oregon in 1979. She is well known for her Scratchboard and Photography. Cathy was born in a small town like Hale where they are well known for their Agriculture. Her love for the natural world convinced her and her family to get multiple animals throughout her childhood. Animals and the western lifestyle are her central components of her life and the focus of much of her art. Through the years her family encouraged her. She took lots of art classes throughout her high school career and in one of her art classes that's where she met Scratchboard. Cathy didn’t go to college for art she went for her degree in animal science and on the side while going to college she would do her artwork. Cathy grew up in the rural part of Eastern Oregon.While working on her art she was involved with 4-H in which I can relate to her because I am heavily involved with my community and learning multiple leadership skills. Cathy says that her main influences is her animal and by looking at other artist's work.

The working surface is a three layered medium made up of masonite panel as a support.The support is covered with smooth white clay followed by a thin layer of ink, leaving a solid black panel. The artist can uses various tools to scratch through the black ink and reveal the white clay below. Every line, and dot is created by hand all with lines and dots are based on how many lines are scratched in an area or how much of the white clay that your eye sees. Inks can be added to the white areas of the work if desired or the board can be left black and white.Scratchboard can take hundreds of hours to be completed because of the many layers of tiny scratches that cover the