Blog: Art Journal

Our House – Art Journal Spread

Every once in a while when I see a house I would really love to live in I have this song by Crosby Still Nash and Young in my ear. My father used to listen to this song a lot and somehow cute houses and this song will always be connected. I saw this gorgeous house in San Francisco and took a photo of it.

I did a Transfer into my art journal and playing with the imperfection of the transfer stamped into the gaps with my Tread and Torn Layers cling Stamp as well as with my Manhattan Border Foam Stamp.

On the left side of the spread I used the Manhattan Stencil and removed some of the wet blue paint underneath the stencil with a baby wipe.

Here is a complete list of of the supplies I used -some links are affiliate links:



Have a gorgeous day

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Photos of the Color Crush Workshop OOAK in Syracuse, NY

WOW …what an amazing 3-day Workshop organized by OOAK and held by my sweet friend Birgit Koopsen and me.

Color Crush was the name of the workshop and 21 super sweet, sharing, caring and fun students joined us for this retreat!

Friends attended, Friends were made and

the first day was all about color theory and exercises to work with color and get it really down :)

It was a great date with color and pattern

and even if some of the exercises forced some of our wonderful students to get out of their comfort zone…the spirit was upbeat and color crushing.

Look at all these smiling happy faces.

The second day was all about …well Color of course but also Mono Printing. Because knowing your colors really helps getting the results you want.

We marbled …and…

we mono print painted just a little bit…since this is usually a full day class.

And created fun backgrounds. And for some …it was the very first time mono printing- YEAHHH.

We composed some beautiful collage material and made some cleaning tasks artful and enjoyable ;)

And late in the evening of day two, when all the students were gone to dinner …Birgit and I sneaked in to have a happy look at this colorful classroom. We might have been like little kids in the candy store seeing all the work.

On the third day we bound an art journal together out of all the single pages we worked on so far and started finishing up some of the pages

It was pretty cool to see the group combining Birgit’s and my techniques with their own style- so inspiring and stimulating!

Look at the well used ArtFoamies and StencilGirl Stencils!

And here is our group – minus two who had to leave earlier – with their favorite pages in their art journal!

Thank you so much for coming to Birgit’s and my Color Crush workshop. It was a real pleasure to spend so much time with you creative souls and get to know you better! You inspired me a lot and I couldn’t wait to get back into my studio, it was such an uplifting time. Thank you also to Shelley from OOAK and her awesome team for inviting us and organizing this great event! And last but not least a big hug to my friend Birgit – love co-teaching with you and looking forward to our new plans ;)

Hope you enjoyed the photos of this workshop! If you want to know where I teach next- check out my In-Person Class Schedule – in the next couple weeks.

Comments (10)

  • Linda Fernandes-Bailey

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    great three days of fun and learning and friendship and food….love all these photos! Thank you

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      It was so wonderful to have you Linda- and you rocked the class – you are my stitching queen ;) Thank you for coming!

      Reply

  • Mary Harrell

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    Thanks to you and Birgit for a fun and artsy weekend!!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you so much for coming Mary! It was such a pleasure to have you and spent time with you!

      Reply

  • Sherry Canino

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    Thank you so much for such a fun and creative weekend !! xoxo

    Reply

  • sunmoongal

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    Looks like so much fun! Love all the art

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      It was so much fun- you would have loved it a lot denise!!! Hope you are well!

      Reply

  • Birgit Koopsen

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    <3 <3 <3

    Reply

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Gritty City – Art Journal Spread

“Who would have thought I’d call you home you weird gritty little fun city across the Big Apple.”

This spread started out as a demo page in a workshop to show how to use two patterns of the Santa Fe Positive and Negative Foam Stamp set and it was very busy as you can imagine.

So I covered a middle put up with white gesso so that the pattern was still visible but in a very subtle way. I stamped a city scene with my Stroll Through The Hood 1 and Stroll Through the Hood 2 stamps onto the white gessoed areas.

Using fluid acrylics I colored the stamped images in. I dipped the Derwent Inktense Pencil into water for the journaling.

It is a bit crazy but fun. Here are the supplies I used for this spread – some links are affiliate links.


Wishing you a wonderful day!

Comments (2)

  • Joi@RR

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    To me… this is the epitome of YOU Nat. The city, the colors, the ambience, and the statue of libery… if I were to see this in an art gallery – I would know it was YOU. LOVE THIS. Xj.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Joi! Hope you have a wonderful start into the week! Happy Monday

      Reply

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Photos of the Workshops at The Ink Pad in NYC

Last weekend my friend Birgit Koopsen and I taught to classes at The Ink Pad in New York City and we in both classes a wonderful group of 16/17 students and a huge amount of fun. They were all so amazingly talented and it is a pleasure to spend time with.

Here are some pictures of the students and their artwork from the Mono Print Painting class we taught on Saturday:

It is always fun to see how different everyone interprets the techniques and samples.

so much color and happy figures and shapes:

And sometimes “mistakes” turned out into the most beautiful pieces …but Colette still gave me the “fun” eye ;)

On Sunday we taught our Artful Transfers class showing all kinds of different transfer techniques for your art journal.

From grungy transfers to almost perfect transfers there was something for everyone.

 

Here is a great background transfer page – such a wonderful start for a journaling page

Birgit in action

Aren’t those cool?

It was also great to see my RubberMoon stamps as wooden stamps have arrived at The Ink Pad – woooohooo.

Birgit and I had a wonderful time with all of you – and thank you Anna for having us at The Ink Pad . We hope we will see you all on- or off-line soon again.

Have a beautiful creative day!

Comments (2)

  • Sue Clarke

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    The photo (about 7 down from the top) keeps catching my eye…something about the browns and blues…I just love the combo!
    Looks like a fun and creative day. I really hope to make it to one of your workshops in the future Nat.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      I love that one too Sue! I hope to meet you some time Sue – I would really love to meet you in person! have a wonderful saturday!

      Reply

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All of Me Loves All of You – Art Journal

I guess I have spring feelings- LOL. I love this – “All of Me Loves All of You” .

This was a quick but fun spread using different acrylic spray paints over three different stencils.

I like how the stencil pattern of Santa Fe, Granada and Mesa Verde look so good together – I want a blanket with this :)

I added the journaling with a Fude pen and stamped with the Love Tag stamp into the heart.

To define the heart a bit more I traced it with some Artgraf Pigments -dry and wet.

I think I found a new color combination I like :)

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread- some links are affiliate links:

 


Comments (4)

  • Joi@RR

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    This page looks 3D. It seems to me like I am looking thru a screen and there are some lovely orange flowers and then the sky. The sky looks far away – 3D to me!!! Orange is my favorite color and that deep sky blue looks so yummy with it here. I REALLY am enjoying this journal creations Nat. Thanks bunches for your inspiration! Xj.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Joi ! I love what you see in the artjournal spread! Have a gorgeous day Joi!

      Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    I love my Fude pens and the color combo of rust and blue has been a fav of mine. I wouldn’t have thought to use the purple with it but I like it.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      sue, that is so true- it was a surprise for me too how much I liked the color combination. It is fun to sometimes try out new things – this is a good reminder for me :)

      Reply

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I see you … or SAWUBONA Art Journal

I see you …and I love you!

I recently learned that African Zulu has a greeting  “Sawubona” which means “I see you. It says, “I see your personality. I see your humanity. I see your dignity and respect.”

I feel strongly we need to learn to see and love people again and see their humanity even if they are different from us.

I played a bit with gold gesso and acrylic paint as well as with my Toledo Stencil.

I love how the teal paint looks on the gold – probably my favorite part of this spread :)

Guess I will have to do more of this combination – At first I didn’t care to much for the dark green and red with the gold in this spread but I can live with it…mhhh – I see it – and I love it ;)

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread – some links are affiliate links:



I wish you a gorgeous day!

Comments (4)

  • Sherri Scott

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    Nathalie, you have such a caring heart and spirit, no wonder you make such beautiful art

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Awe- Sherri, you are so sweet!!!! I hope I see you soon again!!! <3

      Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Love that greeting and how you used the gold Nat.

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you sue! have a wonderful rest of the week and stay warm – hope you didn’t get too much snow!!!

      Reply

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Art Journal Flip Through 3/2017

It’s been a while since I did an Art Journal Flip Through. I am keeping about 4-5 journals at the same time, sometimes I send one out to a publisher and then it takes a couple months before I get it back or I work in several at the same time – anyway- this one in the video started in late 2014 and I did the last page this March in 2017 and I think it is interesting to see how my style changed in one book.

Art Journal Flip Through 3/2017 from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

I am having a hard time with some of the pages in the beginning – thinking “oh boy” – which I guess is normal when you look at older work- LOL. But I also see some things thinking “oh, I should do this again” .

Hope you enjoyed this- have a gorgeous day!

Comments (6)

  • Joi@RR

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    Oh wow – I remember seeing some of those the first time!!! How fun was this??? FUN FUN FUN. Smiling Big. Thanks bunches for sharing Nat. Xj.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Joi , it is fun to look back at those older page! Thank you for watching :)

      Reply

  • JoAnn Campisi

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    Thank you for sharing – wonderful art journaling.

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  • Rachel Greig

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    So inspiring Natalie! Thanks for the flip through!! Loved seeing all of your pages together like that. :)

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you so much Rach ! hope all is well in Australia :)

      Reply

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On whom to marry – Art Journal

“Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do” J.D. Salinger.

Agreed :) and that is one of my favorite things about my marriage- my husband and I can laugh at the same silly things together which probably have other’s just roll their eyes.

I used the Versailles Stencil oversprayed with different acrylic spray paint colors on the top.

For the bottom part I used the Toledo Foam Stamp stamped with some acrylic paint. and then journaled on top.

I used a catalogue image and painted over it with acrylic paints and markers. The faces are a bit …ahem- scary- LOL- but hey…another thing I can laugh about and I am sure my hubs would too ;)

Here are some of the supplies I used in this spread- some links are affiliate links:

P.S.  I cannot believe my wonderful friend Birgit Koopsen from the Netherlands is coming already next Thursday and we cannot wait for our workshops at The InkPad  there are still a couple seats left – check it out when you are in the area and join us!!!!

You can also get a special deal by signing up for both classes ! what are you waiting for  – two Europeans at once :)

Wishing you a wonderful day filled with laughter :)

Comments (2)

  • Torsa Saha

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    Beautiful project for a snowy friday!! ❤❤

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you so much Torsa!Stay warm today and have a wonderful weekend!

      Reply

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I Hope Your Lips Are All Smiles Today – Art Journal

“What words are spoken between us in the unnamed language that sparks into existence at the precise moment our lips stop being lips and start being smiles?” Tyler Knott Gregson

I recently discovered Tyler Knott Gregson and his poem is just so beautiful I  had to use it in my art journal. Check him out – he has an instagram account where he posts daily his inspirational poems and his book

Wildly into the Dark: Typewriter Poems and the Rattlings of a Curious Mind is on pre-sale now and I cannot wait to hold it in my hands. 

The background was just a bit of play with color and the Santiago Foam Stamp- but I loved the background and I decided- this is it. You know…you can do that too right ? LOL- don’t forget you are the boss of your own Art Journal – so background – foreground – who cares. For the journaling I used a Striper Brush – basically a brush with super long hair – which you can use to create long lines. I used it with acrylic ink and practiced a bit to alternate the the pressure onto the brush while moving it, to create a variation in the thickness of the line. I like this –  it was a good exercise and I really like how the journaling in between came out :)

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread- some links are affiliate links:


I hope your lips are all smiles today :)

Comments (4)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nat, I like the words and sometimes simple is better. I try to laugh as much as possible and smiling usually comes natural to me when I look into another person’s face. Have a cheery day creating.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Awe- I love that Sue! Smiling people always make me happy :) Have a cheery day as well!

      Reply

  • Jean Goza

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    Nice layout. Especially like the yellow peeking through the blue. Thanks for sharing info on Tyler Knott Gregson. A beautiful quote. I will definitely look at more of his work.

    Happy day to you!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you Jean – yeah I think you will like his work – I also love how he writes and types on paper pieces he finds. Happy Day to you too <3

      Reply

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