So excited about my new Fall Classes at Pratt School of Continuing and Professional Studies. With each new catalogue the Mixed Media section is growing and I love that it gets such a wonderful school for Mixed Media! Registration is open now! Here are my class details for the fall:
Art Journaling 101 – Sunday, September 27, 2015
Mixed Media Collage – Sunday, October 18, 2015
Mixed Media Printmaking – Sunday, December 13, 2015
I hope I will see you there!!! It is going to be loads of fun!
I started a new urban painting and wanted to change things up in how I start my paintings . So instead of the normal procedure I forced myself to do it a bit differently.
I was inspired by some sgraffito in paintings by Paul Klee and Jean Dubuffets – which I have just shown in my Post here. Here is how my painting looked for a couple days when I was undecided if I should leave it like this or not. I actually really liked it.
I love taking photos of my work in progress to see in hindsight what I did and sometimes also …where I should have not taken the next step. As in this. Now that I look back …I almost ;) wish I would have just stopped. But I didn’t …a weird “this cannot be it” – feeling kicked in …and so I continued. And I went a bit overboard with it … kind of like when you hand me a jar of Ben and Jerry’s “Chunky Monkey” Ice Cream …nothings gonna stop me there either ;) although I know pretty much after two scoops that should be it.
Pretty soon I realized that it is not going into the right direction, but then I just wanted to see how far I could push it and I painted a lot with palette knifes -which I usually only use for texture. That was cool. And then I also got totally addicted to sketching with a mixture of Soft Body Paint and Ink (Titanium White and Carbon Black) filled into a Fineline bottle. I know now exactly the consistency of the mixture of those two paint media I need to make it work. I just loved the way the lines came out and the erased dimensional look.
Do I regret going further although I am not loving the outcome? Nope …absolutely not. I learned a lot by doing this and I found some new things I definitely want to incorporate more into new paintings. I also learned that less is sometimes more and not boring …although overall more is more for me… I might just sulk and eat some Chunky Monkey now ;)
I think it is important to do things in our creative process that we are not loving in order to stretch ourselves and learn . I really enjoyed the process and keeping track of this, so the time was not wasted. And you know what …I can always make a new painting … maybe I even just gesso over this one …the texture underneath will probably already define the city skyline …what do you think? Now that makes me excited about this again … LOL – maybe it will be the continuing City Spring Canvas Saga.
Are you a less is more or more is more person?
Thank you Cheryl for your sweet words!
Wow! I like both. In the original the colors are soft and light. I struggle trying to keep in pastel colors. To me, your completed one is more dynamic and powerful. I just can’t choose. Thumbs Up!
yeah- the pastel was my problem too – it is just not me – mmmh mhhh – LOL
Good morning Nat. I like the first one – the more pastel one BUT… here’s the thing… if I went in a gallery looking for your paintings – I would never have picked the first one as YOURS. Sooooooooo…. my fav is the second one. PLEASE don’t gesso over it!!! It’s really Wonderful. Totally love the brown building especially the staircase and the sign on top. To me… it just is so you and also – to me – it’s a work of art. The first one is lovely – and it could be a new side of you – but the second one is FABULOUS… I love it. j.
Thank you for your feedback Joi! I agree- the first one was just not feeling me – but I liked it :)
Nat, I like the soft look of your new urban painting. I also like your previous urban paintings.
Thank you Deborah! it is good to see you!!!
sorry, i like it…b
Thank you Bea :)
I got some questions if I am alright as I have been neglecting my blog a bit – Nahhhh, no worries my friends – I am well off. I am just scrambling right now with time! The last couple weeks I have been doing a lot in NYC and there was just not enough hours in the day to get everything and blogging done :) I’m just keeping it 100!
I spent some time at Pratt Institute to prepare things for my workshop and took dorky pictures at The InkPad later ….but hey …I think my high school art teacher would faint if she could see this – LOL
I had amazing students and I loved the room I am teaching in too …and btw …I got a locker for my supplies – YEAH- hahahaha- I know, crazy Europeans …get excited over lockers ;)
The other reason I spent loads of time in NYC …particularly at MoMA, was that I took a four week long class on Cubism there. Corey d’Augustine was the Instructor and as the classes I had taken with him in the past, this was awesome. I learned a lot.
Here is Corey in front of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon showing some early signs of cubism and the influence of African Masks.
One of the best things of the class was, that I could convince my friend Julie to join me …although she told me she “hates” cubism and if the class stinks she would “let me know” every single session. We are still good friends…so I think it wasn’t that bad for her- LOL
The most amazing thing about these classes is, that you are with about 5 people alone in the evening in the gallery – you can see paintings up close and without a crowd of people poking their cameras in front of you – love !!!
Even on the flatest Cubist Paintings the brush strokes and hand of the artist are evident …makes me always super happy to see this!
here a close up of Umberto Boccioni’s Dynamism of a Soccer Player. I definitely appreciated the return of color into Cubism – the super intellectual approach to Cubism is interesting and I appreciate it but it is not really my cup of tea
Picasso’s Three Muscians make me happy :)
and collage elements like in Kazimir Malevich’s Reservist of the First Devision.
While walking around I also took notice of those non-cubist paintings – which totally inspired me at home to take a different approach to a new urban painting- I will share later :)
Paul Klee’s Pastorale (Rhythms) – the sgraffito …LOOOOOOOVEEEE
Jean Dubuffet’s Building Facades – OMG – I wanted to touch it …so so cool – I didn’t …believe me…I would not want to be excluded coming back to MoMA- LOL- it is my second home ;)
but seriously …look at that!!!
And then some wonderful friends from back “home” came to visit
And it was wonderful to spent time with them and speak Denglish …that is what happens when you have English in your head and try to speak German ….the first three sentences are a weird mix – LOL. Miss my friends already.
We went to ….MoMA – yep – I spare you with more MoMA pictures and walked from there to the Rockefeller Center and well…then just up ;) Nice view… I like that you can see Jersey City on the right corner :)
After a stop for Korean BBQ in Korea town we passed the Flat Iron building and walked down to the Highline. It is fun to play tourist in NYC especially when the weather is so nice!
I just love the Highline- yes it is crowded but the views and the different perspective of the city is just awesome.
I loved this sculpture called “physical graffiti” by Damian Ortega which looked so cool against the wall.
And this is the last picture …which is a pretty good one for a last picture of a post :)
Hope you had fun seeing what I was up to in the last weeks in the city …now …of for some studio time ! Have a gorgeous day you all!
Always always enjoy a glimpse at your world Nat. This was wonderful. The gallery and paintings were so interesting. Thanks bunches and bunches for sharing. j
Thank you Joi- glad you enjoyed the photos! If I cannot take you guys with me into the gallery, then it has to be this way, right? :)
I’m guessing that the Flat Iron building is the one on the corner that is kind of a triangle? I LOVE to take pics of those types when I am in Boston.
Thanks for the photos and no worries on not posting…figured you were crazy busy being successful.
Sue, yes that one is the Flat Iron Building. We have a tiny one here in Jersey City too – maybe every city in America has one :)
Living in the jungle in a remote part of an island most of my life, I have not gotten to see many museums so I cannot tell u how much I enjoyed this post, all of the cool city pics! Tx for sharing and inspiring, I cannot stop staring at the kazimir collage, I am in Loooove! Aloha, angi in hana
The Three Musicians is one of my favorites.As I grew up in the NYC area, I so miss MOMA as I live in Michigan but do enjoy the DIA here.
Oh I would love to visit the DIA some time -sounds like a treat too :)
What a wonderful tour of such wonderful experiences. Looks like you have been having the best time!
thanks seth! As you know NYC is always worth a visit ;)
Lately I am addicted to Raw Canvas Staining and painting. Something about this raw material just draws me in.
You might have noticed – I am not the only one :) You can spot the trend of paint stained material on a lot of clothes and home decor items this season. And some of this- you can just make yourself and have an individuell look – here I made my own pillow cases which fit exactly to our living room style and color wise!
I love the texture and layers you can archive through layering acrylic inks, soft body acrylic paints and markers and I love the versatility of what you can do with the stained raw canvas later on. You can stretch the canvas yourself on stretcher bars and hang it up, you can sew something, you can work on raw canvas totes, purses, aprons, you can use the stained canvas for your art journal covers, as elements in your mixed media collage, patches …you name it …endless possibilities.
I taught my Raw Canvas Class in March in Toronto and we had heaps of fun – exploring different techniques and possibilities and then having each of the student create a pillow case so that they had something to bring home as a finished project.
I will teach this Raw Canvas Staining class again this month on May 16 at The InkPad in NYC. The location is the Westbeth Community Center – so we have lots of space!
I will show you how to apply the medium and how to use it so that it works, I will bring Liquitex Acrylic Inks, Paints, and Markers and more for you to work with. We will play with patterns, mark making, stamping, mono printing and stenciling. I will bring lot’s of extra raw canvas for you to play with and if you want you can bring a pillow case or a canvas tote or bring muslin as a different fabric – to create a finished project at the end of the class and create something with the newly learned skills and knowledge. I promise I throw in some extra thick german accent and some jokes ;) and ….on a more serious note- loads of extra tips and tricks :)
You find more infos and details as well as the supply list and sign up info here at The InkPad. There are still a couple seats open.
I hope to see you there!
looks like a great class, wish I was closer!
New Painting inspired by the view from the Statue of Liberty towards Jersey City and Manhattan.
On the left there is Jersey City with the tallest building in New Jersey
on the right Manhattan …with the tallest building there…
It is funny, when I was the first time in NYC in 2000 I took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and on the way back I took a huge amount of photos of the skyline of both cities (of course back then the skyline looked a bit different) and I really fell in love with this view, but if you would have told me then, that one day I would live right there …I would have told you, you are insane- LOL
Here is a 15 second video of the canvas progressing
Progress of the Mixed Media Painting 2Tallest from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.
I think it is fun to see the different stages, what do you think?
The size is 18×24 inches – here are the supplies and media I used:
Wishing you a wonderful weekend – I am off to Oklahoma this weekend to teach workshops at My Heart’s Fancy – there are still a few spots for the friday and sunday class available – so maybe I see some of you there :) .
Fabulous painting – I really admire your ability to portray feelings when painting buildings!
Outstanding artist work.
Such a cool painting, Nat! Seeing the progression of layers in the video is really inspiring. Funny how life unfolds and finds you in unexpected places. :)
This is one of my favorites that I’ve ever seen of your work!! I love it.
great piece!
I’m so glad you made the video Nat. I can see the gorgeous background with the letters better. The letters make it soooo New York looking in my imagination. The colors are perfect. It is a beautiful piece. I so love seeing your work. And TOTALLY glad that you came to New Jersey to live and teach and create! :) I KNOW they will love your Oklahoma workshop. I was married in Ok – 43 years ago!!! Have a blessed weekend.XX j.
Love this painting Nathalie. You are really good. I enjoy the feelings I get when I look at all your paintings. to bad you are not close enough so I could view them close up amd in person. Maybe one day when do an exhibit I will be able to com. Keep up the fantastic work. As long as you are having fun I guess it is not work.
Very excited to have you come to OKC!!! See you tomorrow! :-)
Funny how we sometimes end up in a place that we never imagined.
After 12 years of being at home with my son I recently returned to work as a lunch lady since it suits my schedule. I never would have guessed that 15 years ago (I was a social worker in the mental health field).
Life is full of surprises!
It was so much fun to be back for the fourth time at Bizzy B’s in Toronto. I taught an Altered Book Class and as full day classes “Acrylics Demystified” and “Raw Canvas Staining” – it was messy colorful fun!
Thank you for an amazing weekend ! It was very inspirational to spend a whole weekend with those talented and wonderful students and my super hosts!
If you want to take an in-person class with me- I am teaching at My Heart’s Fancy in Oklahoma City on March 27-29 serval classes, and at The Ink Pad in New York City on May 16 I will teach the Raw Canvas Staining Class (mega fun!) . I hope you will join in!
Have a wonderful day!
Our precious grandchildren were here this week and we only see them once a year due to expense etc so I am behind leaving my comment this week! Having too much fun playing in a different way! Although two of them did do a journal page – woooo whoooo!!! BUT… just a note to tell you Nat that I just LOVED seeing all these pics from your workshops in Canada. WOW – it looks like everyone did some wonderful work and were having so much fun. Lots of smiling going on. You are so sweet to include so many pictures. I just looked and looked at them. So many different creations and colors and combinations. I know they all just loved having you there. Thank you so much for bringing it home to us! j.
Thank you Joi- I am glad you enjoyed the photos! How fun to do something creative with your grandchildren- such a precious time!
Looks like so much fun!! wish I were there!
thank you Peggy! maybe one day – you never know :)
This looks like it was soooo much fun, Nathalie! Thanks so much for sharing it with everyone!
Thank you :) It was loads of fun and we used loads of your stamps :)
This painting is inspired by the High Line in NYC.
I really love the whole idea of having an elevated park and my favorite about it is the different perspective it gives of NYC .
Probably every one of my visitors was “forced” to go there as it is a good excuse for me to walk there myself. I just love how different everything looks in any season , light and time.
I feel the High Line is a different way to connect with this buzzing city. I chose a very different color scheme than usual for the background of this painting
– Unbleached Titanium, Deep Magenta, Fluorescent Pink, Burnt Sienna and Hibiscus
As always for those of you interested- here are the supplies I used:
Have a gorgeous day
I have never been to New York and I don’t even want to admit it but I don’t know what the High Line is so I had to look it up – whew. Such a home body am I. I absolutely adore all the colors in this work. And guess what? I am not a pink person at all!! So…. that’s a real compliment from me!! Somehow the pink is perfect and it doesn’t even seem “pink” the way you mixed it all together and added the other bright colors to scene. As always you inspire me Nathalie. I’m off to try something pink – dear me… unbelievable!!! LOVE THIS. Xj.
YEahhh – Joi, I am not a pink person either :) How fun this inspires you to try it though – sometimes it is good if we just play with colors, right?
Fantastic! I love the High Line and this is a great interpretation. The colors are wonderful.
Thank you Joanne!
I so love this! The colors are fantastic! Still waiting for my new replacement paints from Jimmy and then I want to jump in and create something fun like this! (Hoping Jimmy didn’t forget about me! LOL!)
thanks Leadonna ! No – he did not forget about you – I sent you a the tracking number.
stunning Natalie it’s an Awesome Word of art❤️
thank you so much Francine!
I am super excited to teach two day classes at Pratt Institute CCPS in NYC on the Manhattan Campus in April.
Sunday April 19, 9.30 am – 4.30 pm
Sunday April 26, 1pm – 4 pm
Find the whole Spring catalogue for Pratt CCPS here
You can sign up at Pratt here
I hope some of you can and will join me – that would be awesome!
That’s awesome, Nat! What a great venue, and you can introduce art journaling to a whole new crowd. Go, girl!
Wow this is great. Congrats on these classes at Pratt. Super cool. Wish I was there!
Thank you Denise – oh that would be cool to have you there!
WHAT?? This. is . AWESOME!!! Congrats! Killing it in the big city girl! I wish I was there because I would SO sign up!
Thank you so much Michelle! Too bad you are not living in the City anymore!!
One of the greatest things is when your art making passion that you share with others, turns into friendships …over Continents and States. Two weeks ago my friend Birgit Koopsen came from The Netherlands not only to teach a workshop together with me but also for a week long visit.
And what better reason to get the Art House crew back together- and have Jenn Mason coming from Boston and Julie Fei-Fan Balzer from NYC. The four of us had a great time touristing in New Jersey and New York City just taking a time off from everything and have some good old girly fun. So here is some picture overload …
Birgit loved playing with her panorama mode. Sometimes it worked…
and sometimes it didn’t when she tried to get all four of us into the picture at the dinner table – LOL
Strolling around in Jersey City…can’t beat our view of the city :)
and our street art is also pretty cool. (mural by Fintan Magee)
Lot’s of evenings on our deck enjoying sunsets
The Brooklyn Bridge had to be stepped on
Dim Sum had to be eaten in Chinatown …lot’s of it…
And Bubble Tea had to be drunken …once….and never ever again as Birgit and I agreed on – LOL
We took the ferry to Ellis Island
and showed AMAZING photo skills taking photos of the FOUR of us WITH the Statue of Liberty
We waved at Lady Liberty and the long lines to get to her
By which time one of us had finally figured out how to shoot a photo of all five of us :)
We found Julie’s grandparents inscribed on Ellis Island
and had Jenn sing Country songs to the amusement of the two Europeans in the group.
I took Birgit to a walk through Liberty State Park while the two Americans made their way back to the City.
And joined the two the next day again where we decided at MoMA that art is often taken way to serious
I mean… WAY TO SERIOUS
And because Birgit and I were by then used to daily 14 miles walks…we walked the Highline…where she became part of a billboard
…and we walked
and had even my husband joining us walking…it was a whole Forest Gump Troop
And made sure to fulfill Birgit’s wish to find a Yankees Shirt. That is one triumphant face for Julie…who is a Red Sox Fan – hey Julie: Take that – we rubbed the Yankees Shirt onto your TV sofa…LOL
And got an amazing shot of the three of us and the Rockefeller Center
And looked from the Top of Rock over all the areas in Manhattan and Jersey City we had been walked through.
And that is the end of a fab inspiring and relaxing week with my girls …It was loads of fun and I miss Birgit a lot.
But I know we will see each other next year…for sure ;)
What did you do the last time you took some time off?
Have an amazing day!
Love all the photos and how cool that Julie found her grandparents on the plaque. I always enjoy the pics of street art that you find Nat. The last time I hung out with my girlfriends we took the dogs for a long walk on a beach and it was a blast. Followed by some delightful food of course.
That sounds wonderful Sue! Nothing more fun then playing with the dogs at the beach! I miss having a dog sometimes!
You lucky girls!!!
Looks like you girls had a wonderful time. I want to try some dim sum. It looks so yummy but you don’t like Boba Tea? What?! You have to try the Strawberry and Banana! Best Smoothie, ever! Thanks for the tour. I enjoy your pics so much :) Hugs, Laura
LOL Boba Tea – bah – LOL. You should have seen Birgit and my face :)
Love this. Everyone needs time off with their friends!
Great photos! Looks like you guys had a blast. New York is on my list of places to see. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Love it, love it, love it! Made me relive it all over again and laughing again too! Boy, did we laugh a lot!! :D Miss you too, but it will be next year before you know it!! <3 xxx
I really like it, for it looks quite professional. I loved all the colors you used, and it looks and feels like an inner city. I hope you will keep it, frame it, a d. E pleased with the results of pushing yourself. I would hang it in my home!
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