Author: nathalie-kalbach | Page 127

Art Stroll: Kunsthalle Hamburg Part 2

Last month while going to Germany to teach a workshop I spent a day at the Hamburger Kunsthalle. I loved revisiting the Permanent Collection and see some of my favorites again :)

Max Ernst, Menschliche Figur (Human Figure) 1930 – oil on canvas

I love this painting the shapes the shadows and that you can see the human figure – it is funny and I often smile when I see Max Ernst work.

Max Ernst, Grätenblumen (fishbone flowers) – 1928 – oil on canvas

This is one of my favorite paintings ….like Ever :) Because I remember how excited I was the first time I saw it – the dimensions, the structure, the visual and actual texture and how I couldn’t wait to go home and replicate the look. It was early on in my adventures as a self taught artist and to this day I feel this painting is like a old friend sparking something in me. Yes …I never said I am not a weirdo – hahaha

Paul Klee, Der Goldfisch (The Goldfish), 1925 – Oil and watercolor on paper on cardboard

Another painting that excited me early on – the sgraffito the colors …when I walked into the gallery I almost yelled out “hey fishy” ..but then …the reserved Hamburgers are a bit more suspicious of people bursting out when maybe New Yorkers are – LOL

Paul Klee, Felsige Küste (Rocky Coast) – 1931 – oil on plywood

Love the usage of plywood and the little rectangles – actually it makes me want to do something with the same small pattern but different colors coming together to form a landscape …

btw – the glimpse out of the galleries into the main hall always is a treat :)

Hans Arp, Augen-Nase-Schnurrbart (Eyes, Nose and Moustache) after 1928 – oil on cardboard- artist’s frame

I love the cut shapes and the colors – and reading the title makes me laugh – another outburst tehehehe

Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Wehende Formen (Floating Forms) 1935 – Oil on canvas – artist’s canvas

Oskar Schlemmer, Treppenszene (Stairway scene) 1932 – Oil on fabric on plywood – artist’s frame

This painting makes me want to see the Bauhaus Stairway Painting of his from the same year hanging at MoMA in NYC together with this. Apparently- and I didn’t know this before writing this post – there is some controversy as to how the painting got to be at MoMA.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner – Das Paar vor den Menschen (Two Against The World), 1924 – oil on canvas

I am always fascinated by Kirchner’s paintings- they glow , they are radiant and encapsulate you when you stand in front of them it is a physical experience.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner – Das Wohnzimmer (The Living Room) – 1923 – Oil on canvas, artist’s frame

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Gut Staberhof (Staberhof Countryseat), 1913 oil on canvas

Love this so much the colors, the shapes …swoon

Emil Nolde, Das Meer VI (The Sea VI), 1915 – oil on canvas

Emil Nolde, Schlepper auf der Elbe (Tugboat on the Elbe) – 1910 – oil on canvas

Max Pechstein, Am Seeufer (On the Banks fo the Lake), 1910

All those paintings make me want to use crazy acidic colors …maybe my love for those colors comes from those artists which I remember being fascinated by in art lessons in school.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Maler und Modell (Painter and Model) – 1910- oil on canvas

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Das blaue Haus (The Blue House) . 1907 – Oil on canvas – artist’s frame

A gorgeous vibrant painting – with such a beautiful frame. The photo really doesn’t do this beautifully textured impasto painting justice but nonetheless I wanted to show it.

Lyonel Feininger, alte Lokomotive (Old American Locomotive), 1910-1924 – oil on canvas

Loving those figures and the background!

If you think I went home after this …Nope – I couldn’t say bye to Kunsthalle (probably the reason why after 5 years living in the U.S. I am still a member there- LOL.

Another part of this Art Stroll is coming soon- I hope you enjoyed this one.

Nat

Comments (2)

Sue Clarke

October 22, 2018 at 5:04 pm | #

I just love Rocky Coast and would be happy to hang it in my living room if the museum no longer has room for it.

Reply
- nathalie-kalbach
  
  October 25, 2018 at 10:42 am | #
  
  LOL- me too! Actually I will take any of those if they have no longer room for them hahahaha
  
  Reply

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All That Glitters is Not Gold – Art Journal

Art Journal Stencil Stencil Girl Products Stencils

Something to remember ! :)

Painted the background with white and gold gesso and stenciled on top

in red using my Park Blvd Stencil. In order to make the design pop more I layered the stencil back on top after the paint dried and traced the pattern inside the openings.

Love the red and gold although I am not really big fan of gold – like say with jewelry etc.

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

Nat

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Workshop Photos of Transfer, Trace, Transform

in Nat's Studio In-Person Workshops

Last Saturday I hosted my workshop Transfer, Trace, Transform at home and I loved having a wonderful intimate group of 6 talented Ladies coming from Maryland, Connecticut and New York.

The dining room area was transformed into a workshop area

It was so wonderful seeing how the workshop techniques came to alive

And slowly a creative mess was made :)

It is really super fun to teach a small group

Loved seeing all the transfer techniques in their art journals

We covered quite bit of techniques

and here are some more pages

and pattern fun !

Nothing better than a colorful Saturday

There was a lot of swooning over James Dean …I mean …of course

and after a pizza break and the tiniest cupcakes you have every eaten

things got pretty elaborate

So much fun! Cannot wait for the next workshop at home!

Probably coming up in Spring or Summer . I am taking a bit of a break next year from traveling and teaching in person to take care of some “projects” :) but I am teaching right now a fun BYO – Built Your Own Art Journal– online and more online workshops are to come to come.

Nat

Comments (10)

Joanne Howard

October 20, 2018 at 11:15 am | #

I spy Janene and Kate! You must have had a fun day! Would love to come up sometime as well! Looking forward to next year! We are so lucky to have some talented folks within driving distance!

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- nathalie-kalbach
  
  October 25, 2018 at 10:34 am | #
  
  Would love to have you Joanne :)
  
  Reply
Sue Clarke

October 19, 2018 at 3:05 pm | #

Loved seeing what folks created with these new techniques!
How fun to be a part of a workshop at your house Nat.
Did the cat and kitten get involved?

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- nathalie-kalbach
  
  October 25, 2018 at 10:35 am | #
  
  Niles came down for a bit- he is a social cat- Bobby Pretzel is funny enough a bit shy of people and was kind of hiding on the staircase but was spied once in a while :)
  
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Linda Wyatt

October 19, 2018 at 10:48 am | #

Next time I’m coming even if my sore shoulder says no??

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- nathalie-kalbach
  
  October 25, 2018 at 10:37 am | #
  
  Would so love to see you! Some of the Transfer techniques are a bit hard on the shoulder though – but next time we do somethign else :)
  
  Reply
Janene

October 19, 2018 at 9:48 am | #

I had a FABULOUS time spending the day with you and my fellow art journalers! I learned so many fun transfer techniques. Count me “IN” the next time you offer a class in your studio. Thanks for the wonderful experience!

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- nathalie-kalbach
  
  October 25, 2018 at 10:37 am | #
  
  It was so wonderful to see you again Janene!!! Thank you so much for coming!!!
  
  Reply
Barbara Murphy

October 19, 2018 at 9:36 am | #

Thanks for posting the pics, Nat. Such a fun weekend, and great group of ladies. I can’t wait to come back again, as long as James Dean shows up. I plan to have lots of fun with your tracing technique, and I’ll probably see you in those on-line workshops. And, what a loveley hostess you are.

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- nathalie-kalbach
  
  October 25, 2018 at 10:38 am | #
  
  Thank you so much for coming Barbara!!! I had a wonderful time with you – and you are an awesome guest <3
  
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Hamburg Harbor – Painting

Hamburg Mixed Media

“Hamburg Harbor” was inspired by many bike rides around the harbor in Hamburg, Germany, my former home before moving to the US. This cityscape includes the addition of the huge ships that would come into the harbor – floating buildings that would add to an ever-changing skyline.

“Hamburg Harbor” measures 9″ x 12″ – acrylic paint, acrylic ink, and spray paint on canvas and is available for sale.

Nat

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Artist Quote of the Week – Jean- Michel Basquiat

Artist Quote Jean-Michel Basquiat

Nat

Comments (1)

Janene

October 17, 2018 at 9:25 am | #

I love Basquiat’s work. There’s a lot of passion and intensity in that painting.

There is something about the way spray paint behaves that is just so amazing. I keep going back to the lower left-hand side of this painting, where the white spray and black spray intersect. There are drips, thick spots, thin spots, round spots, wispy over-spray and the straight lines have rounded edges. Stencils can do similar things, but you can’t really recreate the exact effect with anything other than spray paint.

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Book Review: Paint , Play, Explore by Rae Missigman

Art Journal Book Review Mark Making Rae Missigman

My friend Rae Missigman sent me her new book Paint, Play, Explore – Expressive Mark-Making Techniques in Mixed Media and I couldn’t wait to dig into it.

I wasn’t disappointed – Rae’s love for mark making and finding all kinds of tools and ways to inspire you to make your own mark in your artwork is contagious.

I was inspired by her idea of creating marks on fabric and I couldn’t wait to get into my studio to do this myself.

I cute a piece of this beautiful fabric which I had hoarded for ever and used a brayer to add some color on top of it to reveal the pattern and texture of the fabric even more

Using a rigger brush I added some marks as lines playing

I used the same colors to paint a grungy background into my art journal.

Then I grabbed my Embroidery Stamp Set as well as a purple ink pad

and added some stamped marks to the art journal but also on top of the fabric

Then I grabbed some embroidery thread and a needle

and added some cross stitches and french knots as marks to the fabric

I cut out circles out of the fabric and added a blanket stitch around the big one and then glued them down onto the art journal

I love how they tie in with the design of the background but still create their own little focal point

I added journaling and some hand drawn marks with a pencil and white woody

And there it is the finished Art Journal page inspired by Rae’s book – full of marks

Paint, Play, Explore oozes of gorgeous colorful and energizing photos and Rae shows in four chapters her favorite mark making tools, what kind of marks, artwork and projects.It is a wonderful inspiring book – Rae definitely left a mark with her wonderful book – Paint, Play, Explore.

Go and get it to leave your mark in your artwork as well!

Nat

Comments (4)

Gill

October 16, 2018 at 5:21 pm | #

Hi Nat,
I just wanted to tell you how much I love your Star Fish stamp. It is my favourite background detail stamp.
Thank you. Gill

Reply
- nathalie-kalbach
  
  October 25, 2018 at 10:33 am | #
  
  Awe- thank you so much Gill – I love the Star Fish stamp too and it makes me happy that others love it too :)
  
  Reply
Rae Missigman

October 15, 2018 at 11:39 am | #

Oh Nat I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed the book. Thank you so much for the kind words. It makes my heart happy. Your work is always so inspiring and your spin on this technique is awesome. Thank you so much for sharing with all of us! Can’t wait to see what you create next. Xx Rae

Reply
- nathalie-kalbach
  
  October 25, 2018 at 10:34 am | #
  
  Thank you so much Rae- your book is so awesome!!! you are amazing- Loves!!!
  
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Tacheles – Mixed Media Painting

Berlin Mixed Media Painting Tacheles

“Tacheles” is a painting that is also in my book “Artful Adventures in Mixed Media” . I used acrylic paint, acrylic ink, spray paint, and marker on canvas. It was inspired by Kunsthaus Tacheles in Berlin, a former department store built in 1907, owned by different groups and parties during WWII and East Germany, and finally from 1990 to 2012, rescued from being demolished by artists and turned into a gallery. The artists were forced to move out and the building remains empty at this time, but the histories and stories of this old building live on. My painting asks many questions: Who lived here? What happened in those building? What stories do they tell us?

It is now available for sale here.

Nat

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ArtStroll: Kunsthalle Hamburg Part 1

Art Stroll Hamburg Kunsthalle

A couple weeks ago I was in Germany to teach workshops and I was lucky enough to spend a couple days in Hamburg, my old home.

I made an effort to spend a day at the Kunsthalle, which I used to visit regularly when I lived there.

Sigmar Polke – Häuserfront (Front of the Housing Block), 1967

I love Sigmar Polke’s early Raster dot works. He always questioned what he saw- in newspapers etc. and after vastly enlarging the image with a projector, exposing the individual halftone dots of the reproduction, the artist transferred each dot onto his paper by dipping the eraser of a pencil into paint. This always makes the image seem to move- things are in flux – are changing.