And the shark, it has teeth,
and it wears them in the face.
And Macheath, he has a knife, but the knife cannot be seen.
Then are some, who are in darkness
and others are in light.
And you see the ones in brightness.
those in darkness drop from sight.
– Bertholt Brecht –
I let my inner grunge out with this art journal page- loved it :)
Have a wonderful day
hugs
Nat
What screws us up most in life…it’s the picture in our head of how it is supposed to be
-unknown source-
This is so true- in so many ways! When you create art or in your every day life.
Loving the colors and texture here -gesso – such a great medium to cover parts up and make everything more interesting. Love me some Gesso :)
Wishing you a wonderful day…with our without a picture in your head ;)
Nat
Isn’t that the truth?!!! Started along time ago when TV told us this is how real life is….
now it’s hard to unlearn that! Great post Nat!
This quote could be my mantra for goodness sake.
I get my idea of what life “should” be and get disappointed when it’s not.
I continue to work on gracefully accepting what life “is” and embracing that and forgetting the preconceived notions that my mind had issued.
Love this piece, Nat..truer words were never spoken!!
Fantastic AJ!
“I want to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light & frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing
as though
I had wings. ”
Mary Oliver
I do love this quote a lot – it resonated with me . And…the perfect page to add this beautiful stamp too :)
Here is a list of what I used for this spread
Have wings today :)
Nat
I really like the blue peeking through the yellow.
Nice spring colors.
Nat- I was going to tell you how I liked your page…and when i got to the last post and saw the final words- well, I love your page You make me smile! “)
“Slowly learning that there cannot be a constant go go go….
there needs to be stops in order to be able to harvest more!”
An art journal is a good source for reminding yourself on some things….I might have to revisit LOL. If you have been in one of my recent classes you have seen the beginning of many of my art pages – I often demo in my art journal certain techniques and then turn those pages later into a finished spread. I should do a before and after picture session to show you :)
Love the color combo here – green, dark purple, pink and yellow.
what is your favorite color combination lately?
Have a great day
Nat
Awesome job Natalie!
Fantastic page!
Nat, what a fabulous spread! I absolute love the message and your color combo is out of this world Delish!! Thanks for bringing it home! Hugs
That crackle stencil is on my wish list at Stencil Girl. Love the texture that it gives. I’ve been using a lime green, purple and golden rod color combo a bit here.
Are you ready for the next photo of the Second Round of Whatevers? If you missed what the Whatevers is all about or want to see all the past photos and takes…check it out here.
Click here to see what Cat, Vicki, Martha and Cuchy made out of the photo and which story they tell.
Here is my take on this month’s photo:
He finally understood why Walt their manager just shrugged when he old him that under no circumstances would he wear this ridiculous striped suit while on tour.
I would say Walt really likes patterns- huh? LOL.
And here is the photo of this month’s Whatever for you:
Loading InLinkz ...Here is how it works
Here is what I used for the art journal spread:
thank you 
Nat
The dots make the difference.
How fun! Love the page AND the story! :)
Fun story and colors for these men.
Of course, the patterns might be better than the stripes, LOL.
That’s funny Nat…I wouldn’t be caught dead in that get-up either ;)
This friday I had the pleasure of teaching another Artvergnugen Workshop at The Ink Pad in New York City. Artvergnugen is an ongoing Evening Art Journaling Class – once a month I teach with a different medium or tool and it is loads of fun. This Friday it was all about:
The Dylusions and Lindy’s Stamp Gang were both equally loved- since they are different but both are very vibrant and beautiful it was fun to explore the different techniques and applications you can use them for in an art journal. I do love them both a lot – for different reasons :)
I must say I love the ongoing concept of the Artvergnugen Class at The Ink Pad – it is a good challenge for me, because I constantly have to adjust to a new medium, it is very technique based and I do have people that have been in the last class but some are new and cannot just pick up at pages from the last Artvergnugen class.
Nice ghosting here, Diane …
and yummie abstract backgrounds that are a perfect base for an art journal page – love it!
I love those girls- they all love to experiment…and get their hands messy ;)
Plus I come out every time inspired by a color combination I have to use in my next project :) Green, Yellow and Pink..oh yes!
Lot’s of stencils used
and smiling faces :) – I cannot wait to see how Karen will finish up this page …
Awesome page by Cheiron picking up a page from last week and continuing with the new techniques- love it!
The next Artvergnugen class will be about: Stencil Madness on April 25. There is a waiting list for this date. The May and June dates and themes will come out soon – Artvergnugen…it is what makes your journal a piece of art :)
If you could attend an Artvergnugen class by me…which medium or tool would you like to play with? We had Stamps, Mono printing and Spray Paints so far :)
Have a gorgeous day
Nat
Oh what lucky ladies and what beautiful work.
I see the stones divided stencil which I just bought yesterday.
I would want to play with Silks and Pan Pastels. I tried one color of Silks at a crop yesterday and can’t wait to play some more with them.
Once a month, taking a class with Nat seems like heaven on earth,to me! Have a fantabulous time ladies!!
I am very excited about teaching at Create Mixed Media Retreat in Somerset, NJ. In 2012 I visited the U.S. and took some classes at CREATE and ever since I was dreaming of teaching at that event…so much to my delight…here we go :) (Yes…I am still excited about teaching…YEAH :) )
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ENCRUSTED SHRUBBERY CANVAS (6 HOURS) • NATHALIE KALBACH |
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| Date & Time | Price | Materials Fee |
| Wednesday, July 9 • 9am-4pm | $152 | $15 |
| Skill Level: Intermediate | Technique: Collage & Assemblage | |
| You will leave with… a beautiful finished home decor item and lots of knowledge of techniques that you can apply in future projects. | ||
| Description: We will create a wonderful home decor canvas using Acrylic Paints, Stamps and Templates as well as Embossing Media and create a one-of-a-kind piece of art. | ||
| Students Should Bring: Please bring 12×12 inch big stretched and pre-gessoed Canvas, 5-8 different colors of Acrylic Paints as well as Black and White Acrylic Paint, (Liquitex) Matte Gel Medium, (Liquitex) Gesso, a water jar, brushes in different sizes and formats, 6-7 cosmetic sponges, a water mister, baby wipes, a paper roll, a craft mat, a heating gun, an apron, scissors, palette paper, black permanent inkpad, versamark embossing pad | ||
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TEXTURE HEAVEN ART JOURNAL (3 HOURS) • NATHALIE KALBACH |
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| Date & Time | Price | Materials Fee |
| Thursday, July 10• 6-9pm | $89 | $25 |
| Skill Level: Intermediate | Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design | |
| You will leave with… a finished texture art journal and lots of technique ideas for future projects. | ||
| Description: Create wonderful texture pages with monoprinting, stenciling and stamping techniques, encrust them with different Embossing Media and bind them together in a beautiful tactile art journal. | ||
| Students Should Bring: please bring 3-4 colors of not too thick Acrylic Paint- I prefer Liquitex Soft Body 4 pieces of lettersized sturdy white cardstock or sketch book paper, (Liquitex) White Gesso, Brayer, Rubber Brayer, Black Permanent Ink Pad , Versamark, Heating Gun, 6-7 Cosmetic Sponges, Baby Wipes | ||
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IT IS ALL ABOUT LAYERS: ARTJOURNAL CLASS (6 HOURS) • NATHALIE KALBACH |
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| Date & Time | Price | Materials Fee |
| Friday- July 11• 9am-4pm | $152 | $15 |
| Skill Level: All Levels | Technique: Bookmaking & Art Journaling | |
| You will leave with… a load of knowledge about paint media and techniques and various finished pages in your art journal. | ||
| Description: Create depth and dimension by adding several layers with different paint and other media to achieve intriguing art journal pages. Learn about different media and playfully explore how to express yourself in your art journal. It’s all about the layers—so come and join us! | ||
| Students Should Bring: Please bring 5-8 different colors of Acrylic Paints as well as Black and White Acrylic Paint, (Liquitex) Matte Gel Medium, (Liquitex) Gesso, a white and a black journaling pen, a water jar, brushes in different sizes and formats, a fashion magazine, 2-3 cosmetic sponges, an old credit card, a water mister, baby wipes, a paper roll, a craft mat, optional deli paper, a brayer, an apron, scissors, palette paper, a heat gun, and an/your Art Journal. I use a Ranger Dylusions Journal but you can also use a Strathmore Mixed Media Sketchbook – whatever you prefer to work in. | ||
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TEXTURE GALORE CANVAS (3 HOURS) • NATHALIE KALBACH |
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| Date & Time | Price | Materials Fee |
| Saturday, July 12• 6-9pm | $89 | $20 |
| Skill Level: All Levels | Technique: Collage & Assemblage | |
| You will leave with… a wonderful tactile canvas that serves as a home decor item. | ||
| Description: In this workshop you will create a stunning and unique canvas that will be a wonderful home decor item. Learn how to create dimension and texture with tissue paper, items of daily life, acrylic paint, lace, burlap, and gesso. Learn how to reveal the interesting and eye-catching texture with acrylic paints, art bars and acrylic inks and add some fun stamping techniques on top. | ||
| Students Should Bring: Please bring 12 x 12 stretched primed canvas, 5-6 different acrylic paints – colors you like, black acrylic paint, pencil, 2-3 sheets of plain white 12 x 12 cardstock, water jar, brushes in all sizes bristle and round, apron, cosmetic sponges, baby wipes, scissors, black journaling pen, White Gesso (Liquitex) , Matte Gel Medium (Liquitex) | ||
Registration is now open and you can Register here Create Mixed Media Retreat in Somerset, NJ.
Hope I will see some of you there :)
huge hugs
Nat
I do love this quote by Robert Frost:
In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life:
It goes on!
In my head I do know that…I just wish I would remember to feel that way every time something stupid happens ;) I think it is interesting though that oftentimes I set my heart on something, be disappointed when it doesn’t work out and then in retrospective I look at it as “oh good thing that didn’t happen!” I am a very positive thinking person but boy do I pout and scull if things do not work out- LOL.
Are you the same or are you good in shrugging obstacles in life off?
Have a gorgeous day
Nat
Hi Nat, love reading your blog & seeing your work. You crack me up sometimes! Especially today where in your list of items used you included your finger! Too funny! Hope you are enjoying living here in the states now. I hope to someday make it to NY & meet you & Julie. If you ever want to come visit Florida I would be happy to have you stay at my house! I live in Cape Coral which is next to Ft. Myers which is on the FL west coast south of Orlando.
Dahlink….do you mean pout and scowl?? This may be my new mantra…Life goes on ….not pout and scowl!!
hahahha…yeah I guess I mean scowl ;)
I love the yellow color, this one of my favorites pages!
THose words are so true and I to forget and throw a fit now and then that life is not going the way I want it to be. Then I have to remind myself that I am here to serve and that he knows better then me where my life is suppose to go and when I really look to see what is happening it is an amazing day and I am in an amazing place!
I expect things to be a certain way and when they’re not I get disappointed. I pout for a bit but then realize that everything happens for a reason and life will indeed go on. Lovely quote to use on an art journal page Nat. I especially like the pink in the lower left corner as it brings “hope” to the page.
I might have gone insane with the background- but I love it …and somehow it comes all together with the image and quote :)
I might also long for spring…hence the colors! :) I promise – as soon as the weather gets better I stop pouting…I look like my art journal girl – LOL
Here are the stamps and supplies I used:
Have a beautiful day
Nat
I love it- even with your pouty face!
Nice. I love the saying. It is so hard not to become furious with people who simply refuse to acknowledge, let alone accept, that today’s world is not the same as decades past. But the anger served no good purpose. Well if you have very low blood pressure, then it helps.
What do you think of the Liquitex paint markers? I just saw them for the first time last week. I’m intrigued.
Love the energy of this page! And I am feeling your pain about this endlessly miserable Winter. On the bright side, you were able to express it on the page and that is GREAT! If we chant loud enough, “come on SPRING!” maybe it’ll get here sooner.
Peace,
Donna
I love this page. It screams anger! The red and the stamped images are just perfect for the page.
Gorgeous spread!
Comments (2)
Amante del Papel
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I love black and yellow, this combo is awesome!
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Sue Clarke
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I don’t usually like that much black but this is great and of course goes with the quote. I would have to say that you took a “bite” out of this art journal page. Have a relaxing weekend Nat.
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