Mixed Media

Love Love Love…or Me thinks that was the best decision ever

to marry my hubs ;)

and oh boy I really thought I would never marry when I was in my 20s ….but I have not regret one single day – seriously – not one! And that is as romantic as me grunge girl can get – LOL.

Supplies: Prima: Item# 921934 Poppy Canvas Sheet, Item# 922016 Fabric Poppy Flowers, Item# 921996Fabric Poppy Flowers, Item# 547486 Lovely Leaves Collection, Item# 551438 Say It In Crystals, Item# 516215 Journalist Collection Chipboard Letters, Canvas 12×12, Gerstaecker White Gesso, Liquitex Heavy Body Gel Medium, Liquitex Acrylic Ink, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L Foam Tape

Nothing better than tearing, ripping, dipping and painting while thinking of amazing memories of a special day.

What was the last special day you created a project for?

Nat

 

Comments (18)

  • marjiekemper

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    I love the page, and also the way you are gazing at him. Beautiful!

    Reply

  • Kathy Gledsdale

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    How stunning!

    Reply

  • Andrene

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    Gorgeous!! Love all the texture and dimension. Looks like a very happy day – nice photo (and your colors make it pop right off the page.

    Reply

  • Jeanette Nyström (Jeany)

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    Beautiful LO! I love what you have done with the flowers!!! You are so beautful in the photo!!!

    Reply

  • lisa

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    Nat this is beautiful. It looks like a wall background. Love it!!

    Reply

  • Lisa Flaherty

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    Wow! What a beautiful canvas, Nat, and what a beautiful bride! <3

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Simply beautiful Nat. I did a canvas about our special weekend at Peaks Island (off the coast in Portland Maine).

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      that sounds wonderful Sue! Ahhh Portland Maine – beautiful!

      Reply

  • mjmarmo

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    This is wonderful!

    Reply

  • Birgit Kunte

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    Oohhhh was für ein schnuckeliges Layout und eine so wunderschöne Liebeserklärung, schmacht, liebe Grüße Birgit

    Reply

  • Martha Richardson

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    What a gorgeous LO and your love for hubs shows through in it & with your words!!!

    Reply

  • eloisa

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    Precioso…romántico y la texturas, maravillosas, como siempre.

    Reply

  • Cuchy

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    Oh what a sweet layout. And that pic is beautiful.

    Reply

  • Gunvor

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    Lovely artwork Nathalie (as usual)! Love the flowers with paint on – do you dip them in paint?

    Reply

  • lindabrun

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    Beautiful layout Nat. Love what you’ve done with the fabric poppy.

    Reply

  • france papillon

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    you can feel the love back then and now in that lay out, gorgeous!

    Reply

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Texture Grunge Flowers or…Where should I put all those Canvases?

Another Canvas…I can’t stop creating them…which is …well not bad perse…but seriously…LOL. where should I put them all….sigh….

This one is 12×16 inch – I had a wonderful time creating all the texture and those flowers.

It was one of those pieces which I loved in the beginning- having a picture in mind

and then started to HATE it…not kidding- painting it all over – disappointed I ruined with one step what I had liked so much

But now I love it even more…maybe because I had this fight…just like with everything in life, right? Things that come to easily to you, you do not really cherish, things you struggle to achieve are the dearest milestones in your life.

Supplies: Canvas, Sewing Pattern, Gerstaecker Gesso, Liquitex Gel Medium, Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic Paints, Crafters Workshop Stencils, Ranger Dylusions, German Scraps, Lascaux Struktura, Liquitex Acrylic Inks, Paper Clay, Prima Canvas Buttons, 7Gypsies Tissue Paper

Have you had a fight with a project recently and love it now the more?

Nat

Comments (9)

  • Kathy Gledsdale

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    Wow how stunning!

    Reply

  • mjmarmo

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    I think it is great!

    Reply

  • Cassandra

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    Amazing!! Love the texture and the rich colour! I know exactly what you mean about one step can ruin it for you – I’ve totally been there and done that. I find it’s worse when I fall out of the groove, and work carelessly. When I’m in the groove it all flows, when I try to force it to happen, bad things happen!! Hope that makes sense lol ;)

    Reply

  • Cuchy

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    I have a free spot on my wall ;) -just in case
    Why didn’t you like it?. It got me only with the textured background. Love it!

    Reply

  • Miae

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    Gorgeous canvas! Your love/hate post is certainly thought provoking…sometimes I just have to walk away to never return but thank goodness most times I return with a new set of eyes:) TFS!

    Reply

  • Lisa Flaherty

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    Wow! This may be one of my favorite of your pieces! Beautiful, Nat! Interesting thoughts about appreciating one’s own work more after a struggle; I want to spend some time today with that thought, for sure! I have a project that I am currently hating. There may be no resolution for now, though, because I am crossed-arms and not speaking to it. Lol!

    Reply

  • Bev W.

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    Love this Nat!!!! I am forever fighting with my projects!!! Sometimes I love the outcome, sometimes not. But I guess that’s how we learn to grow…lol
    Have a fun weekend!
    ♥Bev

    Reply

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Second Floor Challenge #6: Pencil

Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here :) The Second Floor Challenge

So today is our 6th Second Floor Challenge: Pencil

Click here to see what Julie did

Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

So we decided this challenge should be to use a pencil. And I have to say I was really looking forward to this. I just recently purchased a Sketching set of pencils by Derwent because….I remembered how much I love pencils – although I can’t sketch at all ;)

 I picked an image of a frame that I still had of some amazing Danyeela Paper and traced it with the Saral Transfer Paper on a piece of cardstock with a pencil.
then I started playing with the different pencils HB, 2B and 4B
I liked realizing again the different possibilities of the pencils and then I took some Derwent Artbars and started painting the background
I took it to the second floor by adding the journaling also with the pencil – so in total I only used pencils, Artbars, Adhesive and a Photo for this layout
hehehe- this photo of Julie had to be used some day…don’t you think ;)
 I am not super happy with the outcome. The frame looks ok- and I like the pencil painting- but actually I don’t like the rest…It didn’t look good without any paint surrounding it but I wonder if a softer looking medium like PanPastels would look better around it.
What I learned from this challenge:
  1. I was reminded that it is fun to play with different pencils – something about their smoothness makes me happy.
  2. I liked playing with the tracing paper – I hadn’t used it before and I can see some fun possibilities using it
  3. I would rather have used Panpastels that would have left a softer background here to have the pencil frame more set off
  4. It was fun using some of the Artbars on the pencil frame- the way how the waxy Artbars react with the pencils is fun
  5. I like using a pencil for journaling
  6. It was calming to work so long with just a few supplies – instead of feeling limited I felt actually kind o relieved and I had more ideas just focusing on them
  7. I still can’t draw….a 2 year old draws nicer pencil pictures then me- there will be only ever be tracing for me ;)

If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:

add your own creations inspired by our 2nd Floor Challenge: Pencil

have a wonderful day

hugs

Nat

Comments (8)

  • Jessica

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    Thank you as always for making us push our limits!

    Reply

  • Mazina

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    Totally awesome!
    grtz, Mazina

    Reply

  • Kelly Deal

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    Hi Nathalie! You’ve inspired me to use pencil more, especially when it comes to journaling! As for your creative piece, I like it! It has “Nathalie” written all over it!

    Reply

  • Lisa Flaherty

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    I love the sound of a graphite pencil on paper, especially when writing text–the random staccato of start/stop, T’s being crossed and i’s being dotted. But I haven’t had success or liked what I’ve done with pencil in my art journal, and I think it is because I think of pencil as impermanent, and I am uncomfortable leaving it vulnerable. Weird! Maybe I will apply fixative to my 2nd floor pencil challenge. Love that picture of Julie, and that you fussy cut around her–really makes for a fun layout. And I do like the green/blue shading effect around your cool frame, too.

    Reply

  • Deborah Pierro

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    Nathalie–I love what you did here, even though you are not that happy with it. The part I love the most is the humor in it! It is really a cool piece.

    Reply

  • Maria Schmidt

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    Ahh was für eine geniale Idee mit dem Transparent Papier! Da hätt ich auch drauf kommen können! *augenroll*
    Dein Bild gefällt mir sehr! Ja, vielleicht probier ich das auch mal… Stifte würden hier ja genug rumliegen… ;-)))
    xo Maria

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    The ;photo of Julie is fun on this LO and I too enjoy using just pencil sometimes (especially in a notebook that I carry in my purse).

    Reply

  • Tineke

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    Hi Nathalie. I love your honesty about your work. Not to be disappointed when it’s not what you had in mind. Even when you have a few materials to work with it still feeds your art soul.. Thank you for sharing your art and thoughts with us. Huge hugs, Tineke/TeedeJee

    Reply

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Texture Galore or…Summer Canvas

New Canvas on the wall- yeah -since it is summer, right?

So much texture here- my husband said it actually looks like it moves

I had lot’s of fun creating it and it made me all warm and fuzzy …as it was raining and pretty cold outside when I did it ;)

This canvas is part of my Über*Media Acrylic Paint Workshop where I show you amongst a huge amount of techniques, how to create this mixed media canvas (full version only). You can still join the class if you want :)

Hugs

Nat

Comments (9)

  • Jessica

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    This is so beautiful. I love it!

    Reply

  • Andrene

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    This was one of my favorites from your class (which was awesome). Think the eggshell idea was off the charts!! Beautiful canvas.

    Reply

  • Dottie

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    Beautiful canvas! Great texture and colors. I love the depth you got using the stamped and cut out flowers.

    Reply

  • Donna

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    What a beautiful piece…..amazing technique with gorgeous color and texture! I shy away from paints and inks because I am just not patient enough for the mess, but I admire the results a lot!!

    Reply

  • Miae

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    Your canvas says Summer but also has the wonderful FEEL of summer! TFS!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    The texture is so thick that I can almost “taste” it!

    Reply

  • Milagros

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    It’s beautiful, I love those colors together I carry to the sea, sun and poppies in the cornfields.
    hugs

    Reply

  • Marjie Kemper

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    Beautiful, Nat! Love your bright colors and all that yummy texture.

    Reply

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Last Day of Spring or…quick quick, show your spring layout

YOWZA- can you believe summer starts tomorrow. I can’t ! And I actually love this time when it is light out here in Hamburg till 10pm – crazy…:) And Summer is my FAVORITE time of the year..but oh wait…let’s celebrate spring real quick ;)

Spring

I don’t really think I have mentioned yet that this is my favorite color combination at the moment (liar, liar, pants on fire ;) )

Spring means planting flowers, eating more salad, first BBQ and siting outside for lunch dates.

Supplies: 7Dots Paper, Acrylic Paints, Ceramic Stucco, Maya Road Butterflies, American Crafts Thickers, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L 3D Foam Pads and MyStik Permanent, Crafter’s Workshop Stencil

What does spring mean to you?

hugs

Nat

Comments (5)

  • Dottie

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    Spring means flowers, warm days, sunlight, boat rides, picnics and happiness.

    Reply

  • Martha Richardson

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    Great color combo on this gorgeous LO! RE-BIRTH & REVITALIZATION. What is ceramic stucco?

    Reply

  • Milagros

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    Spring for mi is the colors explosion.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    The colors in this LO scream spring to me Nat!
    Spring to me is walking the dog in the rain and feeling hopeful with all the lush green that is growing around me.

    Reply

  • mjmarmo

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    LOVE this sun!! Spring means pretty new growth!

    Reply

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Hello Sunshine or…Cocoa Daisy June Kit Projects

This kit was getting me totally into summer mood and I had fun using all those patterns.

*Hello*

Loved mixing the different papers. I traced the patterns to have the flowers pop off more from the background.

*Beautiful*

Fun mixing chevron and circle patterns and then I added some splashes of Liquitex inks to break with the geometric clean patterns.

*Hello Card*

Playing a bit with packaging and Maya Mists. Love how the Jillibean Hello wooden flags take Liquitex Inks – the orange is so vibrant!

*Me Day*

I really loved this paper and didn’t wanna change it too much- plus the picture itself is pretty prominent already

I loved how the Queen & Co washi tape yellow plaid blended with the background.

I added some texture and extra with Oil Pastels and dropped some Liquitex Ink to get a bit more orange onto the paper.

How is the progress of summer (well for some of you winter ;) ) in your neck of the wood?

hugs

Nat

Comments (3)

  • Vicki Chrisman

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    Wow…. love all your creations! This kit looks so fun!!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Love the first “hello” LO Nat. I still haven’t had time to play with this kit yet. It’s been busy with the end of the school year activities here. Summer has brought us rain and some sun (but not as much as usual).

    Reply

  • Gunvor

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    Lovely art work! And the idea of a “me day” a month i something I’ll copy! Will plan it in from after summer vacation and the rest of the year. Thanks for the isnpiration and the great ideas!
    Hugs

    Reply

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Maya Road Guest Designer- Canvas- Tutorial

For my guest designer spot with Maya Road this month I created this 12 x 12 canvas using lots of Chipboard DoorwaysMaya Mists, and Gesso.

I created a video sharing how I made this canvas:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH5MHQMMgmY&feature=youtu.be]

So love those colors :)

And I totally love those doors…yum yum!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial :)

 

hugs

Nat

P.S.: psst

Comments (12)

  • Deleted User

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    I like this piece for the foyer!…like a welcome to my visitors, says a lot! tfs Nat.

    Reply

  • Marjie Kemper

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    This is fabulous, Nat! Love how you used the neg spaces on the green door and all the yummy texture you built up with the CB and gesso.

    Reply

  • Rose Curtis

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    love what you created with the doors!

    Reply

  • Liz Thayne

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    Love your use of colour and texture on this canvas. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  • Bev W.

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    Yes!!! So liking the colors and those doors are a must have and on my wish list! Congrats Anne:) Thanks for the vid Nat!
    ♥Bev

    Reply

  • Conny

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    Die Farben sind einfach der Wahnsinn und ich liebe ja die Embellish von Maya Road – absolut Genial!!!!!

    LG Conny

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Yes, you are the texture lady! I enjoyed this video while eating my breakfast. And you can use reds and oranges as well as blues and greens. The quote has me thinking
    this morning. As always, thanks for sharing your crafty knowledge Nat.

    Reply

  • Dottie

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    Love, love the door canvas!!!

    Reply

  • Erika N

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    Very clever page. I love your idea and the this page.

    Reply

  • Birgit Kunte

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    Einfach der Oberknaller, die Türen, super gefällt mir total gut, liebe Grüße Birgit

    Reply

  • enscrappersbekendelser

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    Oh, wow it’s SO über cool. Thanks for the inspiration :)

    Reply

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Colors Are Your Friends or let’s talk a bit of “my” Color Theory V

I have listed the links for the first four parts on this series at the end of the post.

So today as promised we are looking for the answer to this question:

Actually Pablo Picasso said: “Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? no. Just as one can never learn how to paint.”

We might not really say, why- but we can figure out which paints do sing next to each other…that is fair enough, isn’t it?

Let’s see what kind of music our friends play together – but you will need your color wheel!

Monochromatic:

Let’s start with what I call the “Lullaby of color combination”….

All the colors of a certain pure color: tints, shades and tones…with a little bit of cheating here and there ;) I do not use it too often, although I have to say I love the calming effect a monochrome layout/art journal page gives.

Analogous:

Singing in simple melodies, basic harmonies and consistent rhythm – just like a Folk song – are analogous colors. They are three colors next to each other on the color wheel.

For this layout I had used blue, violet and red-violet.

Complementary:

Let’s check out Swing, that is complex with contrasting elements,has lots of vitality,  the music instruments are cooking together. Fun. These are the colors that are sitting right across from each other on the color wheel

Here I used blue and orange mainly. But there is also for example red and green, yellow and violet and so on. The colors make each other appear brighter.

Triadic:

That is for me the pop bands under the color combinations ;) Pop is appealing and pleasurable to listen to, it contains contrasting elements, but in doses. You find these colors equally spaced (triangle) from each other on the color wheel.

Here I used orange, pink and green – but it could be for example also blue, yellow and red etc.

If you look at your work, what do you find you use most often as a color scheme: Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary or Triadic?

Whatever it is that you answer, just based on what we talked about today, why don’t you try to break out today and create something with a color scheme you almost never use? For me that would be probably monochromatic ;)

Next in this series I will show you some fun color combinations and where you can find inspirations for color combinations.

Have a swinging day today ;)

Nat

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Comments (6)

  • Veronica

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    I may not be commenting but I’m really enjoying this series about the colours. Very useful and very enjoyable to read! Thanks! Btw, looking at my projects I can see that I tend to use the analogous combinations. I’m a bit “scared” of the big contrasts in pages… I’m sure it would be my perfect challenge for a Second Floor project ;-D

    Reply

  • Outi

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    Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge on this subject! I read every word and get so many ideas. Earlier this year I tried to make friends with monochromatic and though I thought it was impossible to achieve anything in the beginning, I succeeded in having fun during the process. Now I don’t avoid monochromatic any longer:-)
    Hugs Outi

    Reply

  • Lisa Flaherty

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    I am LOVING this series!!! I am learning SO MUCH!! I have no idea which scheme I use most, but based on your examples I would think I gravitate toward Complimentary. I will have to flip through my art journal and scrap layouts for confirmation.

    Reply

  • Bev W.

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    Great series Nat!!! From looking at your art I can see I go with analogous colors..most of the time:) Thanks!
    ♥Bev

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    mostly complementary it would seem. i almost never do monochromatic but it is striking.

    Reply

  • Milagros

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    is very interesting, I think more use complementary colors but sometimes use the triad, desiring to see the color combinations and inspirations. thank you very much hugs

    Reply

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Little Date with Max, Andy and Pablo or I am OK

Attention: This Blog Post contains art work that shows nudity and some cruelty, if you have a problem with this, you might be better off looking at something else :)

This weekend I indulged again in a little ME-Day at the Hamburger Kunsthalle (art museum) again – and oh I so love it!

Amazing part of a painting by Max Ernst “Grätenblumen” (1929) – love the texture! Overpainted the painting underneath and then used the texture as an inspiration for his new piece.

Talking about how artists used other art to make new art. Like Andy Warhol or Horst Janssen using postcards with art work to create new art.

Then our little group went to the workshop room and we had a huge amount of art postcards for selection.

And the fun began ;) Just picking some cards and then start looking what you could do with them. Here is what I picked first :

Combining Albrecht Dürer and Andy Warhol together to this

Or looking at a Pablo Picasso “Woman in red armchair” (1939)

and turning her into the Red Haired Girls’ Scout- LOL ;) (she is big on eye shadow I think ;) )

We had so much fun- I can’t tell you how much this group of mostly older women and a couple younger ones were giggling and laughing throughout the day. We had a wall going where we were just pinning our cards – and it was the best just looking at them in between….turning into more giggles.

I did quite a pile of cards but I show you only one more  – a combination of Albrecht Dürer, Lewis Carroll aka Charles Dodgson Photography and a Lyonel Feininger

What I learned  from this day…actually something about me. “Wow- Nat- impressive, you learned something about yourself on your Me-Day!” ;)

I learned that what I do in my art work is totally ok ….I am ok, my work is ok and I love what I do, that is ALL that counts :) There are other people who get the stuff I am doing and I do not have to feel like an outsider – what will be will be!

I went home filled with lot’s of inspiration and being content about my work. (let me embrace that and stop thinking I sound arrogant- LOL …it might be over tomorrow when the little voice is nagging again- LOL) What a better end than that for a Me-Day :)

I wish you a gorgeous day!!!!

Hugs

Nat

 

Comments (11)

  • marjiekemper

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    What a fabulous day! Thanks for sharing. And I will always still chuckle when I see that disclaimer about nudity. (Yes, I am 12.)

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Theehehe- you know there is people that get a heart attack then seeing art with nudity ;)

      Reply

  • Lisa Flaherty

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    What a fun workshop! Love all the creativity on that wall! Your composites are so cool!

    Reply

  • Bev W.

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    Looks like you had a wonderful me-day Nat!!! Love your pieces!
    ♥Bev

    Reply

  • Marsha.

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    That class looks like so much fun!!

    Reply

  • Patricia Huber

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    I am glad you went with older women, too. We all have so much in common and older women can be such a source of comfort and support when you need it!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    What a fun day. I especially like INNOCENT. The bird/human mix always catches my attention. Thanks for sharing your pics.

    Reply

  • Milagros

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    Sure it’s great you passed, and that would come out many different ideas for every human being is different and irepetibles and have our dark side and our different way of looking at art. Thanks for sharing. a hug

    Reply

  • Nydia Dominguez

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    I don’t care what others think of my work. I usually paint pretty flowers, birds etc…but I do have a dark side. I create what I feel and if I am sad, it is sometimes depicted in my work. Or sometimes if something strikes me hard such as youth committing suicide, in order to counsel myself, I work on paper or canvas with my burden. I was chastised once over something I had done four years ago a few months ago….and I was removed as a friend on facebook…oh well! It was an ACEO that I sold with a poem on the back that was counseling young adults to talk it over(suicide is final) that tomorrow was another day… You can’t please everyone…so please yourself with your artwork!

    Excellent pieces! Bravo!

    Reply

  • jerseytjej

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    Those are really good, Nat! I would love to see the wall a bit closer. See how others may have used the same images. I would not have thought of the bird on the head…that one really makes me laugh! :)

    Reply

  • Louise

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    WTG YOU!!!!!!! :) X

    Reply

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