“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.
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.
Join me in my home neighborhood of Jersey City, at one of my favorite local boutiques – Kanibal & Co, for an evening stationery class utilizing stamping and watercolor techniques. Participants will use my new custom Jersey City + NYC stamps to create handmade cards with watercolor accents. Included in the class cost: all the materials to create 10 custom cards + envelopes. Refreshments will be served.
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.
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.
Hello and welcome to another edition of Nice to Meet You! From time to time I learn about some amazing artists out there who are working with my stamps and stencils and are creating some pretty fun and exciting projects. It’s always inspiring to see what others do with my designs and sometimes they even introduce me to a new way of seeing the pattern or a new technique to try on my own. Today I’d like to introduce to you Frieda Oxenham!
Please introduce yourself to our readers:
I am an award winning artist working mainly in textiles and mixed media. My work has been exhibited widely both nationally (here in the UK) and internationally and has won many prizes. I also love photography. I am very lucky to live in the beautiful Scottish Borders, some 15 miles south of Edinburgh. Originally I’m from The Netherlands.
How do you make time to be creative?
I’m a fulltime studio artist. I used to make a living giving talks and workshops about my textile work, but now I’m fortunate enough to dedicate myself entirely to making the art and exhibiting it.
What are some of your favorite n*Studio stamps / stencils?
I totally love Nathalie’s Batik stencil as well as all of her patterned ones, especially Mesa Verde and Hamburg. It’s great to have some patterns available as art foamies too. Her new Stroll through the Hood 1 is a favourite stamp set (after my visit to New York last year), and her Marks stamp set is a must as far as I am concerned.
Batik StencilMesa VerdeHamburgStroll Through the Hood #1Marks
How do you love to use them?
They all make great backgrounds and thus become an integral part of my own art. I like to use bits of them, rather than the whole so that the patterns and images peek through. One of my favourite techniques for doing this is to apply paint to the pages of my journal, and then remove it with a baby wipe through one of the stencils.
What is your favorite medium to work in?
It’s getting very hard to answer this question. A few years ago I would have answered without hesitation: making my textile hangings, but I’m spending more and more time working in my art journals. Fortunately I don’t have to make a choice and can do both. I’m also hoping to make that final step into painting on canvas soon too.
What inspires you to be creative?
I’ve been making art for almost 30 years now and can’t imagine not doing so. My head is full of ideas and I’m only afraid I won’t have enough time to execute them all. Colour is probably my greatest inspiration.
Do you have a favorite artist?
It would be almost impossible to choose only one. Or even just two. And it would vary depending on what day you ask me! But here goes: Klimt has always been a shining example with his love of decoration and gold, as far as my quilts are concerned. For mixed media Basquiat is a great inspiration and it was a wonderful moment to come face to face with his actual work for the first time during my visit to MoMa last year.
How did you get into art-making?
When I was young it was expected that I would go to university as I was quite good at studying, so I did. It took me quite some time to realize that what attracts me to art is the making of it. Back in 1990 I accompanied a friend to an exhibition of contemporary embroidery, fell in love instantly and that has proved to be the start of an enduring love affair. All the other art I also make springs from there.
In three words, how does your art-making make you feel?
Fulfilled, joyful and excited.
Thank you for sharing your artwork and your story Frieda! I loved hearing about your own transition into artmaking and how your work is still evolving over the years.
What a wonderful article! Although Frieda and I have been friends for many years, your questions helped me learn more aboout her creative process. She has been an inspiration to me for over 12 years! Thank you, nathalie.
I’m so happy to see Frieda recognized yet again for her amazing art. Thank you for exposing her gifts and talents to a wider audience. Well done article!! :)
Welcome to another post from my Creative Squad! Today we have a beautiful piece from Marsha Valk who used my Stroll Through the Hood #1 and #2 cling stamp sets to give her personal take on this month’s theme Say it like you Mean it – Let your unique voice be heard and tell us what’s on your mind. Be bold. Be yourself. We all have something to say and sometimes we need to shout it!
There are a lot of things on my mind: work and business, national politics, environmental and sustainability issues and even something as mundane as interior design. At this moment, as I’m typing this, current affairs in the US just aren’t in the forefront of my mind. But the Stroll Through the Hood #1 set is about a stroll through urban America. Not urban the Netherlands… So what was I going to do? I didn’t want to make another ‘I don’t want to’ spread. So I decided to turn off my mind and let the theme and the stamps do the talking.
Each time I read the theme ‘Say it like you Mean it’, I have a bad case of ear worm: the song ‘Sewn’ by The Feeling instantly starts playing in my head. But… I wasn’t sure what to do with it and I started thinking about songs that fitted the New York City feel of the stamps. And because I’m not currently in an empire state of mind, I thought of ‘I can’t see New York’ by Tori Amos. Also not sure about that song, I decided to go with both songs. They certainly were on my mind now!
I stamped some of the images in a notebook whilst I was working out what to do and that’s where the idea for the stars hanging from the sky came from. Then I stamped an urban scene at the bottom of the page.
Whilst I watercoloured the sky, I thought: you can’t see the city if there is no light. So that’s when I coloured the stars black. But the brief was to use one of the tag stamps and I chose ‘Hope’, so I felt that at least one star should shine its light.
In the end I needed to decide whether I wanted to colour the urban scene. I didn’t want to make it a black cityscape and colouring it would make it too visible, so I only added light grey lines and kept the rest bare.
The penciled and smudged words are the lyrics of ‘Sewn’ and the title in india ink refers to the Tori Amos song.
Thank you Marsha! We can always count on you to take the theme and really pull it apart to see what it means to you :) And the results are a gorgeously composed scene with beautiful colors and a couple surprises – like that cute suspended Star Tag lighting up the night sky. Marsha used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:
Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.
Nice take on the guidelines Marsha. I can’t help but hear the Billy Joel song I’m in a New York State of Mind while reading your words. Now I’ve dated myself for sure. The stars are a nice addition.
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer is part of my book Artful Adventures in Mixed Media and I thought it would be interesting to hear more about her and some of her thoughts. Grab a seat and a cuppa , or listen to this interesting conversation which I think you will enjoy. We are talking about things like
How Julie started painting
Blogging as part of our daily routine
Changing career paths and what was the hardest about it
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.
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 :)
Time for a Stroll Through the Hood . Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to get new ideas to create something.
I loved the pattern and texture the melting snow created on our deck …I do not care for the snow so much though …I am glad when it is really spring weather again :)
I love the row of brown stones on our street – the beautiful stairways and all those windows and differently colored stones – and soon the trees will be green too – wohoo
This made me laugh – I am not a big fan of those blow up figures – especially around the winter holidays (sorry!) and I was glad it was over…but nope- should have know there is one for St. Patrick’s Day too – LOL.
Loving this mural by Alice Pasquini – the colors but especially also the lettering!
And this one on a construction fence made me laugh !
Cannot wait for warmer weather and more strolling around -it always help me get unstuck and get new ideas or process ideas :)
I always love your walks almost BEST of all Nat. The brownstones are WONDERFUL. I see things like that sometimes on TV but seeing your photos just makes them really real. They are soooooo pretty. Love the black on the stairs. And the street art is just so amazing to me. You don’t see much of that around here at all… if ever. Loved this post – thank you! Xj.
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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.
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nathalie-kalbach
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Thank you Joi! Hope you have a wonderful start into the week! Happy Monday
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