I used this Shel Silverstein Poem- which I really love:
Listen to the mustn’ts child,
listen to the don’ts
listen to the shouldn’ts ,
the impossibles, the won’ts.
Listen to the never haves
then listen close to me
Anything can happen child,
ANYTHING can be
I created with backgrounds by just using Liquitex spray paints over some gesso textured pages and also through the cut out page. Easy and fun.
Do you have a favorite poem?
hugs
For this page I was going for the colors – I love these colors together. On top just some stenciling – I love it – not every page has to be super complicated and full of different techniques.
The sgraffito texture is my favorite here- scratching through the layers and then using the back of the painting knife again to cover up parts.
What are you up to today?
hugs
Love your sgraffito texture. I’d love to learn this technique!! I’m getting ready to take mini vaca and I will get to visit with 2 of my sisters. Can’t wait to have some crafty girl time, you know therapy!
making journal pages with stamps..so many stamps I never use
hugs
susan s
Well I’m taking my dog to a dog island but your question might have been about crafting so for that I sprayed some inks for backgrounds in my art journal. I’ve been stuck on blue, orange and wine.
“Like any artist without an art form she became dangerous”
In this background I played with different brushstrokes and I do really like how it worked out. I also stamped with white to lighten up the page a bit again.
It fascinates me how many different looking backgrounds you can create with just acrylic paint – my favorite medium ever!
Have a beautiful day
Nat
I like how vibrant & dynamic the line work in the lady looks against the textured background. Very nice work!
I admire the texture and the combination of colors.
CREATE New Jersey was so much fun! I had a great time teaching three days- here are some photos of my classes :
Had a great time with my 20 students in the Texture Heaven Art Journal Class, mono printing, stamping, embossing – playing
So many beautiful pages – and everyone was quite busy experimenting
Loads of Acrylic Paint was used during all the classes
And of course every class had to opened with a funny face of mine ;) – here the “It’s All About The Layers – Art Journaling Class”
My sweet students were able to get over those faces and made beautiful art journal backgrounds and pages in this day long class…even with a broken a/c and 90 Degrees in the room …
It was wonderful to get to know so many of my students during the three days and also see how they were connected, some made friends during the class, some have been friends for many years (college room mates, being in the same guild) or mother and daughter, siblings together on a fun creative outing :)
And it was wonderful to see my stamps and stencils used by my super talented students.
Lot’s of wonderful smiles in my class – you girls were awesome!
The last class I taught saturday night was not “Walk like a zombie” as this picture might indicate …rather “Texture Galore Canvas” and loads of texture we created :)
It was a small class with 12 students which was fun …it gives me more time to walk around and talk to students ;)
and they had quite some exercise going back and forth between demos
And it was also fun to have a special student in the class ;) you would think she was sick of me spending so much time with me ….and yes…she behaved and was a great student ;)
I also took some classes and had an amazing time in Natalya Aikens class, where I learned how to manipulate photos in photoshop and then print them out on all kinds of different fabrics, like organza, silk etc. Super inspiring and totally out of my usual scheme …I mean fabric…hello!
And I took a class with Diana Trout – love her -what a great personality and it was fun to be forced outside of my usual box in my art journal and collaging approach. That is btw the reason why EVERY person who teaches should once in a while take some classes …it is good to be in the student’s shoes and see how this feels.
And it was fun to bump into my legendary artist friend Suze Weinberg at the Artist Faire at the event
and as mentioned I enjoyed every single minute and all 500.000 meals (or so it felt) at the hotel in which we were trapped without a car with Julie Fei Fan Balzer
I am looking forward to my next CREATE events I teach at in Dallas – September 17-21
and in Seattle October 22-26
I hope to see some of you there – I promise we will have loads of fun !!!
Have a gorgeous day
Forgot to login before posting above. Hope to take another class in the future!!
Nathalie,
I sat right next to Maura (who I so enjoyed spending time with!!) and I feel the same way. Really loved the class, the chance to meet and play with all kinds of fun art materials. I am glad you posted pictures and thanks for all the ideas and inspiration!
Nathalie,
It was so FAB to meet you in person!!! That alone made my create experience the best! I had so much fun in your class learning about acrylic paints, which I really had not done much with, but am inspired to do more. (Even bought more supplies and paint colors to play with) thank you, thank you for a wonderful class, and for sharing your talent with us!!
I love that pic of you and Julie with Suze, did you all call each other and decide to dress in the same colors? ha ha
Gorgeous art journal pages. It seems like I’m working in my art journal way more than making LO’s these days.
Are you ready for the last photo of the Second Round of Whatevers? If you missed what the Whatevers is all about (basically they are photos that my friends and I found on flea markets etc. and that we give a new life and story) or want to see all the past photos and takes…check it out here. It was a fun ride the last two years and I thank my girls for a good time and storytelling fun.
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:
“Melvin was outraged. Hasn’t Mom called him “my little moon boy all the time? Why did she put an identical moon costume on his little baby brother? Not fair!!!”
The background was created with Dylusions Spraypaint, Liquitex Spraypaint, the Arabesque Stencil and then painted over here and there, stamped and then painted over again here and there.
Here is the photo of this month’s Whatever, in case you want to play along.
Thank you to all of you who played along with us once in a while- it was so much fun to see what you came up with- as much as it was to see what the other girls in our Whatever Girls came up with. I will miss my fun bunch- but we all are getting busier and busier and so The Whatevers have to come to an end :)
Have a gorgeous day- here is the supply list
Have a beautiful day!
Hugs
Perfect story…maybe he should buy MOON PIES for his brother instead of wearing the costume! Nathalie it has been such a pleasure working with you for the past 5 years, your encouragement made me better at what I do. You are a gifted artist…I love where this new ART is taking you. Hopefully we will work together soon or at least maybe I’ll be in one of your classes! xoxoxo
ohhhh “The Prince Dethroned” love it!!
Thank you so much hon, for this year of stories and awesome projects.
Loves, Cuchy
“Moon Boy” … lol… I love it! Thanks Nat.. for letting me be a part of this amazing fun project!! I love you!
Wondering why the photos only load partially! I even tried from Cat’s site.I have really enjoyed these!
Haven’t we all had those feelings one time or other, LOL. Love the bright colors and story. Going to miss this each month!
Here is one of my pages of the Art Journal I showed you in my Flip-Thru Video recently. As promised I will show some pages in more detail.
I painted the background with a light grey acrylic paint and then started layering up some stencils, stamps and templates with different colors – going from light to darker colors.
I used a cosmetic sponge to apply acrylic paint through the Elephant March stencil but to have a better contrast of the elephant versus the busy background I also traced the stencil after the paint dried with a black pen. In the blanket I used different acrylic marker colors and blended them over the stencil with my finger.
I applied the chipboard letters with Gel Medium – since this is the best way to make sure they stick and stay. A fun and colorful page – made me happy ;)
Thanks for coming by and have a wonderful sunny day!
Fabulous.
THis elefant is absolutely amazing!
My plan is to do much that makes me happy today as I’m 50 today!
One friend is taking me out to lunch and my family is taking me out to dinner. The weather is perfect and life is good. I do so love these words and plan to do a page in my art journal using them. Now why didn’t I think of going back over the stencil with marker after the paint have dried.
Don’t you agree?
I did a newspaper image transfer with Gloss Medium & Varnish and then played with black and white acrylic paint – stippling the white onto the black surface which makes it almost look bluish. I wrote the title with a Bamboo Nip Pen- I have mine forever and love using it with paint medium to handwrite title. Here I used acrylic ink.
And some mark making. I love this – it was a great outside the box play for me, which I often do in my art journals but I totally loved the background and I think you might have noticed I applied this to my “On The Flip Side” Canvas.
Here are the supplies I used:
Have a gorgeous day!
Nat
Perfect is indeed boring! I really like the markings in white, made me think of a barcode or music equalizer. Very cool!
Really beautiful page. The transfer is perfect and I love the b&w background with those really cool marks…hmmm? On The Flip Side is one of my favorites of yours for 2014!
Yes, perfect is boring! Perfect lacks personality & character. I really like what you achieved with your journal. The textures & layers give it a lot of movement. The white markings remind me of a music equalizer or a pulse. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Wow this is so beautiful!!!
This page stood out when I watched the flip through and I love the black and white…it really catches my eye and then pushes me back to the lady on the left. Different for you and stunning as well.
i love your work with bamboo pen
gorgeous background!
I finished this art journal filled with quotes and things on my mind in a very short period of time. I thought I would film a little flip thru it .
If you do not like the music, just mute it and play your own ;)
On my Mind ArtJournal Flip Through from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.
I will show some of the pages in the next couple weeks in detail and also explain how I made them. Hope you like this little flip thru
Have a gorgeous day
Nat
I’m new to your site, via Julie Balzer … so glad I signed up, this is AMAZING, loved everything and agree with others, the music was perfect and the journal … so inspiring, beautiful, edgy and I want to learn how to do that! Many thanks … !
Dear Nat, thanks a lot for this video. So marvellous pages. Looking forward to a more detailed approach to the how to… Regards,
Loved it, including the music. Great way to start the day. Thank you for sharing.
It’s fabulous, beautiful!!! thanks Nath for this video. Hughs
This was fabulous and the music was perfect. All of the quotes were great too and the images!…. I could go on and on. Do you have a video showing how you make your journals?
Wow Nat
That was so good I don’t need a chocolate fix today lol
You really are amazing in your art
Thanks for the flip thru
Jenny from Tassie
Thanks for sharing your art journal! The pages are absolutely fabulous!
How beautiful and lovely music too thank you.
I really enjoyed this flip through and admire both you and your work.
Also, I have a craving for marshmallows on skewers after one of the pages! :)
Natalie, your journal was really uplifting for me!! You have done amazing work and are an inspiration to us that are amateurs learning to better… Thank you for what you offer us in your blog and sharing on a regular basis. Xxoo
Such a cool journal, Nat! I love all of the colors…loved the page with the lady sitting in the innertube with “you decide”, just terrific! Thanks so much for sharing your amazing creativity:) Hugs, Maggie
I LOVE your journal. It really made me smile and I feel inspired! Thank you!
is absolutely amazing!
Loved the flip-thru! Thanks for taking time to show us your journal. Can’t wait to see/hear how you created your spreads.
Nat, I did not like the flipthrough, I LOVED it!
Watched while I had my morning cereal…perfect music for it.
The “time” page and the “not trying to be perfect” page caught my eye a great deal. Thanks so much for sharing this with your fans.
So very cool! Thanks Nat! How did you get those photos down?! I know it wasn’t just a bunch of fussy cutting! Lol. Looking forward to your commentary :)
So very awesome! I just love your style….had to watch twice and know I will go back for more! Thank you for sharing these amazing ideas with us through your journal!
Without art the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.
– George Bernard Shaw
Here’s to an artful day!
hugs
nat
I so love this post. Your art keeps getting better and better
Love the page and I agree with the sentiment. It would be a very bland and dull world without art.
I was thinking of this the other day after seeing a good movie and then reading a great book. Then I painted in my journal and thought about how healing and wonderful it is to be creative and to share those creations. I so enjoy looking at art and experiencing the art that others have created. Books are my favorite but my whole family really enjoys watching movies together. And yes, the world would be a boring place without art. Truth be told, I’m not sure that humans could survive without art of some sort…it just blossoms…
Great page! It would be a sad, dull, depressing world without art!
Comments (4)
KimMJ
| #
That is such a beautiful page! I LOVE that poem. I had forgotten all it until now.
I recently started making backgrounds in 2 art journals but have been at loss at what to start with. A poem is a great starting point. Time to crack open my favorite Alan Ginsberg or Walt Whitman and get going. Thanks for sharing and for all of the inspiration. :)
Reply
Joan vMetz
| #
I love this poem…. I do so enjoy how you’ve taken this poem and done this page! Thanks for sharing!
Reply
Tracy
| #
I’d never read this poem until today, but I love the message. Your did a great job combining the colors and using the cut-out
Reply
muriel
| #
This is one of my favourite poems. And I am a lover of Shel Silverstein. I often use his poems to teach English to my pupils. I love how you used your cut out.
Reply