Blog: Jersey City

Unveiling Three New Art Pieces

I added three new original artworks to my Shop – each with it’s own unique story to tell. Let’s dive right in and see what they are about:

1. #SistersNotTwins

  • Dimensions: 16×10 inches canvas
  • Framed: Yes

These twin houses, born from the same blueprint, have aged differently through time. Each bears the marks of its own unique story etched into their facades, creating a captivating puzzle of their shared past. In the heart of Jersey City, such architectural ‘sisters’ continue to whisper tales of change and transformation. Dive into the mystery and charm with #SistersNotTwins. See painting and more details in store.

Mockup image of #SistersNotTwins painting displayed in a wooden frame above a shelf adorned with decorative vases and candles, showcasing the artwork in a cozy living setting.

I have written about my fascination with #sistersnottwins buildings on my substack in case you want to read more about that.

2. In Full Bloom

  • Dimensions: 10×10 inches deep canvas
  • Framed: Yes

Step back in time to 1922, as Katherine Tennant, daughter of Judge George G. Tennant, exchanges vows in her Queen Anne home. The wedding was a splendid affair, with palms, autumn foliage, orchids, and yellow chrysanthemums adorning the venue. Immerse yourself in the romance and elegance of Katherine’s Wedding. See painting and more details in store.

Mockup image of the 'Full Bloom' painting, depicting a Queen Anne house with a turret, showcased in a wooden frame hanging from a picture rail on a wall, adding charm to the living space

I have written about my enchantment with Queen Anne houses with turrets on my substack.

3. American Brilliance

  • Dimensions: 10×10 inches deep canvas
  • Framed: Yes (not shown in image)

American Brilliance – named for its exceptional brilliance due to the high lead content of the glass – takes you back to a time of opulence and prestige. The Jersey Journal often mentioned people’s houses in connection with families who owned exquisite cut glass, symbolizing domestic grace and societal prestige. See painting and more details in store.

Mockup image of the 'American Brilliance' painting displayed without a frame on a wooden shelf, accompanied by three decorative vases, showcasing the artwork's scale and adding elegance to the room decor

I wrote about the painting and why American Brilliance Glass is so fascinating to me on my substack.

I hope you’re as captivated by these pieces as I am. If you have any questions or if one of these artworks speaks to you, feel free to reach out. Let’s find a forever home for these pieces- it would mean the world to me.

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Join Me on Sidewalk Stories. A New Artful Adventure

Hey my art friends, I hope this post finds you well and filled with the same excitement that’s been fueling my latest artistic journey. Today I have some exciting news to share.

As you may know, I have been working tirelessly to prepare for my upcoming exhibition “Sidewalk Stories”. It’s been a thrilling exploration of Jersey City’s urban landscape, a captivating fusion of art, history, and story telling that I can’t wait to share with you.

However, this blog has been a bit silent lately. Don’t worry; I’m not disappearing into the shadows. Instead, I’m shifting my focus to a new platform that will allow me to connect with you more intimately, sharing my creative process, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and the stories behind my art.

Introducing Sidewalk Stories on Substack!

On my Substack newsletter, you’ll find regular updates, exclusive content, and a deeper dive into the art, history, and storytelling that inspire my work. If you’re genuinely interested in my art, my plans, and the fascinating blend of creativity and Jersey City’s (and other sites’) narrative, that is the place to be.

If you’re a subscriber to this blog, I have some good news. In the next couple of days, I’ll be migrating your subscription to my Substack. You don’t have to do a thing! Of course, if you’d rather not continue receiving updates, I completely understand, and you can easily unsubscribe.

But I hope you’ll join me on this new artful adventure. Together, we’ll explore art’s profound connection to history, dive into the art-making process, and unearth the hidden tales within the urban landscape.

Thank you for being a part of my creative journey, and I can’t wait to connect with you on Sidewalk Stories.

P.S. If you’re as excited as I am, sign up for the Sidewalk Stories today!

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Art Stroll – Art Fair 14C, Jersey City

This happened last fall but none the less I was inspired and it was fun walking through the ArtFair, so I wanted to share some of the art. The Artfair took place in the Armory here in Jersey City
These Mixed Media pieces by Andrea McKenna caught my eye – no pun intended

One of my very favorite pieces were these ones by Deborah L. Morris- the idea of embroidering clay, porcelain or metal – love the juxtaposition of something so fine and delicate with a hard material!

Another local artist I always love to see is Pam Cooper – her paper assemblages and books are just so delicate and beautiful!

Thought provoking art

And fun art about cats

Art by local artist Distort depicting local artist Sam
Another favorite booth of mine was Robert Lach’s, who used those delicate bird’s nests for assemblage pieces
There was a lot of art -and I really enjoyed it – Art Fairs are a great way to see art and I especially enjoyed seeing local artists there.

I am signing off with a picture of the cool wooden seats of the Armory- because rest was needed after walking to see all the little booths and stands. I will def. go back this year – hoping it will happen again and can only recommend this one if you are in the NYC metropolitan area.

Comments (3)

  • Evelyn Kurz

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    Just an aside. I remember waving a flag outside our grammar school in fall 1959 as JFK was on his way to the Armory for a speech.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Oh wow! That is fun – I did not know he spoke there! Thank you Evelyn!

      Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    I really like the pieces by Andrea McKenna!
    Were the couches for sale or for resting?
    The big silver one looks fun.

    Reply

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Stroll Through the Hood – January 2023

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

These houses are just so cool- the patina and colors and everything. We actually looked at one of those houses several years ago but it was not for us but I still love the facades!

We started the year off with some fun little home projects – like turning old locks we found in the basement and some additional ones we bought at a salvage place, into hooks / decoration pieces in our basement. We love them and I would like to add some “old” pictures of the house and people who lived here to the wall as well. I will keep you posted if I do.

We also bought some Sash Locks that were missing on our windows at a salvage place and I found this incomplete sash lock with a porcelain knob and made it into a little hook for a hand towel in the guest powder room.

I am also taking a 10 week class in Wheel Throwing and it is a blast ! It just started, but I am already committed to say it is fun LOL. The studio is in this amazing old building from 1884 – I have to ask Frank our teacher what it was used for back then.

I love the colors on this building and the wonderful pediment on the top. The houses on the left and right don’t have the pediment and I am wondering if they restored it or had it made – in any event, it is amazing!

This church is being converted into apartments. The original structure of this church was an important hiding place on the Underground Railroad to get further up North.

I am a sucker for old brick houses and the brick work is just amazing on those! It is beautiful!

I always love looking up and wonder what kind of cornice and siding is hidden underneath the ugly vinyl and sometimes you get a glimpse – if only as in this case for a day before they started demolishing the house.

Here is another glimpse on one – I am assuming the window came later -very interesting.

Even though it is not that cold so far, I have spent a lot of time in my studio, painting – which is exactly what I planned for this year :) Bobby Pretzel thinks that is perfect – he loves to have me around so he can ignore me by sleeping safe and sound

While Mingus is slightly annoyed that his beauty sleep in the studio is interrupted by music, me moving through the studio and stopping to look at the two of them to exclaim “OMG you guys are sooo cute” ;)

Well that was it – see you next month – I hope you enjoyed the Stroll through the hood !

Comments (3)

  • Mary Mary

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    This is so awesome!!! Love your pics!

    Reply

  • Rebecca

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    I enjoy your strolls very much. Architecture is one of my favorite things to look at.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nat, I also love the brick houses.
    The history of the church is cool and it will be fun to be able to tell folks the story once they move into one of the apartments.

    Reply

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Stroll Through the Hood – December 2022

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

December already, things are slowing down – the cats are hanging out in the art studio in their new cat tree … don’t they look as if you could just pluck them off there?

We got our tree for the living room – it is huge and fills the room with a gorgeous smell! Every morning I sit here with my first coffee and a cat on the lap and read the news …brings me joy

We also decorated our stoop – we are all in this year – our first Christmas in this house :)

In other house news- we have still some loose ends construction and painting wise- but we stripped those plaster brackets that were painted over and over the past decades that no details were visible. I couldn’t believe when I found all those different patterns like dots and grids in there …those things make me so excited – it is ridiculous LOL

We went an artfair held in the Armory nearby – I always wondered how it looked inside and well – now I know. Love the floor

But these old wooden gym seats with the brick wall just are my fave!

The building on the left is in a very sad state but must have been magnificent back in the days- nonetheless I love this little view with the Queen Anne on the right, a church visible in the middle and the brick apartment building with fire stairways on the right …it is so typical Jersey City to me!

This is one of many identical apartment buildings on a neighborhood street and I find it just so interesting – the oval windows next to the columns- the door obviously not original . And then the very long quoined window units on the left and right of the second floor …was this ever ONE window? or how did the middle look in between back then …these are the weird things I ask myself when I walk through the city- LOL.

Wonderful wood rose window in this gothic style church. One day I would love to see the church from the inside.

This building is being renovated and I love love love the massive entrance – isn’t this amazing? I just wish they would have created a different stairway or will still do something with it -the stairs do not fit at all with this.

And lastly this gorgeous color combo on the house with the green and mauve and pastel yellow and the wonderful foliage. I find this highly inspirational.

Hope you enjoyed the stroll this month – see you next month :)

Comments (4)

  • Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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    Hi, Nathalie! You have a wonderful front door! I always love your strolls through the ‘hood. I grew up in Rumson; these posts stir up a little homesickness in me.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Wow, I just love your festive front door! Your tree is wide and nice,
    The pic with the three different buildings is wonderful with the contrast.
    Merry Christmas Nat.

    Reply

  • rzwick2att-net

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    I admire the cat tree, too! Thank you for taking us along on another stroll. I love your neighborhood!

    Reply

  • Robin

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    I love the cat ladder! So fun. Your home looks beautiful. Enjoy Christmas and the slower pace!

    Hugs

    Reply

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Stroll Through the Hood – November 2022

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

So hard to believe that it is already November – and while I am dreading winter before it even started I nonetheless loving the ambience that comes with the seasons …and hey …I got an antique oil lamp and I looooveee it.

I am also taking a class at NYU in Historic Preservation and a lot of my assignments are to take a stroll through the hood and take pictures of certain architectural features – HA – great – you asked the right person LOL. Anyway- for my assignment to photograph pilasters I thought the class would enjoy this gem of a house ;) No sugar coating back then!

For the same assignment but the task to find the “Colosseum Motif” I took a picture of this church window – gosh I love love love the brick pattern. It is fun to do my strolls as usual but look at the buildings I know with different eyes and search for certain features.

A wonderful Cafe in our neighborhood offered a great dinner and we went with friends. The theme was 1894 – the year the building in which the cafe is set, was built and the owner and cook not only researched all those recipes, he also told the story and background of each course. It was so much fun.

Now I am sure you are as nervous as we were about the “Pickled Ear”

I am happy to report all was good- no Jersey Style chopped ear was served ;) An ear of corn ….which was delicious.

Other than that we are still doing a lot of renovation and updates in the house. The picture above is the curtesy of the seller …we call this usually a landlord’s special – when they just paint everything with flat paint – including hardware etc. without doing anything like priming etc. In this case it was especially stupid and bad as it was painted on top of a layer of oil paint. Don’t ask me how I feel about taking this all off …I am ready to pickle an ear ;)

We are also working on a new guest powder room and we cannot wait for it to be done. This used to be the super dark laundry room in the basement. I actually think that initially the cook might have slept here as the cook often times was also the laundress and according the censuses from 1890 and 1900 they lived in house. Plus this room downstairs has a window. So I think the cook was here and the other servants have lived upstairs …but we will probably never know for sure. In any event …this is what it will be in the future. The blue on the wood panelling is called Skinny Jeans …I love the name!

Bobby Pretzel likes winter btw- that is when he starts cuddling on my lap and therefore…maybe I do like winter as well, because how can you not love having such a bundle of toe beans cuddle with you :)

Hope you enjoyed the stroll this month – see you soon :)

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Stroll Through the Hood – October 2022

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

I really love the light in my new studio and I am looking almost forward to colder months that make us stay home more and me spend more time in the studio.

Our stained glass window in the kitchen needs a lot of love as it is starting to sag and bulge and I had to take some photos to get things in motion for the restoration – isn’t this just amazing? I love love love all the little bits and pieces and color variations.

This old cemetery – which has it’s first recorded burial in 1680 is the last resting place for a lot of the older families from the Netherlands that settled here around the 1630s. It is never open – so it was a treat to be able to go in finally.

A lot of the gravestones cannot be read anymore- but every name is a street in Jersey City.

This one has this interesting skull engraving on the top.

And then we stumbled across this stone …and I gasped – not only because it was half eaten by the tree but because I recognized the name and the dates right away. Albert J. Vreeland’s widow and his children lived after his death in our house for a couple years – and I had found his son’s WWI enlistment etc. It was somehow touching to see the gravestone …I know weird, but then I thought- hey, there hasn’t been anyone in decades probably who stopped at this stone and thought of this person…so it is meant to be.

Across the cemetery is the Old Bergen Church which has been re-built several times and has each of the old headstones in walls. It was the first time that the church was actually open as well and I could see it since we moved here

It is a pretty church and quite similar to some of the Northern German churches I have seen.

This one is a bit sad as the two buildings had a huge fire – everyone is ok. The reason I am posting it, is because of the cornice. For years I walked by this building and said “I bet there is a really cool cornice underneath that ugly vinyl siding” and there it is. I am glad the people in the houses and business owners are ok. So scary.

Meanwhile this guy just sleeps on my desk – being a Pretzel

And this guy loves lettuce …don’t ask …

Hope you enjoyed the stroll this month – see you soon :)

Comments (3)

  • Sue Clarke

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    That stone marker under the tree is so cool and how special that you knew the name from your house!

    Reply

  • Robin

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    Such a fun post. That window is amazing!!! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  • Diane Tignor

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    Always, always love these posts! 😊

    Reply

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Stroll Through the Hood – September 2022

Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

Lots of House pictures this month – as we are still working on a lot of stuff. Here is the bathroom floor – pretty much the only nice thing about our main bathroom which is a Frankenstein of DIY throughout the decades …and believe me…it is not good and not shown are the holes in the floor that I patched temporarily. I love the pattern though – I always think about which stamps I should take to recreate it – and maybe I should just tackle this ;)

And yes there are still boxes – but I am happy to report that they are now finally unpacked. Mingus was caught like this judging the mess …it was all fun for him on the ladder until he decided to jump down and the ladder tumbled …then it was a scaredy cat for a little bit …but don’t think he learned from this ;)

(no cats, windows, floors or else were harmed in the cat flight)

We finally got our wonderful home commission artwork by Natalya Khorover back from the framer and now it hangs in our dining room. I loooveee it.

Pretzel loves the Fainting Sofa

Always love this row of houses downtown! The iron work is so beautiful.

Wallpaper hung, walls painted and trim painting in progress.

I love our floors- it is simple but beautiful! I am actually thinking of using the border pattern for the bathroom when we redo it next year or so. Imagine a black tile border like the darker wood and the rest in white tiles …still adding to my little idea board.

My studio while filming the new Artful Adventures with Matisse Class – it was hot hot hot in that room- but I love my studio so much.

In the bathroom which will not be touched as long as we are in the house is this contraption which I think I never showed you. It is actually a common thing in old bathrooms on the east coast still – but we had no clue what it was when we bough the house, until we ran the water in the bathtub and we couldn’t figure out how to drain the water LOL. It is a Standing Waste and Drain Tub Tower – pull on the top or push it down …mystery solved.

Speaking of gorgeous floors, we had dinner at our friend’s house which is close by and look at this gorgeous pattern on the floor.

And I may have serious radiator envy …it is a thing …trust me.

They also still had this crazy antique breaker box in the hallway …

This made me laugh hard at our local music store

I leave you with a little wavy glass love – the reflections of our 130 year old window glass are just my favorite thing.

Hope you enjoyed this stroll- until next month! See you

Comments (2)

  • Jen

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    Thanks for sharing all the very interesting pics just proves there are cool things to see everywhere if one just looks!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    I have never seen a standing tub tower and I’ve lived in the north east my whole life. Although I also haven’t been in many older homes.
    I love all the natural light in your studio. As always, thanks for the neighborhood stroll pics. It encourages me to see my own hood differently.

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Grow Wiser, Better – Art Journal

This study for a painting depicts a Synagogue that is now a Baptist Church in my neighborhood – a very intriguing building. I used spray paints, my new fav Caran D’ Ache water soluble pencil set, Art Graf water soluble tailor chalk, and a black fine Posca marker. I also used my Hydrant rubber stamp to help set the scene.

Stay tuned for the painting ;)

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Comments (1)

  • Vee

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    I love the history you share with your ‘strolls’ and your ART.
    Sharing what you see and what you have learned…things I would never see or know
    without you.
    THANKS

    Reply

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