Blog: liquitex

Gloomy – Mixed Media Painting

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This painting was part of the Jersey City Art & Studio Tour 2015. I called it Gloomy and it shows the Powerhouse in Jersey City- and it now belongs to Lori – hopefully it makes her happy and not gloomy ;)

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It was hard to photograph as it has a glass like effect on top due to the Pouring Medium I treated it in the end with.

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Lot’s of texture work – and I found a new way to create texture with Liquitex Heavy Body Paint and Spray Paint – getting a peeled effect- oh yumminess :)

Here is what I used for those of you who want to know



Nat

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Listen, Smile …or In My Art Journal Today

Disclaimer: This post includes an art journal page with a swear word – I know….OMG!  Please …get over it, it is called personal expression . If you have a problem with that or art, you might be better off looking at something else . Don’t email me to complain, don’t visit my blog anymore because I might post things like this again and, farewell!

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“Note to self: Listen, smile, agree…and then do whatever the **** you were gonna do anyway! ”

Sometimes an art journal is a the best way to get some grumpy feelings out …and this was just the right thing for me to write down at the situation I was in. So there, I felt better right away :)

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But besides that I was dumping my grumpiness onto this art journal spread – I had a pretty fun time painting :) I had used some colors, mixing and brushing them on and also doing some marks with my brush.

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The white splatters were done with a fan brush and white Liquitex Acrylic Ink.

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For the stamping I used my Stampendous Mark Maker Set and the Hero Arts Ink Pad – I love the chalky look of it and how it gives a nice layered look.

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For the journaling I use a Fineline Applicator filled with a mixture of Liquitex acrylic ink and soft body paint.

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The orange-purple-brown texture pieces are actually acrylic skins which I applied with Matte Medium – I love using those in  my art journal.

Here is a list of all the supplies I used

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Nat

Comments (7)

  • D.Ann C

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    Loving the colors that fit your mood, especially how the orange pops like a fire from within! Coming here from FL via Stampendous : )

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  • Carla Harrell

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    I am so f***ing excited to see an artist use ‘foul language’ in their art!! LOVE IT, ALL OF IT!!

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  • Barb J

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    Freedom of expression is what makes art work. I like what you have done with the colors and stamps on this page.

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  • Gayle

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    This made my day! Loved the disclaimer and your great freedom of expression that also carries over in your art. So liberating!

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  • Jean

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    Love the sentiment (and the art as well)!

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  • Lydia

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    It’s GORGEOUS! And make art however you want :)

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  • Sue Clarke

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    Love the texture and your words don’t bother me. LOL

    Reply

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Photos of the Art Journaling Live 2015 Event

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Exactly 48 hours after I landed in Newark after my trip to Europe, I was back at the airport to head out to Arlington, Texas for the Create Art Journaling Live 2015 Event. After a mayor delay  and a pretty insane flight – which I add to my “gotta great travel story to tell ” repertoire I arrived late in Dallas. As I had a dinner date with my sweet friend Julie and Margaret and Jackie, I went by taxi right to the restaurant from the airport. Only…due to a major miscommunication, I went to the wrong restaurant in Plano and not in Dallas. Which left me alone and pretty much throwing a pitty party for myself and exhausted on a parking lot in the middle of nowhere in Texas. But good friends don’t let you hanging and so Julie, Margaret and Jackie drove to get me. In the end my very first huge pile of Smoked Texan BBQ Ribs and a good drink as well as lots of laughter made me feel as if the world was still awesome ;) Thank you girls <3

The next morning the event took place – and Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Dina Wakely, Mary Beth Shaw and I taught some fun Art Journaling Techniques.

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We had 75 students and it was so much fun to see so many familiar faces in the round. Thank you for coming – that was awesome!

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The classes and the students were video graphed during the day and in a couple months you can actually purchase the whole event as a class DVD. I will keep you posted.

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As you can see we were sitting a bit on a high podest (here is Dina in action) – which was a bit awkward since we couldn’t walk around or move much- and if you know me I am usually bouncing around like a rubber ball  in my classes. But it was the way it needed to be for the filming. The students could see everything on a big screen and followed along and it was fun to see what they are doing too.

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We other teachers sat in the back of the room playing around in our journals.

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Here are Jackie and Margaret and Katie all named Margaret on their tags- which made me laugh big time! So wonderful to meet them!

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As I said it was awesome to see many familiar faces too – makes me always super happy!

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Here I am on my “throne” – I was really nervous before the whole thing, I have never taught such a big class and on top being on camera too – but then I forgot the cameras and kept on going …and melting…as you can see the huge light.

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And below is the reason why I never do manicure. I believe those hands looked good about 2 minutes on camera

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And here are the four of us after the event!

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That was fun! Thank you to all of our students,  Cloth Paper Scissors for having us and the fun video team. Thank you also to Liquitex for sponsoring the huge amount of acrylic media in the class kits and to Stampendous for sponsoring one of my stamp sets for the students!  I will keep you posted on the release of the DVD/Download :)

Have a gorgeous day

Nat

Comments (6)

  • Susan Schultheis

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    WOW! 4 of my fave artists. Maybe one day you will have your Art Journaling Live a little closer to Maryland?? I sure it was a fantastic everything.

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      That would be cool Susan. I would love to come to Maryland. Who knows :)

      Reply

  • Joi@RR

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    Welcome Home Nat! Dear me… you are off and running again fast! This was fun to see – although I hate to think of you alone in Texas at the wrong restaurant – ugh. Glad you were rescued :) You look GREAT on your throne!!!! Love the last picture of the four of you together – great smiles!! Looks like it was a great success. REST…. if you can! j.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      LOL- thank you Joi- yep I am glad I got “rescued” ;) I did rest a bit after the event – and I am fully energized but a bit lazy now ;)

      Reply

  • Denise Spillane

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    I can confirm that this was a fun and fabulous event! I would do it again in a minute! The only thing better would be two days so we could have more time withe each of you!

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Denise, thank you so much for coming! It was so good to see you and I agree- a two day event would be fab!

      Reply

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Europe Workshop Tour- Part 8 – De Craftorij Workshops in The Netherlands

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After a couple days of relaxing, Birgit and I went down from the North of The Netherlands to Ede to teach at the De Cratorij Retreat. We had such a great time. We taught the same workshops as in Finland – a Mono printing Class together on saturday and then each of us an art journaling class on sunday.

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Thank you so much to Liquitex for supplying all the acrylic media for my Europe Workshop tour! That was amazing!

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Lia brought a lot of her store supplies to the hotel and it was pretty thrilling to see all those stamps and stencils of mine at one place – wowsers.

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so many stunning pages in the mono printing class

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and messy hands ;)

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this is our Saturday group

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we had a delicious dinner – and of course our table was the loudest!

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with Birgit – miss her already!

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we had mother and daughters spending a creative day together

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and friends coming all the way from Belgium

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we had a lot of fun as you can see

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and I loved seeing so many familiar faces too -it always makes me super happy to see students again – sometimes years later

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and here is Moreg and my sweet friend Marsha- which do not have a picture with – Hey Marsha, how did we forget this?

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Such a positive and wonderful group of girls – thank you all for coming!

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and then it was sadly time to pack the supplies up…and ooopsss – I guess I got some nice presents – Dutch Hagelslag with minions. Hagelslag are sprinkles that are eaten on sandwiches in The Netherlands. Thank you Helen and Sonja- they make me think of you every time I see the package and we are very excited here every time a minion falls out :)

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Thank you Lia for having us – you were a terrific host and we had a wonderful time with you! I cannot wait to see you in January at CHA in Anaheim!

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And thanks again to our gorgeous students- You ROCK!!!

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That was it from the Europe Tour. The next morning we got up in the middle of the night, drove to Amsterdam and I flew home. But traveling was not quite over yet- stay tuned ;)

Nat

Comments (10)

  • Paulien

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    It was SUPER !!!

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  • Joi@RR

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    You know what strikes me the most about seeing all your European Tour pictures Nat????? The fact that people all over the world “create” in the same way… doing the same things… smiling and forgetting their cares – loving one another. That probably seems like a strange thing for me to say but when you hear about all the challenges in this world every day – it’s just so refreshing to see how you went all over Europe and spread joy and love and paint! I love your art – you know how much I do. But I also love that you are such a wonderful Ambassador/Mentor/Teacher that can hold hands and love us all – worldwide… sharing, caring and giving across the world… what a great legacy Nat. I so admire you. Big hugs and big thanks…j.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Joi – I love love love what you wrote here!!!! I would love to share this comment – it is so true! we are all create the same things, love the same things, care about the same things and want to forget the challenges in the world! Isn’t that a beautiful thing ! Thank you Joi for making my morning with this reminder!

      Reply

  • Morag

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    It was a great weekend and a whole lot of fun meeting you and Birgit!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      It was wonderful to meet you Morag! Hope I will see you soon again!

      Reply

  • Marie-Anne Raeman

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    I enjoyed every minute of it, thank you for the wonderfull reportage of a great weekend

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Marie-Anne- thank you for coming all the way from Belgium- it was so good to see you again!!!!

      Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Birgit has such a nice smile that her personality jumps right off the post page to tell me that she’s friendly and full of mischief.
    The photo at the dinner table and the group class photo are so wonderful. Thanks for sharing your adventures with your loyal fans Nat!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Sue – yep- you got it for Birgit – super friendly and full of mischief ;) Good mischief. Hopefully one day I will meet you too and we will smile a big smile at the camera :)

      Reply

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Europe Workshop Tour- Part 5 – Matka Luovuuteen Workshops in Turku, Finland

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After a 2 hour drive from Helsinki we arrived in Turku at our new home and workshop location on the former ferry: Bore. See the picture above? That is around midnight and the darkest it gets two weeks before midsummer in this area of Finland. Around 3 am the sun was fully up again. Pretty insane and hard to adjust to :) But we managed.

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Nothing boring about Bore :) This was our fun little cabin – we loved it – very cozy. And then we started our workshops on Saturday- first up Birgit’s and my joined Double Mono Class.

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It was the first time that we taught a class together and that means we did really teach it together and it was loads of fun. I think it also showed the students that there is many ways to approach certain results and techniques and to use materials and supplies. We worked well together, which partly comes because we know each other so well and trust each other :)

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Our students were awesome- although they shocked us the first minutes when we heard several “Oho”‘ and “Oy”s and we thought something is not right or they dislike the results …but to our relieve we learned that this means “WOW” in Finland- puhhhh, they really got us ;) .

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It was special to have the workshop on the ship and also sleep on the ship. In between we went out to snap some fresh air and by saying fresh air- I mean fresh air- it was COLD!

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Below our wonderful organizers Minna and Elina with us.

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We also had a big surprise on board on the first day- we got serenaded. Too funny- after the singing in Madrid one of the Finnish girls actually commented and said “Don’t expect that in Finland” HA – wrong ;) And man they were good!

We first thought that Elina had organized that but she swears it was a bachelor party walking around and singing and having a good time. Oh well – we will believe her ;)

 

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On the second day Birgit and I taught each an Art Journal class separately. So many wonderful and colorful art journal spreads – FUN.

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BTW – look at cute Riikka with her self sewn Marimekko Dress- I WANTTTTT! – and her art journal spread- love it too. But the dress- sigh!

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I had so much fun with all the girls- after a whole weekend together you bond and have all kinds of insider jokes and we laughed a lot.

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Kiitos Finland – it was amazing and I hope I will see you again some time!!! Thank you Minna and Elina for having us.

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Next up will be The Netherlands …you thought you are done with the Europe Tour? Nahhh nahhh – LOL

Have a wonderful day ;)

Nat

Comments (8)

  • Gayle

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    Absolutely delightful to read, see and hear! All the best in next stage of your trip. So very inspiring.

    Reply

  • Cheryl Johnson

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    Looks like everyone had a wonderful time. How fun to sleep and make art on a ship! I really like how everyone was serenaded while playing with paint and stencils. Makes me wish I were there. I love all the photos of people’s work.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Glad you liked the post Cheryl! I also always love how students make the techniques and materials their own in the classes.

      Reply

  • Lena Holmström

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    It was so amazing weekend. Thank you Nathalien and Birgit. I had so much fun, so i hope to see you again. Hugs// Lena

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you so much for coming Lena- it was wonderful to meet you!!! hugs back! Nat

      Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Looks like great fun and I so love the designs in those art journals.
    How fun to be sung to while on board.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Yeah that was fun with the singing -wouldn’ t be as nice though if I would sing ;)

      Reply

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Europe Workshop Tour- Part 2 – ArtMesa Workshops in Madrid

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What a fun time we had at our Art Mesa Mixed Media Workshops in Madrid. We had students coming from all over Spain – Madrid, Barcelona, Salamanca, Malaga, Valencia etc. We had a fantastic group of students and it was so good to see so many familiar faces again too! As always my sweet friend Cuchy rocked the organization, translated my workshop and held her own workshop – what a trooper and amazing friend she is !!!

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And …as a special surprise the girls started singing during the workshop – FUN

Hope you didn’t get too dizzy from the video – LOL -I could have warned you …but then…where is the fun ;) ?

Thank you Spain!!! It was awesome! Until the next Art Mesa ;)

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Next up will be a short trip to Germany :)

Nat

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Raw Canvas Staining

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Lately I am addicted to Raw Canvas Staining and painting. Something about this raw material just draws me in.

You might have noticed – I am not the only one :) You can spot the trend of paint stained material on a lot of clothes and home decor items this season. And some of this- you can just make yourself and have an individuell look – here I made my own pillow cases which fit exactly to our living room style and color wise!

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I love the texture and layers you can archive through layering acrylic inks, soft body acrylic paints and markers and I love the versatility of what you can do with the stained raw canvas later on. You can stretch the canvas yourself on stretcher bars and hang it up, you can sew something, you can work on raw canvas totes, purses, aprons, you can use the stained canvas for your art journal covers, as elements in your mixed media collage, patches …you name it …endless possibilities.

I taught my Raw Canvas Class in March in Toronto and we had heaps of fun – exploring different techniques and possibilities and then having each of the student create a pillow case so that they had something to bring home as a finished project.

I will teach this Raw  Canvas Staining class again this month on May 16 at The InkPad in NYC. The location is the Westbeth Community Center – so we have lots of space!

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I will show you how to apply the medium and how to use it so that it works, I will bring Liquitex Acrylic Inks, Paints, and Markers and more for you to work with. We will play with patterns, mark making, stamping, mono printing and stenciling. I will bring lot’s of extra raw canvas for you to play with and if you want you can bring a pillow case or a canvas tote or bring muslin as a different fabric – to create a finished project at the end of the class and create something with the newly learned skills and knowledge. I promise I throw in some extra thick german accent and some jokes  ;) and ….on a more serious note- loads of extra tips and tricks :)

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You find more infos and details as well as the supply list and sign up info here at  The InkPad. There are still a couple seats open.

I hope to see you there!

 

Nat

Comments (1)

  • stephanie

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    looks like a great class, wish I was closer!

    Reply

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Photos of my Workshops in Oklahoma City

I had a blast the past weekend teaching at My Heart’s Fancy in Oklahoma City. I taught “Make Your Mark” a mono printing class on friday and “Artvergnugen” – ArtJournaling as well as “Play-Transform Mixed Media Collage” on Sunday as full day classes. I had a super enthusiastic and fun group of students willing to dive full force in all the yummy color mess – thank you girls!!!

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I love spending the weekend with happy and creative people and besides many things I learned about Oklahoma – thank you for taking the class and that some of you drove from so far away and other States in!!! Thank you also to Maura for being such an amazing host and Lisa for being such a big help and sweet spirit! And thank you to Liquitex for providing such an amazing amount of different yummy acrylic paints and media for us !

If you want to take an in-person class with me – I am teaching next an Art Journaling 101 – April 19 – and a Mixed Media Canvas Class – April 26 – at Pratt Institute in NYC at the Manhattan location.

Find the whole Spring catalogue for Pratt CCPS here. You can sign up at Pratt here

I would love to see you :) – Have a super creative day!

 

Nat

Comments (10)

  • Sherri Coutre

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    Could you please send me information on up coming classes throughout the summer and fall? How much is the fee for the class? What do we need to bring? Thank you so much. I have not started yet, but am so excited.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Sherri, I am not sure if you are talking about in -person or online workshops. For In Person workshops you find all information here http://nathaliesstudio.com/in-person-workshops/ – the Summer and Fall classes will be listed soon. You find all online workshops under the Workshop section on top of the website. Thank you.

      Reply

  • Carol Moore

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    I am so grateful for the time spent with you. Learned a lot and it was so much fun. I was thankful to learn about white washing and glazing. I love all your photos. They bring back many happy memories.

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    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Carol, thank you so much for coming! I had a wonderful time with you all!!!

      Reply

  • Joi@RR

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    LOVED seeing these pictures – thank you so much Nat for sharing. And ladies – wow – it appears you created some FABULOUS artwork. I have just spent more than 30 minutes looking closely at each picture and I’m going back for more!!! Loved the pics with you in them most Nathalie :)
    So fun – great job!!!! j.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Joi for your sweet comment! Yes- those girls rocked it big time in the classes!!

      Reply

  • Delores

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    This was an amazing 3 days and I learned so much! It was fantastic to finally meet you in person! Thank you for all you do for all of us! Thanks to Liquitex for their generosity also. What a great opportunity to learn more about their acrylic products and to use them in our work!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Awe – thank you Delores for coming all the way!!! You girls were all fantastic!!!!

      Reply

  • Linda on the Prairie

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    We had a blast and learned so much in such a short time. This has given me confidence to work far more successfully with some of the Liquitex gels and varnishes. It also pushed me to take my work in a much less “safe”and infinitely more interesting direction. Nathalie, you are a wonderful teacher! Please come back to Oklahoma again.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you so much for coming Linda- it was wonderful to have you!!!!

      Reply

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Playing with Gesso and Acrylic Ink

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I love colors and I love texture …and I love adding both of it into my art journals, which is pretty easy :) Here is a fast forward video on how I create texture with Gesso and then add the super vibrant and pigmented Liquitex Inks to emphasize the texture even more.

Playing With Gesso and Acrylic Ink from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

Hope you liked this little playful video :)

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Please note: I am an official Brand Ambassador for Liquitex, but all my ideas are my own and the opinions, comments and my love for their products are genuine!

Have a wonderful day

Nat

Comments (14)

  • Sabine Schneider

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    Liebe Nat,
    Wow! Gerade zur rechten Zeit ein kleiner Schubser von Dir!!!! Gleich ausprobiert und ich bin super Happy mit dem Ergebnis! Danke Dir für die immer guten Tips!
    Liebe Grüße, Sabine

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      woot woot, freue mich, dass Du es gleich ausprobiert hast :) Danke, Sabine!

      Reply

  • Michelle LaPoint Rydell

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    Hi Nat! Love your journal page! The video was awesome! So inspiring! I think it’s time to bust out my gesso and inks! Thank you!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Michelle- so good to see you – and happy you bust out your gesso and inks !

      Reply

  • Tracy

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    Wicked awesome! Love the colors and watching you do the lettering!

    Reply

  • Joi@RR

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    Just could watch you create forever Nat. This is SUPER FINE FUN in every way. I don’t have the acrylic inks yet but ohhhh how I want them! One day soon. Loved this…. love you too!!! j.

    Reply

  • rebeccavt

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    Just what I needed to watch this morning! Love your technique, the colors, the interesting tools, AND the music. Nice! Thanks!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you Rebecca :) glad you liked the music too – always hard to choose :)

      Reply

  • Kathy P

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    Totally, totally awesome, Nat. The things you did to texturize your paints were fantastic…going to try this today! Thanks for the ongoing inspiration!

    Reply

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