I love making art, I love being creative, I love to craft. I often think how lucky I am that I found my fire! I would have never guessed that this is where my path would lead me in my later life. I hope everyone can find their fire!
What is yours?
I wanted share with you my painting “Gone Destination” which I had painted for one of the chapters of my book Artful Adventures in Mixed Media. The painting shows “Pearl Paint, an art supply store, I used to visit often in NYC when I was still living in Germany and once in a while visit my family in the States. I loved this place and I loved the building. I was very sad when it closed down. The paining is part of one of my chapters in my book where I show how and why I created the background – and what it was inspired by. I was pleasantly surprised that this was picked as the cover image for my book by the publisher (you see as an author you do not have a lot of say on that ;) ) . A student of mine, Julie B., really wanted it and so it is now on it’s way to California. I am so happy to know this painting that is so special to me will have a new loving home.
Speaking of Artful Adventures- are you playing along in the Stroll Through the Hood Challenge and Free Classroom? It is so much fun and I love seeing all the different “hoods” of those participating from all over the world, from all kinds of different neighborhoods- rural, urban …It is like an inspiring mini-vacation! Check it out if you haven’t yet and join the fun!
Have a wonderful day!
Last week I went to Ohio to teach at Artiscape, a 3-Day Mixed Media Workshop Event. I taught three classes “Artvergnugen- Artjournaling” “Walk With Me – Altered Book” and “Master Art Express – Artjournaling” and the classes were filled with such delightful and talented students- I had so much fun!
Look at all the smiling faces and colorful backgrounds in the Artvergnugen class. (Artvergnugen – the pleasure in creating Art :))
In “Walk With Me” we gave old books a new live using their initial book soul – loved the different takes of students incorporating bits and pieces of the book to be part of the art like the title or drawings in the book.
Oh and Joe – I still owe you a quarter for saying John …maybe next time? ;)
In “Master Art Express” we took the Orient Express to stop at different stations and meet some Master Artists and got inspired for some out of the box approaches for art journaling.
We trully made the dull looking hotel conference rooms sparkle with color…and laughter :)
I truly loved every single moment of the classes and in between the classes there was a lot of great opportunities to stock up on art supplies for mixed media work at Joe Rotella’s store and also the vendor fair. Where else do you find a bucket full of “appendages” LOL
It was also great to catch up with some artist friends like Jen Crossley and MaryBeth Shaw and to meet some other wonderful teachers, like Glenda Miles, Cheryl Strait and Cindi Bison-Mc Gee.
And ohhh looksie some of my RubberMoon Stamps in the store – wohooo.
It was wonderful to meet Klara again who was also at my workshop at Color Crush two months ago – always the best to see students again !
It was a relaxed and great event and I hope I can come back some time.
Thank you to all students who come and made this such a wonderful experience and thank you to Lisa and Joe for having me and putting together such an amazing event. It was truly an Artiscape!
If you missed out on this event and would like to take a class with me – check out my In-Person-Class listing to see where I am at in the next couple weeks.
Have a gorgeous day!
Hey Nat, It was so great to hang out with you so many laughs,til we meet again have fun Jen xx
It was so good to see you girl!!!! Glad to hear you came back well – cannot wait to see you again- on either side of the pond :)
What a bunch of beautiful faces having fun creating!
Don’t you just love to hang with people who create?
Thanks for sharing the pics and one day I will meet you in person Nat.
Have a nice weekend.
yeah it is the best, Sue and I would sooooooo love to meet you in person one day! ❤️
Nat – I had SO. MUCH. FUN! In all 3 classes. I do hope you’ll come back. Stephanie
Stephanie, it was so cool and fun to finally meet you!!!! Thank you so much for coming and I hope I see you soon again . Huge hugs!!! nat
“For my part I have never avoided the influence of others. I would have considered it cowardice and a lack of sincerity toward myself” Henri Matisse
Some stamping with several of my ArtFoamies Stamps including my new super cute Versailles Positive and Negative Mini Stamps. I used only two colors of the stamping and once I filled up both pages, I painted with some yellow acrylic ink over part, which turned green over the blue and stayed yellow in the white off -set stamped areas.
I like how this spread turned out- it was fun. Here are some of the supplies I used – some of the links are affiliate links:
Have a wonderful creative day!
Love the mix/matching of the various sizes of Versailles stamp with a little Buenos Aires for interest. Thank you again for the inspiration.
thank you Julie!
Lots of things are going through my mind lately and this quote in my art journal truly resonates with me.
I just received my new Dina Wakley Art Journal yeahh. I was so impatient to finally hold it in my hands ever since I saw it at the AFCI (former CHA) show in January. If you haven’t seen the journal yet, it has different surfaces including burlap, canvas, cotton rag, watercolor paper, and kraft paper. It won’t be my everyday journal, as I love to work in double spreads, but it is a great journal for forcing me out of my box with its fun opportunities and possibilities of paint applications. I am so stoked about it.
This spread was created on a watercolor spread in the book- I love the texture . I also played with some of Dina’s paints. I layered my hood stamps and colored them in.
For the stars in the sky I used my Star Fish stamp with some white ink and finished the spread with the quote written with a white sharpie.
Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread:
I wish you are wonderful day <3
Beautiful page !! ??
Thank you so much Torsa <3
This is another project I did for the ArtFoamies booth at Creativation. For this project I used a square piece of hard board and glued down some corrugated cardboard here and there around the edges. (I just used pieces from an old shipping box). Then I painted the whole board over with black gesso and let it dry.
Using my Versailles Negative and Positive Foam Stamps I stamped first one pattern with Embossing Ink onto the middle of the background , sprinkled some Aged Embossing Powder on top, heated it up until it was molten and then repeated the same with the same Stamp until a tile pattern was created. Next I used the other Versailles Stamp Set and stamped also with Embossing Ink on top of the already embossed areas, repeating all stamps but this time with a different color of Embossing Powder. Oh my ….do I love this crusty, textured outcome !!!
It feels really good and it looks even better in person. I used a gauge which I had found a couple years ago at a flea market and saved for a special project and mounted it to the board with Extra Heavy Gel Medium.
I really love how the Positive and Negative Stamps work with Embossing Powder- definitely something I will play more with .
Here is a little list of the supplies I used -some links are affiliate links:
Have a gorgeous day!
Nat
Great effect. Love the border. I must try foamies and add them to my collection.
Thank you so much Mary. They are really fun and versatile to use, I hope you will give them a go :)
That is sooo cool , I love the texture it created and even more awesome how you could use the positive and negative stamps together like that ❤
Hi Sherry, thank you so much! It was really fun! Have a wonderful week! <3
Love the gauge on that piece and the layers are fun (using the positive and negative).
Thank you Sue! Yeah the Gauge finally was used- LOL- I have kept it forever hoping for the right piece to use it.
Wow, Nathalie! Love this!!! It looks wonderful! I’m going to try this with my foam stamps, too. Thanks for sharing –
Yeah- give it a try Donna, it was really fun to do and it feels pretty cool. I think I will do this on my art journal cover too :) Have a gorgeous day!
“Courage, like love, circles back around and finds us again. Love, like courage, only blooms there exists so many reasons to be afraid.” Tyler Knott Gregson
I had such a wonderful time creating the page and playing and trying new things. I tested the Daniel Smith Gold Iridescent Gesso, which the wonderful people at Daniel Smith gave me for that purpose at Creativation and applied it loosely to the art journal pages. The gesso was thinner then I expected but oh my oh my once it dried the load of gold pigment fully revealed itself. And I was in Love.
Next I used my Chicago 9×12 Stencil here and there dabbed some white watercolor ground through it – and then painted the bottom of the page also loosely with the ground. Watercolor ground is a primer like Gesso which creates a porous surface on which you can later apply watercolor. I am totally intrigued by this medium and also bought a clear version to further play later and mix up watercolor and acrylics more in my work. I let everything dry overnight as it was stated on the jar.
Then I stamped with my Stroll Through the Hood set 1 and Stroll Through the Hood Set 2 and archival ink and created a city scene. I used the cling stamps and layered them up, using only parts of buildings- and just had a fun time with them.
And then I played with watercolor and just had a good time. I love how the watercolors pop off the background and how the white watercolor ground and gold elements are making it sparkly. I also love the texture created with the watercolor ground.
I added the journaling with one of the ArtGraf Graphite and went over it with a wet brush again. I guess I have a new crush …on watercolors …oh brother ;)
Here are the supplies I worked with – some links are affiliate links:
Do you have a new art supply /medium crush this year?
This is absolutely STUNNING! Just stunning! Thank you for sharing your process……love the watercolors with your stencils and stamps; love the gold throughout. Hmmm…..you have me very curious about this medium. Thank you!
Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! Today is Tuesday and time for a post by my Creative Squad . Cheiron Brandon is sharing a beautiful Art Journal spread using the Batik 1 and Batik 2 Foam Stamps as well as the Embroidery and Stroll Through the Hood #1 Stamp Sets and this month’s theme: Let’s Go Somewhere. We’re in the depths of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere and looking for an escape! This month let’s reminisce about past vacations and plan future adventures to help us get through these gray days.
Hi there! Cheiron here with my monthly post. This month’s theme is Let’s Go Somewhere! I always love warm weather, but I am not opposed to snow an winter either. As we are approaching Valentine’s day my thoughts for my journal page drifted to Paris and the romantic pinks and blacks. I wouldn’t mind wandering through Paris in the snow and stopping to warm up every so often with some warm food and wine…
I created this page by laying down a foundation of gesso, then stamping with paint to create lots of layers using the Batik Pattern 1 and 2 ArtFoamies and stenciled using the Beacon Stencil. I partially applied paint to the shapes I wanted by using a foam blending tool. I used lots of stamps from the new Mixed Media Stamps Embroidery Set and the awesome graffiti style love from the Stroll Through The Hood #1 Set.
To finish off the page, I added some splatter in coordinating colors. I can tell that these new stamps are going to be a staple in my art journal. I hope you are having a great day, whether its warm or cold where you are, and if you are planning a vacation or just dreaming of one!
Thank you so much Cheiron! I love how she used bits and pieces of the Foam Stamps instead of using them as a whole image and I also love the grungy feel of this page and the wonderful colors. Now I want to go to Paris too :)
Here are the supplies Cheiron used in her post- 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“.
Cheiron your page is beautiful! I love how you used the stamps, and those colors are yummy!
Hey Nat! Of course you would have a Creative Squad. I’m glad Cheiron is a member. I have always enjoyed her work, it’s light, colorful and nice to look at.
Sherri – so good to see you here :) Yes- I love Cheiron and her work! I hope I see you soon again my friend!!!! have a great rest of the week, Nat
Strolling through my hood really makes me happy – I love my city and I love the inspiration I get from it. I wrote a little about these warm feelings towards my home city in this journaling spread. For the page I painted with white gesso over a spread which I had used before to clean off some paint during painting on a canvas. I applied the gesso in areas more like a wash, as I like to have the underlaying background showing through for visual interest, but it does look way better knocked back a lot.
I had used the Beacon 9×12 Stencil on a different art journal spread with spray paint and cleaned off the access paint on the stencil with a deli paper sheet, resulting in the negative imagery of the Beacon Stencil- I love it- I love both versions. I ripped out an area of the printed deli paper and applied it with Gel Medium to the Background.
I also used the Granada 9×12 Stencil after using it on a different spread to clean it off on this page. Since it has the same colored red spray paint those marks here and there add some nice marks.
I stamped using black archival ink with the stamps included in the Stroll Through the Hood 1 and Stroll Through the Hood 2 and applied them around the page- I love how the black ink makes the images really pop off the page
I also used a red ink pad to stamp with the Love Knots Stamp here and there and to repeat the read color used yet again.
I like this spread a lot- it is a bit different from my usual very paint filled page – but I think you can still see me :)
Here are the supplies I used in this spread- note that some links are affiliate links:
Had to wipe my keyboard off…..I drooled on it staring at this print you made! Really, really love your work GF!
LOL- Gerrie that made me laugh! Thank you so much for your sweet words! have a fantastic weekend!!!
Oh yes… even though it’s different – definitely can see YOU all over these pages Nat. And… this is SPECTACULAR. Love the openess but with so much dimension and hidden treasures to discover. One of my favorites now!! Xj.
Thank you Joi ! Wish you a wonderful weekend!
Comments (1)
stresso
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What a great spread! Thanks for so much inspiration to find our fires too.
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