Nathalie Kalbach - Artful Adventures in Mixed Media: Techniques Inspired by Observation and Experience

Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to free content, and information on the latest new releases and must-have art resources! Plus, receive a coupon code to use on your first purchase from NorthLightShop.com for signing up.

or visit us online to sign up at

http://artistsnetwork.com/ebook-promo

To Jim, my husband and biggest cheerer-upper! You amaze me.

Love, Nat

We all know the moment when we hit a creative block in a project. Many times when this happens to me, I leave my studio and go for a walk through the neighborhood to get a change of scenery, and I hope Ill return with my mind refreshed and ready to let inspiration strike.

Frequently, during those walks, what I need emerges. As I wander, something will catch my eye: a manhole cover with a grid-like design, a door with unusual hardware, or graffiti on a wall. I take pictures with my phones camera, and when I look through the photos later, the manhole coveror whatevercatches my interest once again.

I print out the photo and study the pattern; I trace it and let it sit on my desk. The next day, when adding a layer to the canvas that has me stumped, I incorporate elements of the pattern from the manhole into my paintingnot by copying it, but by transforming it into something different. Combined with other sources of inspiration, I suddenly have something new that appeals to me and feels personal. Im excited and elated about my idea and my work.

Moments like this happen over and over again, and its fascinating that something as simple as a walk can spark ideas for your artwork. So how does it work?

By combining skill and inspiration, we unleash hidden creativity and transform our artwork into something unique. While skills are the tools used to create, inspiration is the creative nutrition for our artwork. Skill is not a substitute for inspiration, but mastering our skills can help us when inspiration strikes.

But where do new ideas, the essence for inspiration, come from? For me, it all starts with observation, followed by the collection of ideas, then the transformation into something new: the artwork. I collect, note, record, sketch and write what I experience and see. Then I revisit and review my notes, often by turning them into blog posts, like the Stroll Through the Hood series. When I go to museums, I create Art Stroll posts, or after I travel, I write Inspired By posts.

These are personal ways of vetting the ideas these experiences can spark. While I write, I think about how to translate my observations into my artwork, oftentimes by leaving my comfort zone, and then, last but not least and most importantly, I make art!

HAMBURG HARBOUR

Nathalie Kalbach

Acrylic paint, acrylic ink, and spray paint on canvas

12" 9" (30cm 23cm)

Inspired by the daily changing scenery of the Hamburg Harbor, located in the middle of the city.

This book strives to help you prepare and seek inspiration and to incorporate found inspiration into your own personal artwork.

To break it down, here are the five things that I believe are most relevant for inspiration in art:

There is this myth of the genius artist who gets inspiration for artwork in a surprising moment like a lightning bolt, but rarely is that the case. Most artists are ordinary people who arent divinely struck and inspired out of nowhere to create art. They work at it. New creative ideas stem from something existing. They come to life when artists spot other ideas, observe the world around them and are stimulated by something new, whether in a positive or negative way. Be prepared to observe.

It all starts with being open-minded and recognizing that anything can be inspirational, that everything can spark new ideas. Whenever you stroll through your neighborhood, travel, are out in nature, visit a museum, watch a movie, read a book, or talk to people, you are opening yourself to endless possibilities. Inspiration is all around us, you have to be ready for it and collect itloads of it. You need to make this a daily habit.

Listen actively to your own thoughts and responses whenever you observe something. Take note of it. When you stay alert and pay attention to how you react to your observations, you open yourself to new ideas. Revisit your notes and tend to them like little seeds that could flower into something stunning. Connect the dots and let your mind wander until unrelated ideas form a new and interesting one that is worth going after.

Translating inspiration into artwork is about reacting to an emotional response. Dont think about what it is, but rather about what it could be; it rarely looks like what you imagined. Dont cheat yourself out of the liberating process of art-making by limiting yourself to perfection. You must create art if you want to thrive in your development: good art, bad art, ugly art or disastrous art. Learn through your failures. Develop an imagination of the possible with each layer you create in your artwork, and stay open to being like the blue jay on my terrace that picks up sparkly objects and rearranges whats in my planters. I like to think of it this way: Creating art is an argument youre attempting to work out rather than battle. Be brave and work it out!

Dont think about how others might receive your artwork. Make art that you care about and that feels good for you. And, again, make a lot of if it. Just do it!

LA BOCA

Nathalie Kalbach

Acrylic paint, acrylic ink, marker, charcoal, and collage elements on canvas

12" 9" (30cm 23cm)

Inspired by the colorful neighborhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

You can get by with a surprisingly limited number of supplies to create artwork. The materials are not going to make or break your artwork; its the story behind it and the inspiration that led to it that are most critical. For that reason, my basic supply list includes items to gather and collect as inspiration as well as an art supply list for creating the actual artwork.