Beau Ford's Drip Painted Linen Chest

Happy Australia Day to everybody celebrating!

My gift to you is this next project from my Painter in Residence, Beau Ford, who lives and works in South-West Australia. Beau was inspired by drip painting, often used by abstract artists such as Jackson Pollock, and has completely transformed this linen chest using this technique with Chalk Paint®!

The linen chest started life as an orange-toned, shiny piece of furniture and looked outdated in the modern home. Beau painted the chest in Provence to create a base colour, and then mixed Greek Blue, Antibes and Olive with varying amounts of water. Beau painted these colours on to the side of the chest and allowed the paint to drip down the surface. Once the paint had dried Beau applied my Soft Clear Wax to protect the surface.

What do you think? Would you ever try a similar technique using Chalk Paint®?

Yours, Annie

Follow this blog for the last project from Beau's residency and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and her blog: http://drip-designsfurniture.blogspot.com.au

And remember to follow #PaintersInResidence on Instagram and Facebook, as well as my Painters in Residence board on Pinterest.

Alex Russell Flint's Bedroom

In December, I shared Alex Russell Flint's Chalk Paint® mural with you. Now I can show you a bit more from this, his final Painter in Residence project. Working around the rest of the room with Chalk Paint®, Alex transformed his bedroom (once part of an old schoolhouse) into a sumptuous haven.

Artist Alex brings a romantic and rustic tinge to his French elegance – he juxtaposes a finely panelled door with a distressed and weathered Aubusson washed wall. He has painted the bedroom door in Olive, picking out lines of the panel frames using a complementary colour – Primer Red. He then also painted the antique wardrobe and ladder in Primer Red. The floor is painted in Paris Grey.

I love the way he has carefully composed his collection of found objects and paintings (all in frames painted in Chalk Paint®). Everything has been very well spaced to avoid any sense of overcrowding or cluttering.

This is the final project from Alex's Residency. I hope you've found his work as inspiring as I have. I still have three more projects to share from my first set of Residents: Beau Ford and Janice Issitt. And then I will be able to introduce you to my next set of Painters in Residence. Watch this space!

Yours, Annie

Follow Alex on Instagram, Facebook, and his website:http://www.alexrussellflint.com

And remember to follow #PaintersInResidence on Instagram and Facebook, as well as my Painters in Residence board on Pinterest.

#AskAnnieSloan

Yesterday I hosted my first ever live Twitter Q&A using the hashtag #AskAnnieSloan – I had a lot of fun! I know that a few of you aren't on Twitter, so I've posted the questions and answers here for you all to see.

Thank you to everybody who took part, I'll be hosting another Q&A soon.

Yours, Annie

Janice Issitt's Summerhouse

Painter in Residence, Janice Issitt turned this previously underused summerhouse into a serene and sun-drenched yoga room using my paint, Chalk Paint®.

Janice painted the walls in Paloma – a contemporary neutral which has a pink/purple tone to it. This creates the perfect neutral backdrop to the bright pops of colour Janice introduced throughout the space.

She dyed the lace curtains with Chalk Paint®, using a mix of Emperor's Silk and Henrietta. She used this same colour mix to stencil the walls in a 'mandala' shape.

She painted a little cabinet in Antibes Green, picking out details with brass leaf. She used both my Clear and Dark Soft Wax to finish the cabinet – deepening the green and giving the piece an aged look. The use of my Soft Wax also protects the surface.

I just love the look of the lace curtains she dyed in Chalk Paint®. Have you ever tried dying fabric with my paint?

Yours, Annie

Follow this blog for exclusive pics from Janice's residency and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and her blog:janiceissittlifestyle.blogspot.com

And remember to follow #PaintersInResidence on Instagram and Facebook, as well as my Painters in Residence board on Pinterest.

Beau Ford's Geometric Sideboard

Painter in Residence, Beau Ford, used vibrant colours from the Chalk Paint® palette to create a fun and contemporary one-of-a-kind piece.

Beau chose a great colour palette of Burgundy, Arles, Provence and Emperor's Silk and used a very simple technique to transform a dull sideboard in to an eye-catching piece of art.

To begin the transformation Beau created areas of colour, somewhat like a camouflage pattern, using Arles, Provence and Emperor's Silk. Once this first coat of paint was throughly dry Beau used square stickers to mask off sections that she would later peel off to reveal the first coat of paint – that works together to create a geometric pattern. Beau painted over the top of the stickers and the drawer fronts in Burgundy, and continued to paint the top and sides to match. Once the paint had dried Beau gently removed the stickers to reveal the squares of Provence, Arles and Emperor's Silk.

To finish the piece she used Arles to highlight the legs and drawer handles, and gave the piece a coat of my Clear Soft Wax to protect the surface.

What do you think of this technique? Have you done anything similar?

Yours, Annie

Follow this blog for exclusive pics from Beau's residency and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and her blog: http://drip-designsfurniture.blogspot.com.au

And remember to follow #PaintersInResidence on Instagram and Facebook, as well as my Painters in Residence board on Pinterest.

Across the great divide

2014 was another exhilarating year, rounded off by two fantastic trips to Ireland and South Africa.

Northern Ireland
In October, I headed across the Irish Sea firstly to Northern Ireland to see my Stockists (over 20 now!). While there, I was able to visit lots of my Stockists' shops and spend time meeting customers. I was very honoured to cut the red ribbon opening of the second Doris and Jeannie shop (below) on Belfast’s Ann Street.

While stopping by to visit Little French Barn in Lisburn (below), I couldn't believe my eyes when the mayor turned up to meet me in his full regalia!

Ireland
Then it was a train to Dublin and a packed reader event with the Irish Times who recently published a fantastic feature about me. Among the many Irish Stockists we visited, it was great to see visit two great shops in Dublin (Rua Dublin, below left and Find, below right).


I adore Ireland: it’s wonderful and it tugs at my roots – I’m part Scots Irish – my great great grandfather John Sloan came from County Down so it was lovely to go back there.

South Africa

What can I say about this absolutely extraordinary, wonderful and inspiring country? It is very different to the country that I knew when I grew up in Southern Africa as a teenager. There’s a very positive vibe which I readily embraced. 
What I enjoyed the most on this particular visit was the vibrant culture of the country – I found it so exciting with the Dutch Africaans, French, German, African tribal, and Cape Coloured influences all around.

I’d been to South Africa on a flying visit in 2013 to set up our paint factory there, but this was my first ‘official tour’. The SA media and magazine interest was phenomenal and I did loads of interviews all around the country.

In Cape Town, I stayed in a most amazing hotel called the Cellars-Hohenort (below) located in the Constantia vineyard Valley on the slopes of Table Mountain. It has to be one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed in. I loved the Cape Dutch architecture and the landscaping was spectacular – it was like the Garden of Eden!

Among the very, very many highlights from this extended visit, I really enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people at the book signings we did. In Cape Town, we had a fabulous time at Stockists Froggatt and Frost (below).

I also visited JustDarling in Walkerville, Gauteng, which is very French, very pretty and light.


Here I am meeting with all the stockists in the Johannesburg area.

I was interviewed by South African legend Jenny Cryws Williams (below) on Radio 702 (Thanks, Jenny!)
.

Another Jo’burg stockist, I visited was Eau-la-la in Pretoria run by Ingrid and Lili (below). I loved their bohemian-warehouse style with reclaimed African-made stuff – it was really funky and eye-catching.

Here I am in Durban, again visiting stockists (gathered below).

Thank you to everyone who came to all the SA gatherings – it’s such a vast country, some travelled over a thousand miles to see me! I came away with a powerful feeling that my heart is in South Africa. It’s like a home from home. It is so stimulating and the colours and designs really touched me.
 
I even managed to bring back some more red earth too!
 


So as we enter a new year – and not only that but also the 25th Birthday of Chalk Paint® – I’d love to wish you all a bright and colourful 2015!


Yours, Annie