Abigail & Ryan Bell's Succulent Chaise-Longe

For their first project as Painters in Residence, Abigail and Ryan Bell (of Abigail*Ryan) used my paint, Chalk Paint®, to cover an old Victorian chaise-longe in hand painted succulents. And doesn't it look amazing?

Abigail and Ryan painted the leather upholstery of the chaise-longe in Pure, to create a clean fresh canvas to work on. Abigail then began sketching simple succulent forms on to the surface with a pencil. As soon as she was happy with the shapes and composition, Abigail used a small artists' brush to paint the leaves – using certain colours directly from the pot, such as Henrietta and Emile, and mixing bespoke shades of green from Pure, Antibes, Florence and Provence. Abigail left the paint to dry completely and then used a black fine-liner pen to work detail into the paintwork.

The creative couple finished the transformation by painting the woodwork of the chaise-longe in Florence and the trim of the upholstery in Aubusson Blue. A couple of coats of my Soft Clear Wax were applied to the woodwork and the following day the surface was buffed with a clean cloth – this gives a soft sheen. They decided to leave the fabric un-waxed as the piece is purely decorative and will not be used as a chair.

What do you think? Have you ever been inspired to hand paint a pattern on to your furniture?

Yours, Annie

Follow this blog for exclusive pictures from Abigail and Ryan's residency and follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and her website: www.abigailryan.com

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