Beau Ford's Striped Side Cupboard

This gorgeous sideboard is the last project from Beau Ford's three months as a Painter in Residence. Beau's neighbour in rural Australia inherited the cupboard from her Grandfather and had been storing it in her shearing shed. Beau cleaned off the cupboard and used my paint, Chalk Paint®, to create a refreshed modern piece – a lot more fitting for the hip, growing family farmhouse that it was returning to.

Beau used a palette of Antibes Green, Duck Egg Blue and Coco to create the base block colours. The mustard yellow is a mix of English Yellow, with a spot of Emperor's Silk and Coco. Beau told me she seems to go the long-way round to find her perfect mixes – but I love her playful experimentation with mixing colours. It's something I always encourage!

The triangle pattern that runs vertically down the front of the cupboard has been hand-painted in Greek Blue using a very small artist's brush. The whole piece has been finished using my Clear Wax to protect the surface and make it wipeable.


I hope you've enjoyed following Beau's residency and feel inspired by her playful and bright projects. Later this week, I will be introducing you to my next set of three Painters in Residence, so keep your eyes peeled!

Yours, Annie

Follow Beau 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.

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The linen chest started life as an orange-toned, shiny piece of furniture and looked outdated in the modern home.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.

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.

Beau Ford's Work Hard, Be Kind Desk

For her third Painters in Residence project, Beau Ford gave this sad and forgotten school desk a complete make-over using my paint, Chalk Paint®.


After replacing the top and giving the whole desk a quick clean, Beau set to work on the paintwork. First, she painted the base of the desk in English Yellow, then applying Paris Grey as an accent on the feet.

She painted the top of the table in a chevron pattern, using a ruler as a rough guide. She worked with a range of colours to make a bright statement: Barcelona Orange, Scandinavian Pink, English Yellow, Provence, Greek Blue and Napoleonic Blue.

When you lift the lid of the desk you find a charming surprise – the words "Work Hard, Be Kind written in lovely, freehand type.

Beau used Clear Wax and Dark Wax to finish the piece and give the overall piece an aged look.

What do you think? Have you used Chalk Paint® to create a bright and bold pattern on your furniture?

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.

Beau Ford's Spotted Wardrobe

For Beau's second project as Painter in Residence she took a characterless old wooden wardrobe and transformed it in to a fun, colourful statement piece, using my paint. Chalk Paint® is the perfect way to add colour to a child's bedroom (or an adult's!)

The outside of the wardrobe has been painted in a simple mix of Barcelona Orange and Pure, creating a peachy-orange colour. I love the way Beau picked its complimentary colour, Provence, to paint the inside of the wardrobe. She stamped the white spots on to the surface, starting at the bottom of the wardrobe and radiating out towards the top. She then finished the project with Annie Sloan Clear Soft Wax to protect the surface.

You can easily replicate this finish at home by making your own stamps. And you don't need any high tech equipment – it's easy to make your own stamps out of potatoes, cardboard or wine corks.

Have you ever attempted a similar finish with Chalk Paint®?

Yours, Annie

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

Beau Ford's Ombre Console Table

The first project from Painter in Residence Beau Ford is this pretty ombre-effect console table painted in my paint, Chalk Paint®.

Beau has transformed an unfashionable and dated, dark wooden console in to a striking and bright modern piece, with an on-trend ombre finish. Beau has layered and mixed my colours Provence and Greek Blue to create an ombre look on the legs of the table. She then dry-brushed Pure on to the bottom of the legs to highlight the shape and carvings.

To add interest to the top of the console, Beau applied a Moroccan-style stencil with the same three Chalk Paint® colours. She then finished with a layer of Annie Sloan Clear Wax followed by a heavy amount of Annie Sloan Dark Wax to give an aged finish. She distressed the piece with sandpaper, before applying one final coat Annie Sloan Clear Wax to add a subtle sheen and protection.

What do you think? Have you ever tried creating an ombre effect using Chalk Paint®?

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.

Introducing Painter in Residence Beau Ford

“Hi I’m Beau and I’m tucked away in the remote southwest corner of Australia, and I’m very much an accidental painter. I’m also a home lover, who fits this hobby in when she can – and it’s just for me. I wanted to try something outside of just being a busy mum with 3 kids and getting noticed for it has been a thrill. I have no formal art background but I just love colour and making my house a home. I love taking a tired piece of old furniture and making it into something people notice and comment on...

And Annie's paint? 

When I met Annie on her Australian tour it 
felt like it was meant to be because the way she described her life and how she came to create her product reminded me of myself a little bit: she was painting and trying to find a paint that was quick and easy to use when you’ve only half an hour here or there while bringing up three little people. I just love the concept of a paint that is easy to throw at a piece of furniture and not have to be ridiculous about priming and making it perfect because that was NOT the look I am after.

For me, Chalk Paint® is incredibly easy to use, and incredibly novice friendly. I hadn’t realised how many hundreds of colours you could get by mixing the paints, though I’m sure people from an art background would know, and I found out much later when I got more used to the paint and to the decorative techniques (Annie’s books have been really helpful to me for ideas and techniques). Blending is such a clever trait of her paint – you start with your basic colours and then you get more confident and you mix and really step out of the box.

What you’ll see from me

I’ll be looking to do things with the colours that people aren’t necessarily drawn to much like olives, mustards and greens, and also an autumn combination with berry colours, chocolate browns and teal – very much the kind of colours I wear. What do I want out of PIR? Just that I don’t want anyone to think that picking up a paintbrush is a hard thing to do!”

Follow this blog for exclusive pics from Beau's residency and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and her own 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.

Chalking up bold ideas

‘Endless possibilities’, I really feel those two words totally underpin what I’m trying to achieve with my paint, Chalk Paint®. It’s been my mantra ever since I started painting interiors in the 1980s.

And it’s inspired me now to set up my ‘Painters in Residence’ programme. Why Painters in Residence? Well, in the course of running my business for over 25 years, I’ve met and seen many wonderful people doing creative things with my paints. And I’ve been wanting to find a way to collaborate with so many like-minded people and showcase the high-quality, innovative, and sometimes ‘leftfield’ things they are doing with Chalk Paint® and other Annie Sloan products. Painters in Residence seems such a neat answer.

Painters in Residence 

The concept is very loosely based on the way an art gallery or museum will, from time to time, have an ‘artist in residence’ to inhabit those places as a way to get inspired to create their own works inside or outside the venue. 

My first three talented PIRs already use Chalk Paint® (that’s part of the remit), and I’ve chosen them because they are bold with my paint and prepared to ‘give it a go’. They won’t be taking up residence at Annie Sloan HQ, but they will be exploring the boundaries of decorative painting – the ‘what if?’ and ‘why not?’ when using my paint – as well as showing how easy it is to use my products.

As you’ll see in future posts – and if you look on their websites (see below) – they are all different in approach, colour, tone and textures and their styles range from French elegance to funky Bohemian to quirky rustic country fused with loud fabrics. 

The first three Painters in Residence are:

Janice Issitt:

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Alex Russell Flint:

Website | Facebook | Instagram

  

Beau Ford:

Website | Facebook | Instagram

 


Follow the hashtag #PaintersInResidence on Instagram and Facebook to see more projects. Or follow my new 'Painters in Residence' Pinterest board. It’s going to be eye-catching and attention grabbing and all about thinking outside the box (or paint pot)!

Yours, Annie

P.S. I'll be announcing the next set of Painters in Residence in a few weeks time. The PIR programme is by invitation only (we will not be accepting applications at this stage).