Colour of the year?

Pantone recently announced that ‘Marsala’ was its ‘Colour of the Year’ – an interesting gambit on many levels, I thought. And certainly it’s caused quite a media stir and has been commented upon up by several Annie Sloan Stockists, too.

The graphic designer’s friend

What’s it all about? Back in my college days studying Art, I never really came into contact with Pantone colours – it was much more a graphic design thingy and designers talked about it all the time as it was a way of specifying and matching colour. It was explained to me by a graphic designer as a means to clarify conversations such as “I would like it in red”, “What shade of red?”, “Somewhere between tomato and pillar box”. Pantone gets its precisely. Hence it’s not just Marsala but Marsala 18-1438.

Marsala

Pantone say it's ‘a naturally robust and earthy wine red’ and I quite like it personally. In fact, Marsala reminds me of a blend of three of my colours: Burgundy and Primer Red, with a dash of Old White Chalk Paint®.

Kicking off the colour conversation

And ‘Colour of the Year’? Pantone have been promoting a centrefold colour since 2000, I believe, and I think it’s a really interesting idea. If it raises the profile of colour in our lives that can only be a good thing. It makes people focus on colour and that’s exciting – we all need it. 

Having said that, I don’t think we should take it too seriously. It’s for colour forecasters – especially in fashion (clothes and handbags), beauty (we’ll see it in lipsticks) and it kicks off a conversation in interiors, furnishings, design, and graphics, which is all good stuff. It’s all about the zeitgeist and the ‘Colour of the Year’ reflects that – perhaps Marsala is about the need to be more ‘grounded’ in what to many seems a time of freefall?

One colour fits all?

I have to say that the idea of trying to make one colour the colour for the whole world in all these areas seems a wee bit ambitious, and anyway your shop or style simply might not be able to include this or any ‘Colour of the Year’. What happens if you live by the sea and you’ve chosen lots of greys? I say, don’t feel obliged to up paintbrushes and start spreading the Marsala.

Yours, Annie

Janice Issitt's Boho Bathroom

The first project from Painter in Residence Janice Issitt is this fabulous boho bathroom painted in my paint, Chalk Paint®. 

Janice started this project by creating a floral backdrop using my Decoupage Glue and Varnish and Pierre-Joseph Redouté's rose illustrations. Rather than working with decoupage on furniture, she decided to use it on a large scale, creating this eye-popping wallpaper effect.

Next, Janice wanted to match the colour on her enamel bathtub. She mixed together Antibes and Old White to create a similar hue and used this to paint the wooden chair and shelf, shown in the background.

To give this a boho edge, Janice works in bright contrasting colours. She created the pink on the chest and shelf using a mix made from Emperor's Silk, Henrietta and Old White.

The shelf also features flashes of Provence, Burgundy and Florence.

Thank you to Janice's local Stockists, Making the Best in Leighton Buzzard, UK for lending the vintage towels, bath products and red trug!

Have you used Chalk Paint® in your bathrooms?

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.

Scents & Sensibility

Scents make the invisible, visible. They evoke an extra dimension to your mood or personality, and echo and amplify your room surroundings just as strongly as colours and textures impact on your visual sense of space. 

So let me tell you straightaway that my new range of scented candles and reed diffusers smell delicious! The theme for my 6 different fragrances*  is, naturellement, la belle France!

The French have style, n’est-ce pas? I love their fabrics, their brocantes, their bars and their plats de jour. (Did you know in 2011 UNESCO granted world heritage status to French food?)

My new fragrance Collection* has been inspired by the places in France that evoke for me a special atmosphere of their own. And, very neatly, they also linked in with colours in the Chalk Paint® range. 

This well-rounded collection takes you from the floral and feminine to the robust and refreshing, and I’m delighted with the results.

I hope they conjure up for you, as they do for me, the essence of France: from the rural idyll of the rolling French countryside, to the terracotta rooftops and hazy heat of the Côte d’Azur; the rain splashing on ancient cobbled streets, and clear moonlit nights over neon-lit cafés and bistros. . .

Aroma + ambience in the home

An aroma can be a potent memory stirrer: it’s amazing how a particular scent can trigger some reminiscence long-forgotten and take one back to a place – and a time – as if it was just yesterday.

Below is my ‘taster’ of the ambience and atmosphere that influenced each of my French-themed fragrances. . . I’ve added some of images that I feel evoke the essence of my collection.

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Antibes – At the end of a long, hot day, gentle, warm herb-scented breezes through the pine trees refresh the senses; a feeling of nostalgia is evoked by the scent of flora and freshly cut grass.

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Aubusson – Lost in France where delicate tapesties are woven with traditional deep, cool blue colours… hints of rich leather, thyme, and cedar wood, with a faint vanilla note.

   

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Burgundy – As deep and satisfying as a glass of full-bodied red wine, underscored with amber, vanilla and top notes of bergamot, mandarin and lemon.

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Paris – neon lights reflected on grey, rain-washed cobbles – a gentle, sophisticated scent reminiscent of the city’s casual elegance. . . a full floral bouquet of Damask rose with hints of iris and geranium.

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Provence – endless fields of soothing lavender with the added picante of geranium, ginger and amber undertones.

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Versailles – the sophistication and elegance of La Notre’s formal gardens. Fresh floral scents of honeysuckle and jasmine released after rainfall give balm to the senses as dusk draws in. 

 

‘Toile de jouy’ designs with a twist
The fragrances come in their own specially designed packaging, which gives a nod to traditional French ‘toile de Jouy’ fabric. Typically depicting quaint pastoral scenes, I've even got a few 'toile de Jouy' fabrics in my own Fabric Collection. 

For my Fragrance Collection, we've taken this centuries-old textile tradition and given it a modern twist – I absolutely love it.

Do go out and sample the scents – and don’t forget, an elegant or flowery fragrance says as much about your home-making as the colours and finishes of your Chalk Paint® furniture and walls.

*The Annie Sloan Fragrance Collection is available via my stockists across Europe now and coming to North America in the Spring.

Yours, Annie

Australia 

We have just started selling Chalk Paint® and my other products in Australia and New Zealand so I was in Melbourne and Sydney last week training the eight new stockists we have. 
And what a great bunch they were!  

Colours & Iron Lace

I was born in Sydney on the harbour in Cremorne and then later lived about 30 minutes north of Sydney until I was 10 years old, when my family took me kicking and screaming to live in England.

Early memories make a lasting impression. I remember well the old buildings, ironwork and lovely verandahs. 

Iron Lace is the beautiful iron work decorating the houses of Australia

Burgundy Red & Aubusson Blue

Victorian colours picking out the different parts of the decoration

I remember old houses like this in Sydney - green and cream 

Old Ochre 

Primer Red

I am so very thrilled that my paint is now in Australia & New Zealand - coming home!  

If you want to know who the stockists are visit my web site below. 

http://www.anniesloan.com/acatalog/Australasia_Stockists.html                  

 Annie