#25Project Transformation 2: Ottawa, Canada!

This time last year we were busy planning the #25Project, so it's incredibly rewarding to see it all come together a year later!

Today I'm sharing the transformation of the lounge and kitchen of 215 Wurtemburg Street in Ottawa, Canada - one of the buildings that Ottawa Community House (OCH) operate to home 120 people. OCH is Ottawa's largest social housing provider and provides homes to over 32,000 people with special needs in the city. As a large non-profit organisation they often have to prioritise structural repairs and renovations over aesthetic changes to the building, so the space had been left looking very tired and dated, with scratched and damaged furniture.

Katrina Barclay, my Stockist at Malenka Orginals in Ottawa lead the project along with volunteers from OCH and 11 of her regular customers. (Two of these actually participated in Katrina's first ever Annie Sloan workshop, 4 years ago!)

Initial ideas were brought together at a meeting between Katrina and OCH, discussing the wants and needs of the people who use the space, and then, on 8th September the transformation began!

They kicked off the transformation with words of thanks and support from the Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, who stressed the importance of giving back to, and caring for the community. After the speeches were done, the work got underway. One team started by painting the main area in Paris Grey, and another smaller team worked on painting the walls of the kitchen in Duck Egg Blue. Others painted the furniture which included an old radio cabinet, a book shelf and 3 small side tables, which were all a mis-match of brown woods. Don't they look brilliant now that they've been brought together with Aubusson Blue?

Before and after of the lounge

Before and after of the kitchen

They finished the transformation by hanging a couple of new additions to the wall which had been donated by Malenka Originals. The map of Ottawa-Gatineau from a local shop who specialises in handmade goods now takes the pride position above the newly painted radio cabinet.

Katrina wrote to me after the event to let me know that everyone that took part had a fulfilling and fun day, albeit quite tiring! And I'm glad to hear that everyone loves the new contemporary looking space. Haven't they done a fabulous job?

This is the second of 25 transformations, so watch this space to see further transformations as and when they come in. Follow the #25Project on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to watch the projects come together.

Yours, Annie

The Annie Sloan Fragrance Collection

I am unrepentant about the festive focus this blog has taken in the past few weeks! I love, love, love this season, and all its associated indulgence and frippery. My 12 Crafts of Christmas Campaign is – I hope! – inspiring you to make and create some wonderful adornments for your home, or even some really personal Christmas gifts.

And, on the subject of gifts, I thought this would be a good week - with 8 days to go until The Big Day - to talk about my Home Fragrance Collection: six delicious scents for your home, inspired by some of my very favourite places in France. Do forgive the plug, but they make such beautiful gifts for anyone, whether they are familiar with my products or not. Or use them to fill your own homes with fragrance - from the subtle aroma gently dispensed by my Reed Diffusers, to gorgeous scented candlelight flickering as guests arrive - always so welcoming!

My Fragrance collection was launched back in 2014 and I see it very much as a complement to my other products – accessories, even! I’ve spoken before about the inspiration behind each scent in the range: the lush green grassy notes in Antibes; timeless, leather-bound, woody Aubusson; rich, dry, slightly citrusy yet vanilla-sweet Burgundy; Provence – synonymous with sun-soaked lavender fields and balanced here with the spicy tones of amber and ginger; elegant Versailles with its soft, sophisticated heart of honeysuckle and jasmine; and, of course, Paris itself – translated by me into a luscious Damask rose-heavy bouquet, tempered with soft, powdery iris and a hint of sharp geranium. Each transports me to a different mood, a time, a place. Of course, each can be matched to a colour in the Chalk Paint® range but when you use them in your home, you’ll see they’re so much more than that – scent is so evocative, it is the silent scene setter and the finishing touch to any home!

I also want to say that it was really, really important to me when I created the range that the ingredients used should be organic - that was a no-brainer. The whole range was produced in England, and all materials used traceable to source. I make no claims to being a parfumeur – a venerable profession – but I really have worked on every aspect of this Collection – even down to my own personal take on toile de jouy, the print used to decorate the boxes.

Yours, Annie

Agnieszka Krawcyzk's Pretty Pastel Shelves

Today I'm sharing the final project from my wonderful Painter in Residence, Agnieszka Krawczyk. For this project, Agnieszka chose soft, pastel colours from the Chalk Paint® palette to create a delicate and romantic, vintage look.

She began by using one of my Pure Bristle Brushes to paint the whole piece in Paris Grey, and once this was dry, she applied a layer of French Linen. Agnieszka removed areas of paint using sandpaper and a scraper, revealing the paint and wood below. 

To create contrast and depth, Agnieszka left the inside of the piece predominantly in French Linen, but continued to work on the exterior surface – applying a coat of Old White, distressing again with sandpaper, and finishing with a top layer of Antoinette. Agnieszka chipped and sanded in to the edges and corners of the piece even further, revealing the built up layers of paint. She completed the piece with a coat of Clear Soft Wax and a dash of Dark Soft Wax to bring out the texture. The result is a truly vintage look.

I hope you've all enjoyed Agnieszka's work as much as I have and have been inspired to get your sandpaper and scrapers out... and start distressing!

Yours, Annie

Follow Agnieszka on Instagram, Facebook, and her website: www.beforeandafterblog.pl 

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

Annie Sloan Wall Paint & Modern Art Oxford

I am a big fan of Modern Art Oxford  (known for short as MAO). It’s a fantastic space and showcase for contemporary art—and it’s free!

Show and tell

Already this year I’ve been bowled over by Love is Enough* in which artist-curator Jeremy Deller interweaves the life stories, art, and printmaking of American pop art icon Andy Warhol with British Arts & Crafts mover and shaker William Morris (below). 

  

I went in thinking ‘it’s ridiculous you can’t compare these two artists’, but I came out inspired by the revealing relationships and strange connections of these two prolific and experimental visionaries. I’ve always thought the role of art is to make to you see life in another way and this is what this exhibition—and MAO achieves—time and again.

And yours truly has also been featured here as an artist (back in 1971), as part of an exhibition where I showed a piece of conceptual art after I left university. I can just about recall my piece featuring plastic pigeons placed all around the exhibition space—can’t remember what it was about though I remember feeling very pleased to be involved with such a cutting-edge establishment that champions innovative and ambitious projects!

The perfect paint backdrop

So imagine my delight as I now return full circle to have my paints featured as part of the fabric of this wonderful art gallery. Yes, MAO have chosen my soon-to-be-launched Annie Sloan Wall Paint to grace its interior spaces.

They’ve gone initially for Paris Grey and Graphite, and will be working with other colours for future exhibitions. This is just the beginning and I am thrilled that MAO has chosen to use my paint because it’s local (I am passionate about supporting local businesses), I have had a long association with the place, and it is an exceptional art gallery. As an artist, I can’t recommend it highly enough if you are visiting our unique city.

Wall to Wall Paint

And my new Wall Paint? Well, it’s incredibly strong: it's durable, washable and scrubbable. I designed it to take the hurly burly of home life—in what modern parlance would call 'high traffic areas' (so the museum is a perfect medium!). It’s ideal for kitchen walls, bathrooms, halls and stairways where my decorative paint, Chalk Paint®, perhaps might not hold up as well with kids knocking things around and where you have to re-clean surfaces time and again because of the wear and tear of family life. 

Like Chalk Paint®, it is a water-based paint and it covers really well. I have made sure my new Wall Paint is rich in quality pigments so you get extensive coverage—as well as a lush depth of colour—with every brushstroke. It’s quick-drying too and has a soft matt finish with a hint of sheen. No prep, no splatter, no fuss.

My new paint is tailor-made for my free and expressive approach to painting: you can brush it on as easily as roll it on to achieve a high-quality finish on walls and ceilings. And now, with MAO’s endorsement, I really feel I’m coming back full circle.

Yours, Annie

* The show is now at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery till 6 September.
** My Wall Paint will be available this summer through Annie Sloan Stockists in Europe.

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.

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.

True Blue

It’s great to have Napoleonic Blue back in my Chalk Paint® colour range here in Europe; and for all my customers around the world who've been familiar with it for years, here’s a timely reminder of just what a deep, rich and warm blue it really is.

My inspiration isn’t the diminutive Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte himself, but the classic French Empire style he put his emperor’s seal to. It’s like saying ‘Victorian’ to describe an era rather than Queen Victoria herself, and to that extent Napoleonic Blue represents a ‘regimented’ style: it’s dark, it’s rich, it’s a bit ‘masculine’, I suppose. The French Empire style under Napoleon borrowed wholesale from classical Greece and Rome in a grand style with military motifs and masculine colours (and don’t forget Napoleon had conquered Egypt, which was yet another classical influence with its vibrant azure blues, rich greens, red ochre and acid yellows).

Pigments – something borrowed, something blue

Some of my stockists have likened Napoleonic Blue to the colour of freshly picked blueberries, and even the perfect blue for creating the Union Jack flag (though I’m not sure what the French would think of this!). I see it as a homage to ‘ultramarine blue’, which was extracted from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli – the incredibly bright blue pigment that was reputedly more expensive than gold in medieval times and the forerunner of all artists’ blues. It was used by some Medieval and Renaissance artists strictly to paint Mary and Jesus’ robes.

The history of colour in Art (which I studied) is a bit of a detective story and is fascinating in itself – but it boils down to the discovery of pigments. These are very fine powders sourced from the earth, from plants (and from dyes and synthetic materials). They’re a bit like spices with varying strengths and properties – some are opaque, some are like grains, some mix with oil, while others work better with water. There are actually no blue pigments you can find straight from the earth, so it’s always been a complicated and expensive process to get that 'true' blue (as with lapis lazuli).

Something versatile, something new

The great thing about Napoleonic Blue is that because it’s so rich and warm and strong and pure, I can see it being used in so many different ways. As a 'regal' stand alone, or with whites for example as you get all these pale warm blues. If you add dark wax it makes it silkier, deeper and even more gorgeous. Here are some neat ideas (below) found online:

The colour is absolutely tailor-made for neoclassical interiors but also works very well with the Swedish style. It’s a winning combination (well, it was for Napoleon till he met his Waterloo).

And although it refers back to the past it also has a more modern feel 1960’s pop art feel to it too – that bright blue used with orange or the bright-blue-with-bright-green mix so it looks fantastic with or over Barcelona Orange (which also gives it a truer navy blue) as well as with Antibes Green (see below).

Just looking at my Chalk Paint® colour card, you can see the range of blues goes from violet and lavender blues to grey blues, navy blues and the greenish hues of turquoise. Aubusson Blue for example, is from Prussian Blue, a cold, greeny blue, whereas Napoleonic Blue is a warm blue with the faintest hint of red (so it makes for a great purple – a favourite colour of Napoleon’s).

To get a warm blue you need an undertone of red and more red will give you a good purple especially with a bit of white added. When combined with Old White or Paris Grey, Napoleonic Blue can be used to create a really mellow farmhouse grey blue. When you start mixing my blues with other hues in the colour wheel, you’ll really notice just how vast the blue colour range is.

I created my paint, Chalk Paint®, from the idea of the artist using a palette to mix colours rather than robotically selecting from a bewildering kaleidoscopic chart – so go on, use Napoleonic Blue and be an artist!

Yours, Annie

P.S. I would like to thank my stockists and others for some of the ideas shown here via Pinterest and blogs which I acknowledge below. Apologies if I have omitted anyone! Search #Napoleonic on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more inspiration.

Finding Silver Pennies for the ‘grain sack dresser’

www.findingsilverpennies.com/2013/06/grain-sack-dresser-before-after.html

Bad Groupie for the Napoleonic Blue Piano
http://bad-groupie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/blue-painted-piano.html?m=1

Reloved Rubbish for the Union Jack chair
http://relovedrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/chalk-painted-union-jack-chair-on-wheels.html

Suite Pieces for the 2-colour distressed wood
http://suitepieces.com/2-color-distress-with-chalk-paint/

Kelly at TheLily Pad Cottage, for the boy’s bed
http://www.thelilypadcottage.com/2013/08/annie-sloan-chalk-painted-bed.html

Tea and Roses
www.pinterest.com/deborahwestfarm/

“I adore Chicago. It is the pulse of America…”

…said the indomitable actress Sarah Bernhardt, and you kinda have to agree: the city is really buzzy; or as Frank sang it: “Bet your bottom dollar you lose the blues in Chicago”. So after this year’s Annie Sloan Stockist conference in New Orleans I just had to stop off in one of my favourite places. I’ve visited Chicago a few times before, but I’ve never had the time to take it in, or take my husband David with me (seen here snapping the ‘bean’ – more on that below). 

Blueprint for modernism

We stayed at The Langham, a fabulous hotel tucked into the ultimate statement in modernist architecture – the IBM building. And that’s saying something because Chicago is the city of architecture for me. The minimalist steel-and-glass tower (the dark one next to the Trump Tower above right) was designed by Mies van de Rohe, a tour de force of modernism. The building (and Mies himself) just oozes corporate power with its structure, shape and composition. At art school I studied him and the Bauhaus experimental art and design movement of 1930s Germany where he was director. The Nazis forced its closure and Mies came to the USA. He was an unreformed character who liked to puff big cigars and said stuff like “A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous.” Mies own ‘Barcelona’ chair (below) is a pretty cult object too.

Since college I’ve continued to be immensely interested in the Bauhaus (see my post on Klee) and the later modernist movement – especially because of the gap between people’s perception on the lines of “oh those modern buildings are so ghastly,” and then they see them in the flesh and you hear “oh my aren’t they amazing?” You can’t fail to be impressed by those gleaming high-rises along Lake Shore and dotted around the city.

It’s certainly not painterly, it’s not New Orleans, nor Charleston House (UK) – and there’s little or no colour involved, but it still has an extraordinary exuberance and depth and boldness, which I admire. It’s actually all about form and structure and of course there are other styles to see too, such as postmodernism with its filigree and Chippendale flourishes and the flying buttresses of the early steeple style skyscrapers.

Every building here seems to beckon in some shape or form, or provides a neutral frame or backdrop for another building to emerge or stand out. It’s like having a little bit of one of my neutral colours like Paris Grey next to a bright primary such as Emperor’s Silk!

Ultimate Art House

Chicago also houses one of the most amazing art galleries in the world – the Art Institute of Chicago, in which you could spends literally days there are so many wonderful paintings and furniture pieces. I really like the Post-Impressionist collection here and Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (1891) in particular. The painting shows people relaxing in a suburban park on an island in the Seine River. 

The scene is stylised, formal, with echoes of Ancient Greece but what really gets me is his mastery of pointillism to capture the qualities of light and harmonies of colour. Stand back and the black looks black from afar, but when you come in close you find it is in fact a mix of orange and blue. That’s pretty much impressionist colour theory and what I base my colours and colour mixing on.

Seurat also re-stretched the canvas so he could add a painted border of red, orange, and blue dots to act as a visual link between the interior of the painting and his specially designed white frame.

Bean around

Outside not far away in Millennium Park we strolled over to walk around and under the most exciting sculpture by English artist Anish Kapoor. It’s called Cloud Gate but most people know it as the ‘bean’ for its obvious shape (also a bit like a globule of liquid mercury apparently). 
It’s fun to see this gleaming stainless steel sculpture mirroring Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above as well as the observer! 
Right next to it is a Frank Gehry piece of architecture and again that’s what makes Chicago my kinda town.

Someone suggested to me that Chicago is a sort of a cleaner, more spacious, less frenetic version of New York and I reckon that’s a very apt description.

Yours, Annie

PS. Thought you might like this ‘Skyscraper Cabinet’ I snapped at the Art Institute (by Paul Frankl c.1927).

F-F-F-F-Frottage

I’m a big fan of frottage – in case you look it up I’m not referring to the slightly rude definition!

No, what I am referring to is one of my favourite paint effect techniques that brings a bolder and more distinctive ageing process to any surface – in an instant!

Here is an example I created on a big table currently sitting in my Oxford shop. It is simply painted with three Chalk Paint® colours: Aubusson Blue, Scandinavian Pink and Cream. 

You often see ‘the look’ in Swedish county house rooms, I think partly because of the old textured paints they have long used over all those wooden interiors, and partly in the way it is allowed to peel off over time. Here’s a fantastic frottaged door I recently snapped in Sweden while researching material for a new book:

There’s the rub
Actually the term frottage is French for ‘rubbing’. Quite simply you apply a second colour of thin, diluted paint to cover a dry base colour. Before that add-on colour is dry, you lay newspaper or plain absorbent paper over the paint and rub it down with your hands, then lift it off. Et voilá. The effect is to remove paint unevenly.

I’ve been using this technique and variations of it to achieve this look for 25 years. Below is a recent step-by-step example I applied to a door I’d already painted using Chalk Paint® in Duck Egg Blue.

1. Use two colours from the Chalk Paint® range that are close in tone. For the door shown below, I used Chateau Grey over Duck Egg Blue. After the first coat of paint is dry (or if you are applying to an old painted surface), dilute your second paint colour with water so it drips a bit.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  2. Use an oval brush (like my Pure Bristle Brushes) to paint a section quickly that is the size of your paper.

 

3. Lightly crinkle or crush your paper a bit on a flat surface first and then re-flatten it to get creases. Now again quickly press the flattened sheet of paper over the just-painted area and rub it all over with your hands.

 4. Peel away the paper carefully and you will see uneven and blotchy paint, some flat bits, some textured and some stripped back to the first paint.

5. Repeat the process 2-3-4, over the rest of the surface and then, when it’s all dry, add clear wax. 

For an effect that utilizes an old, crumpled piece of newspaper to get that uneven,“several-layers” look, ‘frottage’ ain’t bad! Try it yourself.

Yours, Annie

*Top 2 photographs by Christopher Drake. Last 4 images from my recent book, 'Colour Recipes for Painted Furniture and more', published by CICO, photography by Christopher Drake.