#25Project Transformation 1: Germany!

I'm thrilled to share with you the first transformation from the #25Project! I have eagerly been  waiting for photos and stories to roll in from community centres and spaces that we have helped transform around the world, and this one from Germany is just fantastic. I feel very proud of my Stockist Vanessa Metz from Simply Vintage and my German Distributors Ulrike and Sonja for the hard work, expertise and dedication that they put in to create this wonderful transformation – and what a privilege for my paint and products!

Below are before pictures of the‘2gether’ Community Centre located in Ubstadt-Weiher, South Germany. The centre hosts many activities and events for all generations, including ‘Mother and Baby’ groups, breakdancing lessons and team afternoons for the elderly. Over the years, the interior of the space – although loved – became neglected and deteriorated. When it was nominated for a transformation, I knew that it would really benefit from a lick of paint or two!

Before

I have to mention the fantastic work that Vanessa did in organising this transformation. Vanessa is wonderfully kooky and colourful (you never know what colour her hair is going to be next!) and she did an incredible job rallying the troops (in this case volunteers and other local stockists including Ulrike, Sonja and Horst). I can only imagine how exhausting it must have been painting away in that 32 degree heat! However, Vanessa’s buoyant smile, the sandwiches and snacks sponsored by a local baker, the lunch prepared by Ivonne who works at the centre and the fact that this was all for a good cause meant that the weekend long transformation flew by!

After

I love the way my stencils and fabrics are used in the space - and how great does the snooker table look painted? A palette of French Linen, Country Grey and Graphite with pops of warm colour has been used to create a sophisticated but welcoming space. Check out that brilliant skyline too, painted 5 years ago by local children, it was given a loving restoration.

This is the very first of 25 transformations – watch this space and I will share each and every transformation with you as they come in. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this project, and can’t wait to share the next one with you very, very soon!

Follow #25Project on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to watch the projects come together.

Yours, Annie

The 12 Crafts of Christmas - No.10: Logs on the Fire

For the tenth of my 12 Crafts of Christmas I'm sharing another really quick and easy project for your homes this festive season. My son Felix used my paint, Chalk Paint® to inject colour and fun in to his fireplace, by painting the ends of firewood logs. He chose this palette of blues and greens, with an accent of Arles, as it works beautifully against the Aubusson Blue walls.

Yours, Annie

Follow #12CraftsofChristmas on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. 

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.