{"id":31695,"date":"2024-03-19T11:15:12","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T10:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4016dc7c-2f70-47d5-b337-a789c5e1b2c8"},"modified":"2024-03-19T11:36:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T10:36:38","slug":"meet-annie-sloan-entrepreneur-artist-and-chalk-paint-doyenne","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/meet-annie-sloan-entrepreneur-artist-and-chalk-paint-doyenne\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Annie Sloan: entrepreneur, artist, and Chalk Paint doyenne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Annie Sloan talks about her peripatetic upbringing and the influences throughout her life that spawned an illustrious career. Interview by Janet Gleeson <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 10:15 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Meet Annie Sloan: entrepreneur, artist, and Chalk Paint doyenne<\/h1>
‘I thought that most people are creative, and that Chalk Paint was a power they could have \u2013 not like painting by numbers,\u2019 Annie Sloan says, explaining the inspiration behind the game-changinglyversatile paint she invented more than three decades ago. <\/p>
Her self-appointed mission seemed impossible \u2013 a quest for a substance that could be mixed easily, would stick to almost any surface without preparation, and absorb wax so that it could be polished to a lustrous sheen. <\/p>
Annie Sloan Oxford Navy Chalk Paint – –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
Miraculously, after many tweaks and trials, the eponymous Annie Sloan Chalk Paint was formulated, not only fulfilling her ambition, but establishing her as the creator of a deservedly celebrated international brand.<\/p>
Perhaps Annie\u2019s intrepid approach was linked to an unusually nomadic childhood. The first decade of her life was spent living in Australia, Africa and Fiji before the family moved to Kent. \u2018It\u2019s old-fashioned to say it, but I am a child of the colonies and feel lucky to have been exposed to such a wide range of cultural influences.\u2019 <\/p>
She recalls that she especially loved living in what was then known as Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). \u2018It was so interesting, so rich: there\u2019s an incredible mix of African, British Colonial, as well as Chinese art via Mozambique and Macau. It all influenced me and played an important part in my later career.\u2019<\/p>
$\"Chalk$
Annie at work in her studio – –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
Her artistic interests were also shaped by her parents. \u2018My father was a journalist and interested in art. My mother was Fijian and very much a Fifties mother, with a practical approach to making and doing.\u2019 <\/p>
By the time Annie went to school, her artistic enthusiasm was already entrenched. \u2018I thought I was an artist and was very surprised when another girl got the art prize!\u2019 From school it was a natural progression to study Fine Art at Reading University. <\/p>
But, after graduation in the early 70s, she was uncertain what to do and joined five fellow art students to form a performance art band called The Moodies. \u2018It was before the days of Punk, but we were very outrageous and got featured on the cover of The Sunday Times Magazine.\u2019<\/p>
$\"Spring$
– –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
After that she tried journalism, working for Time Out, before the allure of a career in art reclaimed her. \u2018I started painting murals in houses, and that led me on to paint effects, marbling and wood graining, which got me on to the idea of painted furniture,\u2019 she recalls. <\/p>
As her reputation grew, as well as taking on painting commissions around the country, she added teaching and writing books about paint effects and interior design to her repertoire.<\/p>
The concept for Chalk Paint germinated in 1990, from frustration at the limitations of the paints available. \u2018I just couldn\u2019t find anything that I really wanted to use. There were art paints that were expensive and didn\u2019t have the body I wanted them to have, or there were acrylics, which were too strong and heavy, or house paint, with limited colours that wouldn\u2019t do the things I wanted. <\/p>
$\"Spring$
Annie Sloan Piranesi Wall Paint – –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
I needed to be able to manipulate it more; for it to be responsive to different ways of creating texture.\u2019Ignoring the fact she had no scientific background, she resolved to create her own brand of paint and found a paint manufacturer in Belgium to help her realise her ambition. \u2018Sometimes ignorance helps you,\u2019 she says. <\/p>
Annie\u2019s painting career had often taken her to grand houses, and she was already knowledgeable in traditional techniques and the pigments used in historic interiors. The colours she created were inspired by her observations. <\/p>
\u2018I went for colours that a painter and decorator would have had in the 18th and early 20th centuries. These were key times when there were big developments. Most paint colours will be made with black mixed in, so if you add two together you get more black, and if you add white it will be slightly greyed. <\/p>
$\"\"$
Annie Sloan’s home in Normandy with stencilled walls – –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
I made my colours without black \u2013 more like an artist\u2019s palette \u2013 so you can mix them well. The colours are sophisticated. It\u2019s taken a long time to get people to understand that all this makes them special, but they really do now.\u2019<\/p>
At home, Annie defines her style as \u2018a bit bohemian\u2019 and cites Charleston<\/a>, the Sussex home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, as a key influence. Her preference is for a broad range of strong colours. \u2018I\u2019m free with the paintbrush, unconcerned if it\u2019s a bit wibbly wobbly.\u2019<\/p>
$\"Annie$
Painted ceilings in her home in Normandy – –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
She has long been an avid collector: \u2018I love jugs, paintings and prints, bowls and painted furniture,\u2019 she says. Her homes in Oxford<\/a> and Normandy are filled with finds from flea markets and fairs and her travels around the world. \u2018My taste is quirky and eclectic, I have all sorts of things \u2013 it might be a shape or a colour I\u2019m drawn to.\u2019<\/p>
She contemplates the year ahead with undiminished drive. \u2018I\u2019m working on some exciting collaborations with other people and I\u2019m doing as much painting as possible. At the moment I\u2019m working on the colour work for transfers and stencils. <\/p>
$\"Hilditch$
Hilditch & Son teacups from Annie\u2019s personal collection – –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
We\u2019re going on a tour of the US as well as holding a big paint weekend and retreats for small numbers to learn how to be painters in the UK, US and India. So I have no intention of giving up just yet. I\u2019ve still got lots of energy \u2013 and plenty of ideas!\u2019<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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