A Truly, Truly Versatile and Magical Paint!

When I was about 15 years old, many, many years ago, my mother bought me a gallon of paint that was a combination of these two Annie Sloan Chalk Paint colors, "Emile" and "Henrietta". I started early on changing the colors of my rooms, the bedcovers, curtains, and decorative elements. I was always tweeking something, wanting new colors, new looks. This pattern of change has followed me my entire adult life. When I discovered Annie's Chalk Paint, I fell in love all over again with painting and color, but in a different way.

This is a sample that I painted from an unfinished piece of wood. There are three layers of paint on this piece as well as Annie's clear wax. It was quick, easy, incredibly fun, and immensely satisfying. I love this paint and all its magical possibilities!

I had an opportunity to take the most amazing workshop this last Saturday in Southern California from Anne Skougard, one of two stockists for California and Kari Saupstad, a mini stockist. I came away inspired, excited, and literally changed by the amazing potential of this paint.

Taking a workshop enhances the uses of the paint as well as creates knowledge and awareness of its immense possibilities. You learn why everyone calls it "magical" because it simply is.

This is the same sample in a different light. The colors and wax finish create so much richness, depth, and beauty. In some lights, it almost has an iridescent quality to it, but there is absolutely no metallic in the paint. It simply is the magic of the paint. Below is the back of this same piece and how it looked before I started, just plain unfinished wood.

This is another sample, again with three colors of paint.

Here is the same piece in another light, outdoors in my garden. I love how there are raindrops along the top. As I was photographing the sample, some drops from a rain-soaked shrub landed on the piece.

Crackle finish.....

Who does not love a rich green? Again, the combination of color and wax creates depth and shadow and mystery.

I have always loved the look of stenciling on just about anything, furniture or textiles. So when I heard that Kari was going to do stenciling with the chalk paint, I had to take this workshop. I could have spent a lot more time on this piece with shading and refining. I definitely will try many more pieces using stencils with this paint. I think this would be beautiful on an armoire.

I purchased some stencils for further exploration of this process. If anyone is interested you can find an elaborate selection of stencils here.

My first night home, I hardly slept. I kept thinking about the paint, the number and combination of colors that can be created from the 24 colors. What I am also realizing is that I can never go back to painting with only one color, ever. Nor will I buy anything but chalk paint for my furniture and walls. Now I am going to explore the possibilities of using the paint and stencils on my collection of textiles. Please visit me at my textile blog for further stories on this possibility.

Thanks, Anne and Kari for such a great and inspiring and exciting workshop!!!