As the new year approaches

The Purple Pear will be closed through the holidays and will re-open on January 3rd. On January 5th I will be teaching a "Basics" workshop and there are still openings if you want to join us and get a early start on your furniture painting ideas for 2013.

I have many new ideas for the shop including new workshops with Annie Sloan's new and beautiful fabrics. We will be making lampshades as well as easy pillows with her fabrics that I have in my shop.

This is one of Annie's beautiful toiles, Normandie. Wishing you all a relaxing and safe holiday and I will see you in the new year!

Work Book Inspiration

The lights were dim, but I was waiting and ready for the launch of Annie Sloan's newest book, Work Book!

I love this little book on Doodling in French by Anna Corba's. It seemed a perfect match for Annie's book too.

We are just beginning here....

There is something about the Rococo style that captivates me. I think it is because the palette is so soft and serene.

I guess I am a little hesitant to categorize a style other than what it is, Classical, but when I look at this palette, I think immediately of something a little more complex, sophisticated, and thoughtful. I want to pick up a book and read or simply sit and think within this palette. I find it invigorating as well as introspective.

When I page through Annie's Work Book and I arrive at the page that says "Asian style" I am immediately transported to my brother's home in San Francisco which has the most wonderful collection of Asian art and furniture. These are the colors that you see when you enter his world, the colors of Imari, Chinese reds, beautiful greys and golds. It is a world that gives one balance and peace and a sense of the earth.

I have to admit, I am not one to lean toward a Modern style in furniture. However, I appreciate the artists whom I am familiar that have stimulated my thinking and allowed me to go beyond my predictable palette. Annie knows how to introduce a person to another style, another way of seeing. I love her for this. I don't want to live a warm and cozy life in my secure corner of the world. Occasionally I want to see other designs and be exposed to other ways of thinking. This is why I have had this fascination with Annie for a very long time. She is an artist who will nudge you toward another way of seeing and feeling and interpreting. And so this is why all of her books are so inspiring and prolific and perennial.

In the weeks ahead and into the new year I will be spending a little more time with her fabric and working on my new Work Book with doodles, paint swatches, magazine clippings, and my own stylistic explorations!

Surprises Unfolding

Out with the old, in with the new. I have found a new store location!!!! I will reveal the new address this week. I will keep you posted. When the store opens I will also be selling the newly arrived Annie Sloan fabrics!!!

Getting close.....

It is a funny thing, but when one is on a road trip and you start seeing colors, you realize twenty nine colors have been prevalent in your life on a daily basis, and you start to search for objects that reflect a certain hue. This must be Florence, the color that is. Or it could be Provence. I had been seeing Chalk Paint™ decorative paint by Annie Sloan everywhere and then when the driving was more bland or the colors more subtle I would still be combining colors or mixing them to create new ones.

The gradation of color in this wall along the highway in Wyoming caught my eye because of the softer tones in Annie's palette that are similar to Old Ochre, Country Grey, Versailles, and Cream. In the middle section, I even see CoCo and French Linen. The color at the top of this wall would be a great one to mix, but right off hand I would need to figure this out. I am guessing a little Scandinavian Pink added to one of the colors above with a mixture of another. The mind never stops thinking about Annie Sloan's beautiful palette.

The drive West from St Louis was long at times but also enjoyable. I can't recall sitting so much since I became a Stockist so it was a little hard to be patient at times and not be doing something every minute. Once we were home and had unloaded the car, I felt I was off and running and have not stopped except to sleep at night. I am narrowing my search down for a retail space and feel I am getting close.

In the interim, I have been taking calls and delivering product. As a reminder for those that use the Quick and Easy Paint Transformations book by Annie Sloan, please remember some of these colors are no longer current. It is best to go to my website Purple Pear Shop to view the 29 colors that are available in the current palette in the U.S. I will keep you posted on my new retail location!

A Vivid Color

I tend to get obsessed when I cannot find an image or photo that conveys my vision or memory. I dig through books and walk through my house looking for the color trying to duplicate what I saw. In my last post I promised to get back and tell you about a color that I saw in the dining room of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house. When I walked into this room I was absolutely stunned by the vivid and saturated feel of this extraordinary color. I was patiently and anxiously waiting for the tour guide to end her talk when someone in the tour, obviously had the same curiosity that I did, and asked about the amazing color in the room.

I actually purchased these roses at Whole Foods when I arrived home in my angst searching for the color. See the deep, very rich yellow that is in the center of these roses. This is the color that I saw in the Jefferson dining room.

And this is the color I have in my kitchen. I know, it is a bit bright, but I can't seem to get enough color in my life. So when I was in Jefferson's dining room, I was almost certain that this was the color I had chosen as well.

I even bought this book to appease my quest. What I discovered was a bit complicated, but there was a color called "chrome yellow" and of course it had some of the substances that we now consider toxic. Yet, how in the world could you limit your palette when there was a color that was so joyful and energetic? I need to learn more and I will. It reminds me of my fascination with textile dyeing and printing. There really is no end to the information one can unearth.

Along with my passion for collecting textiles, I love collecting books. I decided I certainly had something on my bookshelf that might help me in my quest. I discovered some really great information in Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments. I have several of these books packed with solid information as well as exquisite photos. (The book next to it on Matisse, whom I love, also has great inspiration for color ideas.) Allow me to quote from page 80-81 for the book on colors...."in England in 1780 by an industrialist named Turner" (no, not the famous Turner the artist) patented a color named yellow. And here is the crux of the matter. Vauquelin, a French chemist, discovered chromium when he analyzed in 1797"an orange-red mineral called Siberian red lead (crocoite) discovered in the Ural Mountains in 1765. When ground, it was used as an orange pigment by some artists. "He detected a new metal, which he isolated and named chromium, or chrome (Greek for color), due to its extraordinary capacity to produce salts in many colors. One of the best colors made from chrome by Vauquelin was a fine bright-yellow pigment of lead chromate, opaque and easily manufactured". So here in this little gem of a book was my answer to this amazing color in Thomas Jefferson's home in Monticello.

Today I rearranged the paint on my shelves to coordinate with the pears that I painted for my updated website. I have to try and understand why it is with Annie Sloan's magnificent palette that we are not using more of the vibrant colors as well as the ones that are so distinctive and beautiful. I have always loved Paloma since I first pried open the lid and peered inside. It is pure heaven. At the other end of the color intensity is Scandinavian Pink. I actually painted the underside of a small table with this rich color and the piece itself in Provence. Today I set this table on top of an antique armoire so you can see the undercolor and what a delight it is.

Embrace a color you are afraid to choose, but one you know you would love to try. Life is too short to inhibit your vision and your dream. I think you just might surprise yourself with a growing love of new and mysterious colors!

Public and Personal Color

Yesterday I boarded a plane from Portland, Oregon and landed in Washington DC last night. It was still very hot and muggy at 10:00 PM, but fortunately my husband did have power where he lives. Since I am not acclimated to hot weather yet (we are still rainy and cool in Portland), I could not imagine sweltering day and night for the next four days. How spoiled I am.

I had to take a small plane to Seattle in order to catch a flight east. As I was working my way down the escalator to the other terminal, I saw this permanent art display. What would we do without public art in terminals that can seem cold and impersonal? And what would we do without color in our lives? Everyday I think about colors and mixing and experimenting with the Chalk Paint™ decorative paint, but what if we only had Old White and Graphite in the palette? Yes, these are great ones to have, but wouldn't we miss all the other colors that give us so much range and beauty?

And what about the blues....Duck Egg, Aubusson, Greek, Louis, Napoleonic, Provence, Old Violet, and Florence? Just the other day, I had a discussion with a customer in my store about the attributes of the blues in Annie's palette, how beautiful they are and lovely to have in your decorating scheme.

Public Art at the Farmer's Market in LA.

LA Farmer's Market, a fun place to sit.

And now I have one more color to put on the paint card, the newest blue, Florence! I guess I want the world to stay full of color so I can visually feast on it and have it at my disposal anytime I would like to play with it. Explore the richness of color around you!

Evolving Styles

When I joined the Annie Sloan group of stockists over a year ago I did not realize it would have such an impact on my lifestyle as well as my eye. I am a very visual person. I remember color better than I remember names. But I was not prepared for a complete evolution of my style. When I started working with Annie Sloan's palette I started to see colors in a different way. And it became highly personal. What I discovered was that my way of seeing color was unique to my past, my experience, and my thoughts about the fluidity of design. First and foremost, we are always evolving and seeking new ways of defining ourselves. If we are open to this, it can be very illuminating and energizing. We are bombarded everyday with images. I find this unnerving. As humans, with highly evolved senses, I think we instinctively know what we want to select. I think it is one of the beauties of our species. We know, but we have been programmed to distrust this instinct. Page after page of media tells us what color we should like or embrace. Is it popular? Is it trendy? Is it current? I think we should trust what we feel, know, and love. For me, in this stage of my life, I am looking for simplicity, comfort, and peace. But I am also reaching out for a little spark and ingenuity so I don't stagnate. So let your style evolve. Trust the ideas that you have. Choose the color that might seem bold or unusual, but do it with your heart. Let the other dictates go and trust the evolution of your artistic spirit. Embrace the idea, the color, the mood. My guess is that you just might find the space and the inspiration you had visualized from the moment it came to you....almost as a gift.

Workshops and a Show

It is almost time for the Plucky Maidens. I will be out there to greet you next weekend, Friday night and during the day on Saturday with lots of Annie Sloan Chalk Painted furniture, china, textiles, and other fun collectibles to purchase. I will have my dear friend, Gina there to help me. Don't miss this show. It will be a great one and lots of fun. Look for The Purple Pear!

Just a reminder....I have a lot of fun workshops listed on my website here so take a look and sign up for something that will energize your spirit as we wind down from the rainy season. More will be added too, so keep stopping by to see what is up. The samples above were from a recent workshop. I love this technique "clouded stipple" because every single person does something different that is amazing and beautiful and so easy!

A Lighter Heart

Last weekend on my two days off, Sunday and Monday, I piled all my furniture in the middle of my store and started to paint every wall a new and cleaner color for spring and summer.

It is funny, but ever since I became a Stockist for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I have wanted to go home every night and change every room in my house. I am starting with my shop.

I think one of the most difficult things is deciding on what color to paint a piece of furniture. I have to live with it for a few days and feel the whole gestalt of it before I decide. I am not always right, but most of the time I am feeling a certain mood for the color as you can see in this cabinet. I am going to store lots of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and wax in there as well as brushes and Crackleur and gilding wax.

What seemed to be missing all winter in my shop was a little extra sparkle. I had lights in the window, but on the other wall opposite, it seemed a little dull and boring.

I have tried for the longest time to not bring anything too feminine or romantic into the space, and then one day I just woke up and asked myself why I was not defining this huge part of myself, a hopeless romantic and feminine person. I am giving into the feeling and I love it!

Sometimes you simply have to indulge your senses.

I have lots of new products coming into the shop including furniture hardware and other embellishments.

I am going to use this beautiful wooden violin case for display. I fell in love with the weathered patina and could not resist taking it back to my shop.

Honestly, she needed a good home.

Tomorrow I will be bringing in a whole pile of vintage and antique linens, Victorian Whites and trims, and an assortment of things I bought in France awhile back. I even have a few Fortuny pieces I am finally willing to let go of. Why? I am not sure, but sometimes you cannot covet something forever! I can hardly wait until Annie Sloan comes out with her beautiful line of textiles.

And of course I am continuing to paint lots of things for the shop in my favorite Annie Sloan Chalk Paint colors. Could you ask for a more perfect existence in a world of color and dreams and exploration? I think not.