Chalk Paint™ - Beginners and Advanced Courses & Annie Sloan in Auckland For Book Signing at Le Monde, Parnell

In a previous post about Chalk Paint™, decorative paint by Annie Sloan, I wrote about Le Monde, Auckland's official stockists of Chalk Paint™. Stocking the paint has been a great success and Le Monde are well under way with their paint technique courses (beginners and advanced). I recently signed up for their advanced class and wanted to share the experience with my readers. I am also excited to announce that Annie Sloan will be in New Zealand for a book signing, Wednesday 2nd of July from 1pm - 2.30pm and Le Monde would love for you to meet Annie and celebrate this occasion with a glass of bubbly.

The day for my course arrived and I headed over to Le Monde to be greeted by our tutor, Craig Thorburn, well known in NZ for his 'specialist paint techniques. With a wealth of over 30 years experience in the field of themeing, display and design, his previous clients have included the NZ Government and Louis Vuitton. The past 9 years, Craig has also been a regular stylist for NZ House & Garden Magazine. Creating many theatrical sets over his career, led Craig to his passion for specialised paint effects. 

Joined by three others, Craig informed us that on today's course, we would learn the skills of decoupage, crackle, gilding and marbling using Chalk Paint™ and other materials from Annie Sloan's range. We were to create a decorative wall plaque from a simple wall tile. Our materials were readily at hand and we were able to choose our Chalk Paint™ colours and decoupage design. I chose a French style crown and opted to use grey/beige tones. I wanted a French antique appearance to my finished tile. The others chose more colourful birds or leaves as their decoupage. The lesson was fun and Craig first demonstrated each step on his own tile, making it easy to follow. We covered a lot in the three hours which included a lovely tea break and I was amazed at the outcomes achieved. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and meeting other creative people, most definitely I would recommend it to all.

If you are new to Chalk Paint™, you may want to attend the beginners introductory course first where Craig covers the basics of Chalk Paint™. Here you will learn how to apply the paint and create different looks such as washes, distressing and how to apply the light and dark waxes. Once you have this knowledge, you could then go on to attend an advance class to learn more specialised techniques. 

Chalk Paint™ is wonderfully versatile and I have been thrilled with the projects I have attempted on this course and at home, including the decorative tray I posted a while ago. I have personally made a few mistakes through trial and error, which is why I recommend initially attending the beginners course - Believe me, once you have the knowledge, you will find that you want to paint everything you can lay your hands on.

Below - Beginners Class

Below: Advanced Class - I have to make an apology for my photos, it was dull outside and I cranked up the ISO on my camera too much which unfortunately made my images bright but unfortunately grainy.

Above: Applying the gold leaf

Above: Craig teaches us how to marble wood


Above: Using a feather to create fine veins

Above: A completed wall plaque 

Above: Our completed plaques (my crown is on the right)

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and plan to learn more techniques in the future.

If you are interested in attending a course, Please contact Le Monde for their latest class schedule. If you don't want to attend a course and happy to start alone, you can purchase Chalk Paint™, brushes and specialised materials at Le Monde.

AND DON'T FORGET YOU CAN MEET ANNIE SLOAN ON WEDNESDAY 2ND JULY FROM 1PM - 2.30PM AT HER BOOK SIGNING AT LE MONDE, PARNELL, AUCKLAND. I for one will definitely be there.

Le Monde:
Phone: 09 3779518 
Email: info@le-monde.co.nz

If you are not based in New Zealand and want to find out your nearest stockist of Chalk Paint™, decorative paint by Annie Sloan, please visit:

anniesloan.com,  anniesloanunfolded.com or www.chalkpaint.com

I would love to hear of your Chalk Paint™ projects, so feel free to email me with your before and after images.

Lee oxo