What you can learn at an Annie Sloan workshop

I attended the Annie Sloan demonstration workshop held at Expowood Fair in Brasov. There is a lot of interest and enthusiasm at these presentations. Participants, who at first sit quietly in their chairs and listen, soon start to come closer to get a better idea of what is going on. Then the questions, photos and videos start. This is what happened in Brasov, and the hosts - Red Boutique Decor, the distributor Annie Sloan from Brasov and Allmycraftsfrom Miercurea Ciuc (the first Annie Sloan distributor in Romania) - did very well. What an Annie Sloan workshop means, what kind of techniques are presented, what personal contributions the distributors make, find out below.

What is an Annie Sloan workshop and why it's good to attend before you start working with Annie Sloan products

If you read about Annie Sloan creosote paints find out how easy they are to use, how you can paint anything with them and how simple it is to change the look of an old piece of furniture with them. So why attend a workshop? Go to the shop, buy the paint like you would at any DIY store, go home and paint!

Workshops are not done because the paint is not easy to use but to see how you can achieve different effects using the same paint. Annie Sloan revolutionised the DIY paint industry almost 30 years ago. Her paints and painting techniques have fans all over the world, and many have tried to copy her. When you create a great, great product, you want to make sure that these qualities are not lost because of small details. That's why she was the first to organise these workshops and pass on the tradition to distributors.

Annie Sloan Workshops are classes that showcase chalk paints and teach painting techniques that dealers learn directly from Annie. Before they can teach these painting techniques, distributors must attend Annie's workshops at the company's headquarters in Oxford, England. This is how they learn the techniques for achieving different effects with the same paint, application secrets for perfect results, special ways of mixing colours and how to make the same paint work on both furniture and textiles. All this information is then passed on, enriched with personal experiences and ideas.

How is a workshop run?

We also saw at the Expowood presentation that the same paint, applied differently, can make a piece of furniture look old or modern. We also saw that black wax wiped off immediately after application creates one effect, while wiped off after a longer time creates another. It's simple but very useful information and the end result is what shows the difference. I'm sure many have said to themselves, after seeing the application techniques, why didn't they think of this before. It is true that the fast drying time of the paint, the texture, the density, are important qualities that make the techniques possible.

Before the one in Brasov I attended a workshop in Bucharestso I can tell you "from the inside" how it's going. They are very carefully prepared and everyone gets their own piece of wood or small piece to be covered and decorated with Annie Sloan products.

Each stage is first described, then carried out in practice. This way everyone can see the result, and if they don't quite understand or get the moves right they can ask or get help. The finishing is done from start to finish so that the result can be seen and appreciated and the simple way of working with paints can be discovered by everyone.

What painting techniques are taught?

Courses can last 5-6 hours. But even in such a long time not everything can be said about the application techniques. That's why there are several levels. There are the basic courses, where you learn how to apply paints to achieve different effects (shabby chic, rustic, modern, antiqued), how to seal wax paint, patination with coloured waxes (white or black), stencil application

But there are also courses for advanced students, where special, more complicated techniques are taught. Image transfer, cracked effect, gold leafing, gilding, decoupage or effects using 4-5 types of wax are just some of these techniques. It is not compulsory to attend the basic courses to participate in the advanced techniques, but it is compulsory to know how to work with these materials. If you don't know anything about them, attending an advanced workshop is wasted time and money.

Distributors organise thematic workshops on various occasions. For example, before Easter or Christmas they organise such meetings where specific decorations are made using chalky paints. Also, after attending a workshop in England, where new techniques were learned, meetings are organised to further teach these techniques. At Allmycraftson 8 March, was a workshop on dyeing and decorating textiles, organised after attending a course with Annie.

In fact, Annie Sloan organises workshops every year where all sorts of new things are learned. She is relentless in finding all sorts of ways to use paints and create new shades and colours. And all these techniques, once established, are passed on to distributors and can reach each and every one of us.

Distributors' contributions from their own creativity

The above courses are more or less the same all over the world. They are courses designed by Annie Sloan and the distributors' contribution to them is quite small. There are, however, a number of courses where the creativity of the distributors comes into play. It's good to know that Annie chooses the distributors precisely for this creativity.

And so you can attend courses on traditional Saxon furniture painting with Annie Sloan paints (in Brasov) or learn how to draw inspiration from famous painters to create unique pieces of furniture. (in Bucharest).

Another course inspired by Annie, but done according to everyone's creativity, is the one in which a piece of furniture brought from home will take on a whole new look. "Paint Together" is an interactive course in which participants renew their furniture using cream paints under the supervision and with the help of distributors.

Why it's good to take these courses

There's a lot to say about these courses, but it's best to go and see what you can learn. At Expowood there was a raffle organised by Rouge Boutique Decor which resulted in a prize of attending a course. The lady who won was quite happy. And she had good reason to be. Rouge Boutique Decor has 8 types of workshops in its permanent offer, which more and more interesting. In addition to these, there are Easter, Christmas and special team building events on request.

If you are passionate about DIY the course will launch new directions in which to develop in the future. You might immediately want to change the look of your entire home and succeed. You will do this without buying new furniture and decorations but by investing soul, passion and some work. Of course, you will also have to invest in information and learning (by attending courses) and in materials (paints, waxes and possibly, brushes), but the result will be far more valuable than the investment.

So I can only wish you good luck with your work and learning, and good luck!