Over the 17th and 18th of September 2022, Annie’s Big Paint Weekend, the first ever Chalk Paint™ festival of its kind, came to New Orleans, Louisiana! The ultimate experience for painters, creatives, and upcyclers alike, attendees learnt a litany of new skills, met some of the biggest names in the Chalk Paint™ business (more on that later!), and got to be the very first to use brand new Annie Sloan products! Some big name demonstrators included Kacha Furniture, Jonathon Marc Mendes and, of course, Annie Sloan herself!

Hosted by the iconic New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI) in the heart of downtown New Orleans, guests got to mingle among like-minded painters, treated to buffet lunches, canapés, and drinks across both days, plus received a complimentary goodie bag to take home and an exclusive discount at the on-site Annie Sloan shop! 15 lucky Chalk Paint™ VIPs (Very Important Painters) were even treated to an exclusive breakfast and private audience with Annie. Here, she handed out her unparalleled upcycling advice and a special luxury goodie bag! Sounding pretty great already, isn’t it? And that’s not even everything!

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Demonstrations

The event also featured a jam-packed schedule of demonstrations from some of the biggest names in the furniture painting universe, including Kacha Furniture, Jonathon Marc Mendes, Brushed by Brandy, All Shabbed Out, and the brilliant With Love Furniture! Event attendees got to experience these superstar painters demonstrate their skills onstage and had the opportunity to meet them, ask them questions, and learn from them (plus take those all-important selfies!) throughout the course of two days.

Other Man’s Treasure, Pigeon & Pip, Atelier 1966, Dingley Dell Creative, and The Housewarmings (our super-talented current Painter in Residence!) also came along too to join in on the fun and share their expertise!

The demonstrations taught some of the most popular decorative painting techniques, such as marbling, using gold leaf, achieving faux leather and faux stone effects (from, of course, expert Jonathon Marc Mendes), frottage (from pioneer Annie Sloan), ombre, colour washing, bringing folk art up-to-date, expressive freehand painting, achieving a grunge look, and creating a painted tortoiseshell effect.

Plus, attendees received tips on taking the best photographs of their painted pieces from Annie’s The Colourist team, advice on choosing the best furniture to paint, and inside information on becoming an Annie Sloan Stockist!

Keep scrolling for some of our favourite pictures from the event. Warning: May cause serious FOMO!

As you can see, Annie, her team of painters, and all the attendees had a fabulous time celebrating the joy of furniture painting in New Orleans! But don’t just take our word for it…

Upcoming Big Paint Events

If you missed out this time, fear not! Annie and the team are already busy planning our next Big Paint event and it might just be coming to a town near you! Make sure you’re following us on Facebook and Instagram @anniesloanhome, and signed up to our newsletter to be the first to hear the announcement. Paint brushes at the ready!