World leading paint and colour expert Annie Sloan CBE was inspired by the archives of the Bodleian Library to explore the wild and wonderful pages of medieval bestiaries.

Fine artist Annie has taken antiquated source material and created her own copies of the lively human, animal, and mythological figures. Liberated from the pages of these wonderful books, Annie’s drawings are the stars of a collection of  decorative objects.

Her cast of joyful, rambunctious, characters slither, slide, and stomp from the parchment to breathe new life across luxurious velvet cushions, hand-painted ceramic plates, framed paintings, and a unique painted heraldic chest.

Annie’s palette for this collection was inspired by the richness and brightness of the medieval illustrations she discovered in the library – jewel-like reds, greens, blues and golds. Annie used Chalk Paint and Metallic Leaf in Imitation Gold to create her artwork.

Annie’s mission with her work has always been to elevate the decorative arts and democratize the sometimes-stuffy and inaccessible world of Fine Art. This collection reminds audiences that creativity is for everybody, that humans have a long history of finding joy in art, illustrations, and drawing, and that we can enrich ourselves and our lives by making art a domestic fixture.

Annie’s work is on display and available for sale in the Bodleian Library shops in the Old Quad and the Weston Library.

The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. The library holds a highly important collection of manuscripts from medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire, second only to the British Library in the UK.

– Bodleian Library Shops, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG