Getting Box-y with Botanicals

I distinctly remember how earlier this year, when I opened The Colourist Bookazine by Annie Sloan, my eyes lit up with joy. It was a world full of colour and design inspiration, featuring the artistic work of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint enthusiasts from around the world. Each page was gorgeous - from Yinka Ilori to Cressida Bell - and in the midst of these colour wizards, I found Lucy Tiffney’s work. Lucy Tiffney is an artist who paints botanical motifs in vibrant colours over pastel or muted backgrounds. Her art is mostly featured in homes as wall murals, wall paper and more recently wall art (Big Blue Trunk has a Lucy Tiffney feature wall too, if you want to have a look!)

As an admirer of Henri Matisse and Fauvist influencers, Lucy is a longterm colour enthusiast who loves finding unusual colour combinations, juxtapositions and proportions. Her designs can bring the joy of bold and vivid colours, and the freshness of botanical patterns into any home. As soon as I set my eyes on Lucy’s work, I felt a spark of inspiration. 


And so, with help from the step by step guide in The Colourist, I embarked on my first project ever with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint: up-cycling an old wine crate in Lucy Tiffney style. I chose Rodmell as the base colour - a deep enthralling purple, with a distinct air of quiet sophistication (Rodmell is a limited edition colour released by Annie Sloan in collaboration with the Charleston Farmhouse & Bloomsbury Group of artists). From there, I decided pick more vivid shades for the botanical motifs to achieve a playful contrast.

For the botanical accents, I used the following colours in different combinations - Scandinavian Pink, Old Ochre, Paris Grey, Provence, Emperor’s Silk, English Yellow, Lem Lem and Firle (all of these colours are available at Big Blue Trunk here). I used Annie Sloan Detail Brushes and a spattering of other interesting tools like fingertips and pencil tips to paint the botanical patterns. Once painted, I sealed the paint with Clear Wax to protect the paint and give it a velvety matte finish. Here is the final look!

What would you like to know next? What is Fauvism, the artistic movement, or how to decide which colours to pick for a piece? Please leave your comments for us so that we can follow up with the most relevant article next.

We are delighted to announce the addition of the Bold Botanicals Workshop - Inspired by artist Lucy Tiffney’s unique style of painting bright botanicals, in this 3 hour workshop you will learn to paint your very own custom wine crate in a bold botanical style. Click here for more details.

For custom furniture painting projects, please get in touch with us hello@bigbluetrunk.sg. 

(Some images used are from Lucy Tiffney's website)

Artist and blog post contributor - Damini Roy