Journal

Sometimes we all need a bit of inspiration, to reach out for colour. The beauty of hand painted finishes is that you can do something a little outside the box, we like to encourage customers to do something unique and bespoke for their homes and this sometimes requires a tad bit of bravery when it comes to colours.  With no need to sand or prime with Premium Chalk Paint, the hardest part is deciding on which colours. So today we're pulling together some of our favourite previous projects in COLOUR to help inspire; with a little write up under each one as a guide on how to get the look with Artisan Paints and Products... scroll on for some colour inspiration that might just tip you over to reach out colour on your next Artisan Project  GREEN GOODNESS:  A striking head turning green, great for smaller pieces, or on feature pieces, if you have greenery in your prints, upholstery, artwork or have an outlook to a luscious green garden then this could be the pop of colour for you. We've put together a simplified version of how you can easily create this at home  Get The Look: Paint it in Greenhouse, age it  with dark wax, then use steel wool to highlight and remove the dark wax in areas. Detail selected areas in Soft Gold Metallic Creme followed by Jayda Rose Glaze for a hint of metallics  PAINT IT IN WAX IT IN DETAIL IN      PAINT IN: WAX IN:  RED RED RED: We love this statement project we did that actually ended up being used as a vanity for a bathroom. Red is not for the faint hearted and is definitely a feature colour in the home;  bound to turn heads. If you have reds in your rug, in artwork or in a print or your home has lots of warm earthy tones then sliding in a red piece like this is quite easy. We do love using Carbon Black coloured wax on red as it allows you tone and richen that red to suit. To get this look use Artisan Sangria and Carbon Black Wax if you want to go warmer and earthier replace Carbon Black with Dark Wax  We've included both Sangria and Brickyard in this, Sangria is more like a crimson red where Brickyard is a bit earthier. Do your hardware in Artisan Metallic Creme in Bronze to pop against your chosen Artisan Red  YELLOW the ultimate happy cheerful colour: If you're looking to add a bit of life into your space, a yellow could be a great option, it's bold, it's uplifting and happy. Allowing you to inject some cheerful colour into your space. We love these two previous projects showing the difference waxes can make on a yellow. The first one show's yellow in a cooler tone, this has been coloured waxed in Black where the vanity has had dark wax over it so theres a different warmth and richness to it. Introducing a Yellow is great for adding a pop of colour into a space whether it be a small wooden stool at the end of a hallway or maybe you want to go loud and proud over a large piece, if your home has warm tones; you want to give it a vintage feel then detail tone and age it with Artisan dark wax, if you have cooler tones and have more of a contemporary vibe then finish with Carbon Black Wax to get a cooler tone with an industrial vibe . To get the look head to our ever so cheerful Artisan Bright Buttercup PAINT IN: WAX IN EITHER OR PUNCH IT OUT IN COLOUR: We love this before and after we did, showing that plain pieces can be turned into a feature just through being bold with colour. Love this? a simple two step finish anyone can do, Paint with Subtle texture using Staalmeester series 2020, that means load up plenty of paint on your brush and paint messy in all directions, then simply follow on with a Carbon Black Wax over the whole thing, using it to shade around the edges, creating an industrial age and richening and toning down the Peacock.  Note: If you find that you have gone too strong in Carbon Black Wax and gone to dark;  remember clear wax back over it with a firm wipe works as a bit of an eraser, you can use this back over to remove or lighten areas. Waxing and detailing is forgiving!  Get the look:  Paint it in Peacock and colour wax it in Carbon Black   PAINT IT IN : WAX IT IN:  Another one of favs, turning an old dark piece into something lively with a beachy boho vibe! A combination of paint and stencil with a little touch of metallics GET THE LOOK : paint in Hokitika Gorge, Stencil in Tahr, Coloured Wax in Carbon Black and detail with a hint of Bronzanite Metallic Glide  PAINT IN: STENCIL IN:  COLOUR WAX INDETAIL WITH  PURPLE CAN BE ELEGANT: It's purple without being too purple if you know what we mean, and paired with metallics give it that elegant touch. This purple has plenty of depth and you could go crazy creative by adding multiple coloured waxes here and there to it if you want to have a play but here's a simplified version on how to  GET THE LOOK: paint it in Crushed lavender with subtle texture, then dark wax the whole thing, (it's going to look dirty at this point) lift and lighten back up with a coloured wax in Crushed Lavender over the whole thing, this will push your dark  and age wax to the back and give it an overall soft age to it. Detail specific areas in  Artisan Soft Gold Metallic Creme with dark wax over it to age the metallics PAINT IT IN : AGE AND DEEPEN WITH DARK WAX:  COLOUR WAX BACK OVER WITH   DETAIL IN:  BEACHY RUSTIC VIBES : A finish that looks complicated but is actually really simple to do through use of colour. To get the Look Paint it first in Cape Reinga, once dry mix up a strong Artisan Adrianna coloured wax and apply all over, then in selected areas darken around edges and create shadow by shading in Ocean Trench, then lightly steel wool in areas you would like to highlight or where you would like to even out and blend the coloured wax , this will also highlight the texture as well. Detail the edges and handles in Forgotten gold Metallic Glide  PAINT IT IN WAX IT IN AND WAX SELECTED AREAS IN: DETAIL IN 

Potter’s Clay Description - The artisanal material of a potter's clay is the inspiration behind this stunning earthy neutral with grey undertones. Works beautifully in both classic and contemporary spaces, injecting a sophisticated earthy elegance into your home. If you are looking for an earthy neutral tone to introduce into your home, Potters clay is one to consider . It is one of the most versatile colours in our range, works well with both warm and cool complimentary colours. Potters Clay adapts and changes with natural light, shadows cast upon this colour will deepen and intensify its warm hues, and placed in direct day light, the colour will brighten and bring out a grey with earthy undertones. Beautifully crafted with a stunning mix of multiple Artisan pigments, it has complex underlying tones that brings this neutral to life in the home.  Often described by Artisan Customers as "a stunning soft linen colour".  Potters Clay pairs stunningly with any of our Gold, Champagne and Silver metallics from our Metallic Alchemy range. Interacts beautifully with both warm and cool metallic pigments, which can add the perfect finishing touch to the elegance of this earthy neutral.   Get The Look:  Get the look above with, Potters Clay Premium Chalk Paint finished with a light brushing of Artisan Artisan Dark wax to create depth in the detail,  then a dusting of Wild Tusk Wax coloured wax to soften the entire look. Pair with silver hardware and metallic glide.       Get the look above with, Potters Clay Premium Chalk Paint finished with Beluga coloured wax and Metallic Glide in silver to highlight the details. To create a tone on tone look,  Potters Clay with Crisp white to lighten and paint over selected areas as seen on the panels of this wardrobe    Get the look above with, Potters Clay Premium Chalk Paint with  Artisan Dark wax, then highlight and pull back with clear wax. Get the look above with, Clubhouse Grey Premium Chalk Paint, Carbon Black wax with a light dusting of Potters Clay coloured wax .    Get the look above with, by doing a two colour distress using Kirimi as a base and  Potters Clay over the top then finish with The Artisan Clear and Dark wax and Vienna Champagne Metallic Glide. Get the look above with, by mixing Potters Clay with Wild Tusk to get a lighter version, a light brushing of Artisan Dark wax (using clear wax to pull back and highlight)  contrast internals with  Wild Tusk Premium Chalk Paint  Get the look above with a custom mix of Potters Clay and Crisp White Velvet Luxe Use Crisp White on the panels to contrast and break a piece up. There are so many ways to interpret and introduce Potters Clay in your home, an easy one to fit into any interior space whether  it be classic or contemporary. A stunning  Artisan Neutral as it is that brings with it a natural earthy grounded element whilst being extremely versatile allowing you to easily customise it through coloured waxes or through lightening &  mixing it with one of our whites to create endless shades to fit in with your home.    Click here to find our Premium Chalk Paint in Potters Clay Click here to find our range of beautiful Metallics

  PRIZE PACK INCLUDES:  1L Matte Estate Wall Paint, 1L Velvet Luxe, 1L Chalk Paint, 2 x 120ml Premium Chalk Paint samples, Artisan Classic gold metallic creme, 1x Pro-hybrid Staalmeester brush size 18, 1x Staalmeester Pure Bristle Brush , 1x Staalmeester 2 1/2 inch Flat Brush, 1x Can opener, Bundle of Lint free rags, 1x 1m roll sandpaper, steel wool bundle, 1x 400ml Artisan Clear & 1x 400ml Artisan Dark Wax It's been a great hot NZ Summer and we've loved seeing snippets of what everyone's been doing out there both creatively and in transforming their interiors with Artisan Paints & Products and we would love to see more! So we've put together the ultimate painters prize pack worth $665 dollars to help entice you to share your creativity and be apart of someone else's inspiration... join in on our philosophy of inspire to be inspired... this massive prize pack is up for grabs and entering is super simple: Simply upload your Artisan Paint Project onto your facebook page or instagram page and then hashtag it using  #artisaninme either in the comments or post and this will then allow us, and anyone else following this hashtag to see your projects! #supportlocal : If you normally purchase through an Artisan Retailer, give them a little shout out too by tagging them, and if you are the lucky winner we can send your prize pack straight to your Artisan Retailer for you to collect!   If you are posting on facebook you may need to switch your picture to "public" so we can find you, if  hash tagging or tagging is not your thing, simply email the photo through to connect@theartisancompany.co.nz  - see below for guide and terms and conditions :    On Instagram - add the hashtag #artisaninme in your comments section or in the post itself or tag us by typing :  @theartisancompanynz On Facebook make sure you picture is set to public :    Terms & Conditions:  Winner will be selected 31st March 2021You can enter as many times, by using #artisaninme, tagging us @theartisancompanynz or by emailing your photos through to connect@theartisancompany.co.nz  Project must be completed in Artisan Paints & Products All Artisan paint colours can be chosen by the winner The prize is not redeemable for cash or transferrableThe judges decision is final. Winner will be contacted through social media, or email depending on how the entry was done PRIZE PACK INCLUDES:  1L Matte Estate Wall Paint, 1L Velvet Luxe, 1L Chalk Paint, 2 x 120ml Premium Chalk Paint samples, Artisan Classic gold metallic creme, 1x Pro-hybrid Staalmeester brush size 18, 1x Staalmeester Pure Bristle Brush , 1x Staalmeester 2 1/2 inch Flat Brush, 1x Can opener, Bundle of Lint free rags, 1x 1m roll sandpaper, steel wool bundle, 1x 400ml Artisan Clear & 1x 400ml Dark Wax to Follow all the beautiful inspiration around The Artisan Paints & Products  or check in on it on Facebook :   

  What an insanely busy week this has been, it's been hard to catch everyone up on all the stuff happening behind the scene as it's all go here. Firstly we do want to thank you all for your supportive messages, via phone, email and social media on  our announcement of our Artisanal Paints and Products coming soon and due to be released end mid-end of October. It feels so amazing to have that support behind us to create a dream decorative paint system right here based in NZ. Your positive feedback has definitely kept the tank full and the team here fully buzzed as we head closer to "D Day" ; our biggest creative project to date and one that is so very personal.  This week we are heading into finalising the last of the 67 colours in our Artisanal Colour Palette. Because we know that  for us and our customers it's not just about amazing paint but just as importantly access to amazing colours. For years we have been manually mixing custom Chalk Paint colours for our customers at our paint bar in retail and for commissioned projects to achieve the right depth, tone and shade and there's been some pretty popular mixes over the years that we've done with customers or that we've shared with you. We've been on the floor long enough to what our most popular requests are, the shades and tones that is often sought after for an interior space by our customers and clients.  So when it comes to colours for our Artisanal Palette, this is where we step in with our expertise, taking the time to individually craft and tweak every single colour to perfection. It's not just about making a blue or green, it's about creating one with a richness and depth  through complex formula's using multiple rich quality pigments to get a colour that generates an instant reaction and mood. It has you staring at it and noticing it throughout the days as it tones and adjusts to lighting. This to us is great colour.  That's  this week for us... taking our time to  tweak the last lot of the 67 colours carefully and uniquely formulating them using a process of traditional artistic methods of mixing together whilst also utilising technology. We have the ability to disperse as little as an exact 0.01 of a ml into a colour to create an underlying depth. To put that into perspective it's basically a pin size amount of pigment, so small that if you blink you will miss it going in,  strong rich quality pigments that even this size will make a difference,   this is something that  is beyond the capabilities of any traditional methods or for any of us mere humans to do. These then get brushed out inspected, tested in different lights before deciding to add more or not. It's really not until one of "shrieks or gasps" that we're done.  As an Example Matriarch which we've completed today (given you a sneek peek of below) holds 9 different pigments within it to create a unique richness and depth in the colour. This is done not just through using our knowledge of colour mixing but through the help of the latest technology to create this level of complexity in our colours. It's like a painting sometimes you need that little bit of something else to make the entire artwork pop and pull together. Having worked with colours, paint and mixing pretty much every day out for over a decade now... this process is the fun part, crafting our artisanal colour palette....Another sneak peek: Here's a little write up of what you will find on Matriarch when you read our colour chart:  Matriarch: is a strong complex and  sophisticated no nonsense powerhouse colour, like most Matriarchs it will make its presence known but underneath it all has a warmth and incredible rich depth that leaves you wondering exactly what it is. Our version of an aubergine with a richness and deepness that provides a contemporary twist. Works well with warm or earthy colours. Pair it with Carbon Black and metallics for a contemporary take.  Offset it with yellow tonesBy the end of this week our Artisanal colour palette will be completely tweaked another step closer to release date...:-)  

  OUR STORY  When we designed our paints we already knew how we wanted our paints to feel and flow off the brush, how it should move, react, settle and dry… every aspect and detail of our paints have been engineered and designed from the ground up to perform precisely how we want it to.  Based on our journey and experience in decorative painting we wanted to pull in everything we have loved about paints, and everything we had ever wished for. From humble beginnings starting in an Auckland Garage, to  building a name and reputation for creating artististic bespoke hand painted effects &  finishes for high value commissioned paint projects.  It’s all in our  name;  a company created by Artisans and born out of our love for decorative painting and  passion for creating bespoke interiors, it’s not your usual paint manufacturers story, this one starts with us being Artisans first…. Decorative painting for us is all about having the freedom to create stunning finishes and having the tools to bring your imagination to life,  to customise, revive or create something that is cohesive, artful and beautifully bespoke for your interior space and this was the message we sent out when we started our creative retail business many years ago. Over these years we have been well regarded as experts in our field as Artisans with the ability to creatively manipulate and achieve bespoke paint effects on all types of surfaces and projects. Holding the largest portfolio of hand painted finishes in NZ with long waiting lists on high value commissioned projects and an even longer list  for our unique paint workshops. Our paint workshops were carefully designed and curated, simplifying and breaking down our methods  to allow us to translate our world of colour and freedom of painted effects so that anyone could follow with confidence. An amazing adventure, and experience where we met so many wonderful people from all walks of life, developing long lasting creative relationships with some becoming friends over the years. We ran a large schedule and  training centre  and worked to inspire the thousands who attended our workshops. Many decorative painters hold and guard their techniques close to their hearts  but we found that by openly sharing ours, we gained so much more than we could have imagined in return... our large format store, held a stunning gallery of painted inspiration and examples  for our customers to delve into and explore,  a unique creative retail experience that demonstrated a world of creative possibilities when it came to interiors.  This journey had a lasting and permanent impact on us and is an experience we will always treasure and hold close to our hearts and has  became a part of our Ethos today where we choose to distribute our paints only to independent creative retailers who have a passion for sharing knowledge,  run our workshops regularly and are hands on creating painted inspiration with an  in store “paint bar” for demonstration; we take a lot of pride in supporting small independent businesses who become part of our creative family who in turn hold an extension of our ethos in their stores . The time we  have spent on commissioned projects, in retail and in running workshops, all of this has really  been  the “groundwork”  behind the unique formulation and the engineering of our Artisanal Paints and Products. Using traditional methods married  together with NZ’s  leading technology in paint manufacturing. Every aspect has been purposely and thoughtfully designed and engineered from the way our paint  looks and settles in a can to the way it stirs and flows off the brush to the incredible coverage you experience on the first stroke. Using only the finest raw materials and high quality ingredients to create a luxurious  high performing range of Artisanal Paints with a focus on providing our customers the freedom to create bespoke interiors. From Wall Paints, Outdoor paints to our Premium Chalk Paints, waxes and Artisanal products,  this has all been a coming together of creative ideals and people, artistic, technical and scientific brains with a focus on making the best Artisanal paints and products  in the world made right here in NZ.