The rocking chair

Our old American rocking chair came to us via unusual circumstances. We lived for several years in Northumberland, a beautiful county bordering Scotland to its north.

The River Croquet on a frosty morning

Allendale

Some new neighbours moved near us from America. They were a lot older than us, and this was the first move they had ever made. They had lived their whole life in Rochester, New York State, and they bought virtually everything from their old home over with them. They were our neighbours for about 3 years, but then learnt that they were being moved to Belgium. This was another huge undertaking for a couple nearing retirement, and the wife could not bear the thought of packing their entire household up again. She offered us several of their things, and that is how we acquired the old rocker that had once belonged to her grandmother.

It was painted a rather dull green, the paint having blistered where it had sat out on the porch over many years. Since I have had the rocker, it has gone through several reincarnations. It is interesting how taste changes. Many years ago I liked a touch of the imperial, so an offbeat purple it became. Then, unbelievably, I decided that a dash of bright red in a room was fetching, rather like the great painters, such as John Constable, would put a small amount of red in their pictures. Until the last couple of weeks it was painted in a Shaker colour, I used an American paint, made by Old Village, called Cupboard Blue. 

With the fine weather I felt like a change, and decided it was time to give the old chair a new colour. This time round I was influenced by our visits to Norway, and my love of Carl Larsson the Swedish painter, whom I wrote about here.

A couple of images from Norway taken whilst visiting eldest son and family

Carl Larsson's dinning room and his  paintings 

Mrs Dora Lamm and her two eldest sons

One of Larsson's models writing cards

The Larsson's kitchen

A Name day celebration at Larsson's home

The colour I have chosen is Scandinavian Pink. It is made by the paint colourist, Annie Sloan. She lives, and has her main shop in Oxford. She has an international reputation for her chalk based paints, which if waxed, give a very hardwearing and lasting finish.

Scandinavian Pink

On the paint pot it states - No priming or sanding necessary. No removing of old wax, paint or varnish. This paint will stick to most things including plastics, stone, bricks, concrete and metal.

This is girls' paint (but boys can use it too!). 

Absolutely great, just the sort of paint product I have been dreaming of. I have not waxed the rocker, the paint seems more robust than I thought it would be. I imagined it would be slightly darker, perhaps it will darken if I wax it. I will leave it as it is for the moment and, if necessary, wax it during the winter months. 

Northumberland and Carl Larsson images via wikipedia