September 2023 News
Sept 2023
And here we are, welcome September! One of my favourite months of the year. The days are getting shorter but the light is still glorious. The end of the August holiday brings feelings of wanting to make changes born from ideas that have been plotted during the summer – it’s a time to be creative.
LDF23
To help with your creativity, visit the London Design Festival taking place 16-24 September, promoting London as the design capital of the world. So many inspiring and interesting places to go and fairs to explore. LDF showcases our city at its best.
A RESOUNDING RETREAT
Following the success of our first Retreat Workshop in May 2023, Miv Watts / @wattswish / @themavericksoul_author and Francesca will be holding another for 5 days starting on the 11th October 2023 at Domaine de Lexis in Gascony, France.
Using the modalities of colour, yoga, design, instinct and personal uniqueness, we will work on turning each guest’s home into a visual narrative of their own life.
We will avoid the perceived opinions of what’s in and what’s out, and encourage our guests to be braver in their individual choices. We will focus on the healing power of colour and the events, memories and history that have shaped our lives.
We are, after all, only the sums of our past.
Defined by our choices, we learn to think for ourselves.
Two Hatha Yoga classes will take place each day, in the morning and at dusk. Great food will be cooked by the wonderful chef, Philippe, to compliment a stimulating and entertaining company.
For further information including costs please check http://lexisretreats.com/
Hope to see you there!
RECENT PROJECTS
Working with the National Trust
We have been working on some very interesting projects including, Standen House. Designed as a very modern home, with ancient influences, it was recently described by the historian Abigail Harrison-Moore as one of the most charming examples of Arts and Crafts workmanship in the UK.
Standen House, set in a beautiful hillside garden, is going to have a major external revamp with our limewash. The perfect project for us to be part of because it is a National Trust Listed Building and can only be painted with the limewash, the oldest form of paint and completely breathable.
Working with Jermaine Gallacher
Another project we have been working on is with Jermaine Gallacher, who is designing his second restaurant in East London. He has again asked us to create a unique bespoke colour which was fun to make. We will show you once the project has completed.
Working with Jermaine is wonderful because we understand each other, and when he describes a colour that is in only his mind, I understand it completely and am able to create it as he imagines.
In his first restaurant, Bar Crispin in Kingly St, Carnaby, his idea was for guests to be engulfed inside an Emerald. So, I made an Emerald Green in a water based gloss, painted on the floor, walls and ceiling, so it is really like being inside an emerald stone.
COLOUR OF THE MONTH
The colour of the month is ‘Spitzkop 2’ from the Namibian Sands Collection. It is inspired by a trip to Namibia, one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen. The Spitzkop is a group of bald granite peaks or inselbergs located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Namibia.
The granite is more than 120 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1,728 metres above sea level. The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. Famous for the changing of its colour during the day from white at 12 to deep red at 6pm, shown perfectly in this image from my trip 15 years ago.
The colour that we created is a smart neutral with a slight reddish undertone, made with all the natural pigments, yellow ochre, raw and burnt umber and a touch of red oxide. It is a colour that goes well everywhere around the house, from a hall to a kitchen, it is a calm mid tone, it is smart and timeless, like all of our colours.
COMING SOON…
With one thing and another, Francesca’s Paints has not had a holiday this year. We have been too busy to be able to go away, but are hoping to plan a trip later in the year.
There are big changes ahead and some special announcements to make – I’m looking forward to telling you but I must wait a bit longer. Watch this space…
Francesca