Living Beautifully in the Red Hills

We could not have asked for a better instructor for us as a Chalk Paint® stockist, and now we are thrilled to offer the same experience to you ~ right in the four walls of our beloved shop! Now it’s YOUR chance to join the fun right here. Tristan’s high-energy teaching style, combined with Annie Sloan’s transformative painting techniques, promises an unforgettable experience.

Both Wolf Hall and Lucy Worsley Investigates elevate what may have first been presented to you from a dusty history book to an art form that depicts the humanity, drama, and lesser-known influences behind some of the most-trodden episodes in history. Sometimes, truth is indeed stranger than fiction!

I wish I could run to my younger self, greet her at the coffee shop door, sit her down (I’m still trying to figure out what she’d order because coffee shops weren’t a “thing” in the 90s!), and tell her about her future shop in a beautiful, historic building in a beautiful, historic town.

Decades later, those lessons for routines, puttering, gathering inspiration, authenticity, and being creative have stayed with me. And decades later, in 2025, I’m returning to those roots by reading the updated version of Simple Abundance.

So, imagine my delight when I turned the page to February 2nd the topic was Beginning to See the Light, and the daily reading began with Candlemas and its meaning!

As I pause to take a breath this morning, I am remembering the cozy, lovely townhouse hotel we used as our "home from home" in London. Tucked into a side street in the leafy Pimlico neighborhood, which is a neighbor to both Belgravia and Chelsea, The Artist Residence was in the perfect location to walk in any direction to where we wanted to be!

This year marks the 35th anniversary of Annie's invention of Chalk Paint,so 2025 will be exciting with LOTS of news and events that we all get to participate in!

Highlights of the training included Annie's tutorial on colour theory (yes, I feel the need to spell it the way she does, as she's from one of our favorite cities: Oxford, England!) and the joy of perusing Annie's personal art journals with her.

And home for almost 7 years now is Thomasville – this adorable, historic little town tucked into the Red Hills of south Georgia. There were sparks of “this reminds me of Thomasville” all around as we walked (and walked, and walked, as I noted earlier) through the boroughs of London. Yes, London reminds me of Thomasville – not, as you would think, the other way around!

If I had to pick the best part of our time together, it would be that by the time they left, it felt like Karen and Hadley were Thomasvillians. It got to where people were greeting them by name when they saw them! The people of Thomasville are so friendly and so welcoming that they just make you feel at home and like you never want to leave.

This part is especially poignant and gets to the heart of what a creative strives for: "As a seasoned author, editor, and English educator, I’ve always had a deep appreciation for the art of self-expression. Today, I still love to tell stories — through fabric! I strive to bring narratives to life not only with words, but also with the colors, textures, and patterns of my designs."

There’s one last way I know it is truly fall: in the shop we are playing a favorite playlist, Autumn in the Shop. It just makes us happy! But not only that, I love fall so much that I created Another Autumn in the Shop playlist for double the autumnal feels. You can try them both out to keep the shop vibes going even after you’ve visited us!

It was on that decisive, impactful holiday in the Cotswolds during which the idea for The Hare & The Hart itself was born that I visited Annie Sloan’s shop in Oxford, England. I’d actually painted a portrait of an English bulldog (long story, ask me next time you’re in the shop!) for her and dropped it off with her assistant.

In Thomasville this week, we were able to open our arms, shops, and homes to evacuees from the Gulf coast and central Florida. Hugging friends old and new in the shop has been a privilege and blessing. We met so many sweet families and found connections to strangers which made them immediate friends. It truly is a small world.