Sam's Mural, Paper or Paint?, Part II

It is funny how one thing always leads to another, isn't it?

Connectivity NEVER ceases to amaze me.

Early the morning after I first photographed Don Jacobs on a ladder painting a chinoiserie mural at one client's home, another client PGW and I left Jackson heading for Oxford and her antique club meeting and luncheon, no cute suitcases this time, just a day trip!

Mural artist Don Jacobs in my client's foyer outside Jackson

Our precise destination was "Magnolia Hill", 

a stately Georgian Colonial Revival 

situated on twenty beautiful 

acres right in the heart of Oxford, Mississippi,

and the home of 

Sam and Mary Donnelly Haskell. 

Sam and Mary have recently returned to Mississippi from Los Angeles where Sam rose from the mail room to Vice President and Worldwide Head of Television for 

the William Morris Agency.

(You may have read Sam's recent 

and highly acclaimed book

Promises I Made My Mother.
If not, I highly recommend it!)

When we arrived at "Magnolia Hill" 

and walked through the front door,

we were welcomed by Sam 

Oil portrait of Sam over the mantle in his study.
There are photos of his friends and former clients all over the house.

and a soaring and beautiful 

sepia toned mural in the foyer. 

Sam greeted us with the warmest of Mississippi hospitality (indeed his mother taught him well and would be very proud) and a lovely tray of mimosas, and he began telling us his enthralling stories and how his home incorporates those stories in both big and small ways.

The vast and unbelievably 

detailed mural combines

meaningful locations from the Haskells' lives including Amory where Sam grew up and 

Pride Station, Alabama, from where Mary's family hails, along with buildings at Ole Miss and trees and scenery from the 
piney woods of Mississippi.

This part of the mural features Sam's hometown of Amory, MS, including the movie theater where Sam honed his early knowledge of movie stars.
The recess in this wall was especially designed for the ballroom pier mirror, one of the few pieces rescued from a fire at Mary's grandmother's home. 

Mary's grandmother's home in Pride Station, AL, with its adjoining cotton fields,
 is depicted going up the stairwell. 

  And guess who painted Sam's special mural?  Why none other than my friend and artist
 Don Jacobs whom I had left behind 

working on a mural in Jackson!


Don worked on this masterpiece at
 "Magnolia Hill" for four months, ten hours a day, with artist's brushes.

As I mentioned in my last post, I first met Don when he painted a powder room mural for a designer showhouse that we were both working on quite a few years ago.  

Another designer who was working at the Mississippi Governor's Mansion saw Don's powder room mural at the showhouse and recommended Don to then

 Governor Hailey Barbour
for a project at the Governor's Mansion. 


It's funny how one thing always leads
to another, isn't it?

Mississippi Governor's Mansion, one of the oldest in the country

Don painted a wonderful sepia toned, room sized mural, featuring scenes and foliage from all areas of the state, covering all the walls in a meeting room at the Governor's mansion.

He worked on it seven hours a day, 

for four months with artists brushes.

Then in a meeting with then

 Governor Hailey Barbour, Sam Haskell mentioned that he wanted a special mural painted by a Mississippi artist in the foyer of "Magnolia Hill."

And of course Don Jacobs was the recommended artist!

It's funny how one thing always leads

to another, isn't it?

A view of Pride Station, AL, from the second floor of "Magnolia Hill"

After a tour and many wonderful stories, we were treated to beautiful and delicious buffet luncheon on the back terrace.

A view of the back of the property from the terrace

I adore the inclusion of the fresh okra in the luncheon tablescape.

Thank you, Sam and Mary, for your wonderful Mississippi hospitality, 

and you PGW for a lovely day.

Sam signed copies of Promises I made My Mother for us.
Here my friend Cathy White!

It is funny how one thing always leads to another and how everything is connected,
 isn't it?


Speaking of that, stay tuned for Part III of
"Paper or Paint" and where the road does lead!


What do you think of the painted murals?


Do you like the monochromatic sepia toned murals or more colorful ones?


To see more of Don Jacobs' 
fabulous artwork, murals, 
and decorative finishes
CLICK HERE or contact me for 
more information.

Don Jacobs
Artist, Muralist, Decorative Painter, and MORE!
Thanks, Don!

photo credits:  Labougle, Marilyn Storey, Don Jacobs

ALWAYS Chic Chinoiserie, Paper or Paint?, Part I

 Of course I took many scarves and accessories on my trip!
via Couture Allure

I am finally back and unpacked!

I have been working on several big projects and travelling a bit, so I have lots of stories to tell, which somehow miraculously and without planning seem to link in various ways, and of course I MUST SHARE.

Elizabeth Dinkel Design

So to start at the beginning right here in Jackson . . .

Several months ago, my good friend and client asked me to help her with several projects in the new home she was building.

One of the things at the top of her list was the perfect wallpaper for her entry with its wonderful barrel ceiling.

We both agreed that she really needed the "oomph factor" in her entry.

Entry via Chinoiserie Chic, Paper Mural

Celerie Kemble Design, via Elle Decor, Paper Mural

Miles Redd Design via House Beautiful, Paper Mural

My client is a super organized person

(I am wishing that 

I was as organized as she is!)

 and had a notebook full of great ideas for wallpapers. 

We decided to look at 

hand painted chinoiserie papers like these.

Bedroom by Miles Redd

I have always had a fondness for them. 

When I was in high school we had one in our dining room almost just like this one.

(Perhaps another reason from my past that makes me so fond of birds!) 

My dining room had a chinoiserie silk paper with a metallic gold background.

The look is perpetuated since my mother had my portrait made in the room.

My client's color palette is a fun one

 (kind of Florida colors, which gives you a hint of where I headed first on my big 
road trip) 

so we looked at this paper

 from de Gournay.

de Gournay Panel

We actually looked at lots of papers from

 de Gournay, Griffin and Wong, 

and Gracie.

Detail from Griffin and Wong Paper

Griffin and Wong Panels

Gracie Wallpaper

We could just never quite find exactly the one we both thought was perfect and I admit we were a little worried the papers are TOO popular at the moment, although they are indeed a classic, popular since the 1700's.

So what to do?

We decided to paint!

We wanted a hand painted version of 

a hand painted chinoiserie paper.

Award winning painted mural by Kaveri Singh for designer Grady Cooley 
on twenty-two foot glazed walls

And I had just the right artist in mind  . . .

my longtime friend and artist Don Jacobs.

I have known Don for what seems like eons.

We first met working on a designer showhouse, and I have always 

admired Don's work.

 He is multi-talented and has an 

extensive portfolio, including portraits, decorative painting and murals.

His work is even in the 

Mississippi Governor's Mansion.

My client, and Don, and I met and worked out colors and details for every inch of her entry wall and ceiling, birds, branches that flowed up the walls onto the ceiling to create an "entry bower" of sorts, a neutral but pearlescent background, and the fun colors from the room but slightly muted.

And Don did NOT disappoint!

Don accentuated the pearlescent basecoat and silvered it just a bit, then he painted in the branches first.

Foliage and flowers followed.

Then he added the birds and butterflies.

And of course we added a few more 

at the end!

To be continued . . .


Next stop, Oxford!

What do you prefer, paper or paint for a chinoiserie mural?

photo credits: via Couture Allure, Elizabeth Dinkel Design, Marilyn Storey, Domino, via Chinoiserie Chic, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Kaveri Singh, de Gournay, Griffin and Wong, Gracie