Ricki Jill

Showing posts with label Painting. Show all posts

Hello, My Lovelies! I hope you are well and having a lovely summer. I'm beginning to see the first of the back-to-school ads, and it isn't even Independence Day yet! In other news, we had our first day of sunshine after weeks of rainy and stormy days. And with the sunny skies, the heat has returned. But that's okay!

Today I wanted to share with you a few projects I've been working on in my art studio. I've accomplished much because of the rain keeping me inside. The first thing I want to share is a finished oil painting from a photo I took on our trip last year. It's a cartouche from the Imperial Apartments at Göttwieg Abbey in Krems, Austria.

Imperial Apartment Cartouche

16" X 12"

oil on linen panel

I've also been doing a lot of crafting. This year I've been keeping up with my reading with monthly reading tag journals. I hang them with "S" hooks on an over-the-table rod in my studio. I will share more about it in a week or so. I've also been making hand-painted and drawn bookmarks of my favorite books that I place in the tag journals.

This is the finished reading tag journal for May.

This is an example of a handmade bookmark I made for Jenny Hickman's For Ever.

This is a special edition book.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was fighting a cold at the beginning of June, and that I had been drinking copious amounts of hot tea. Below is my new favorite recipe for tea, and it is made from a Chocolate Earl Grey Tea, the "Cozy" blend based on Meg's Tea Room (an Instagram influencer) by Cliché Teas.

We were about three weeks late signing-up for our summer community supported agriculture box. We received our first box on Thursday, and we are very happy with it.

Here are a few links to our favorite recipes from this week's box.

Stir-Fry Napa Cabbage with Spicy Garlic Dressing

Authentic Gazpacho

Cherry Plum Muffins

Cue Ball Squash Stuffed with Rice

Summer Peach Salad with Spinach, Blueberries, and Feta Cheese

We were pleasantly surprised with these muffins.

I will share more CSA recipes this summer. Stay tuned!

Last minute Independence Day decor

Favorite Books of 2025 (so far)

Home decor

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

June Update From My Art Studio

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Happy Last Day of February, Lovelies!

Today I'm sharing with you my latest adventure: painting with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I know I'm the very last one to the chalk paint party (as usual), but I thought that if I like painting the small box, then maybe I'd paint furniture in the future.

I selected the Bloomsbury Set Keepsake Box, Charleston.

The kit comes with everything needed to complete the box, with five samples of paint and clear wax.

According to her webswite, Annie has created three limited edition colors inspired by the joyful use of paint and color throughout Charleston farmhouse. The Paint-Your-Own Keepsake box contains all of these three Limited Edition colors.

Firle: a fresh, zesty and crisp green.

Rodmell: a dusty, damson purple.

Tilton: a deep, bright mustard.

The Keepsake box features 120ml tins of Chalk Paint™ in Rodmell, Tilton, Firle, along with two neutral colours: Original and Graphite. There's also one 120ml project pot of Clear Chalk Paint™ Wax, a wax cloth, plus the Large Round and Large Flat Detail Brushes, and an inspiration guide.

This project was a challenge to me for a couple of reasons. First of all, I love the Bloomsbury look, and I did want to recreate the feel of Charleston farmhouse. Looking closely at photos from the farmhouse, most of the painted surfaces are hand-drawn, and brushstrokes are evident.

This is not how I paint at all, but I gave it my best shot. I looked at several Bloomsbury and Bloomsbury-inspired patterns on Pinterest, and I found one I liked for the top of the lid. I was also inspired by Annie Sloan's example on the packaging for the sides.

After painting and before waxing

The fat brush I bought extra. It is an Annie Sloan wax brush, and I highly recommend it. I think you should use paintbrushes you're accustomed to, but her paint brushes in the kit are high quality, and I like them.

The photos below are after waxing and buffing.

What I Learned:

If I want to paint something and not have the brushstrokes show, I will definitely dilute the paint a lot and paint several coats.
I liked having the "charcoal" color to darken colors and the "original" color for lightening. These colors mix easily, and I could easily mix my own custom shades.
The paints need quite a bit of shaking/stirring/mixing before use.
The oil based clear wax bothered my asthma. But everything bothers my asthma! Next time I will either work outside or in a better ventilated area.

Have you ever tried chalk paint? Please tell me about your projects in comments if you have.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Adventures With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Practicing the basics

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! If you receive my monthly TinyLetter, you know that I've been working on improving my art studio. However, it has been the worst weather for taking interior photos lately: The weather has been dark, gray, and cold for Central Alabama. I'm unable to share the studio at this time, and I'm hoping I will be able to share before the end of the month. *fingers crossed*

I can share a few things I've created in the studio, though. I've been drawing a lot, and I've started painting again.

I began a colored pencil series, illustrating one of my favorite poems. When I went to get one of the drawings framed, it was so expensive that I decided not to spend so much time on the drawings because the framing is just too prohibitive. It was very discouraging because I don't want to spend tons of time on drawings that I can't afford to frame! Below is my favorite drawing from the series, a European goldfinch.

"Goldfinch"

colored pencils on 11" X 17" Strathmore colored pencil paper

I've also been working on drawing botanicals, both in graphite and silverpoint. I'm thinking about drawing all the state flowers. It might help keep me focused because I tend to be all over the place with my art.

"Red Rose:

Symbol of the United States of America"

graphite on 11" X 17" Strathmore 400 Series drawing paper

I am very excited about M. Graham paints. M. Graham uses walnut oil as its binder, and uses no solvents. Since oil paints have heavy metals, it's good that M. Graham uses walnut oil because it is much healthier than other binders. It doesn't seem to hurt my allergies at all! I love how this paint feels so buttery. Below is my latest painting:

"Coffee Cups Stack"

oil on 18" X 24" gesso panel

This painting was difficult because of the hand-painted details on the cups. The patterns were similar but not just alike, and I tried to use thicker paint on the designs to make them look painterly. Another challenge was painting on the gesso panel. I prefer oil-primed linen, but I was trying to use canvases and panels I already have. A friend actually gave me this panel because she doesn't like them, either, and I told her I'd try it. I've decided that life is too short, and I will be painting on linen from now on.

I used a booty load of white paint on this painting. I almost used an entire tube of titanium white because to get the aqua color, I had to add white to a tiny amount of viridian green. Mr. Sketchy Reader bought me two more tubes for Valentine's Day. He drove all the way downtown to purchase them for me. I think I'll keep him until next Valentine's Day!

Icy weather is supposed to come to Central Alabama. Hopefully the sun will return, and I can take photos of things I want to share here on the blog.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

In My Art Studio

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! I hope that your week is going well so far.

Today I'm sharing a few of our Halloween decorations. I really don't like Halloween very much...I usually just stick with candy corn and mums!

I haven't decorated for autumn per se because we have had the most beautiful summer and early fall. The summer was fairly mild here in Central Alabama, and the we've had lots of rain which is making our early autumn spectacular!

I've put out a few of my favorite pumpkin paintings.

I have mini pumpkins in several rooms. These are in the kitchen in a muffin baker.

Mr. Sketchy Reader bought the cauldron for me a couple of years ago for Christmas. He thought it was Courtly Check, and had no idea it's a Halloween piece, LOL!

Our dining room table

Breakfast room table

I love football mums. They remind me of homecoming when I was in high school!

Cinderella's carriage at midnight

I prefer things like this for Halloween because they are less scary!

I am thinking about decorating for Christmas early this year, shortly after Halloween and not taking the Thanksgiving down from the attic. I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year! Plus, if I get all the decor and shopping done early, I can really enjoy the Advent Season.

Do you decorate for Halloween?

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Halloween Decor

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

"No Worries, Honey"

6" X 6" X 1 3/8"

Oil on Linen

This painting reminds me of a story...a story about a very wise grandmother named "Bunches" by her granddaughter. She got her name because she used to say to her granddaughter: "I love you bunches!"

Bunches was the mother of one of my friends. We'll call her "A." A lived in our neighborhood, and her daughter was a friend of my oldest daughter, Shanley. There were other little girls living in our neighborhood, and many of them were not very delightful. They were unkind to Shanley, and did terribly mean things to her, like planning parties and deliberately leaving her out. But it didn't stop there. They would ask their limousine chauffeurs to drive into our cul de sac; then they would call Shanley on her cell phone and tell her to look outside.

One of these mean girls was the ring leader, the queen bee, the top hen in the pecking order.

One day while at lunch my friend A was telling Bunches about the neighborhood drama and how horribly the mean girls treated Shanley. Coincidentally, the Queen Bee herself entered the restaurant. A says to Bunches: "Speak of the Devil...there she is!" Bunches looks over in the general direction, and looks totally bewildered. "Which girl are you talking about? That one?" When A confirmed that yes, indeed, that was the Queen Bee, Bunches responded, shocked: "Oh, Honey! She isn't pretty enough to be that mean!"

Needless to say, when A shared this incident with Shanley, she felt so much better.

After all...Bunches was spot on correct! Little Miss Queen Bee wasn't pretty enough to be that mean.

No one is.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Ricki Jill

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