Instructors

Pascal Amblard (FRANCE)

Pascal Amblard is an instructor at the IPEDEC school of decorative arts in Paris, specializing in classical trompe l'oeil mural painting. He has been painting professionally since 1986; his commissions include works in the Gallery "Apparences", hotels and restaurants in the French Alps, museums, and other commercial and residential paintings in Paris and all over France. Pascal is a member of the International Salon of Decorative Painters, having hosted its gathering in 2001 at the IPEDEC. His superb artistry and teaching ability is a valued asset to NASODA.

Susan Arnild (DENMARK)

Susan Arnild is a working decorative painter, with training by Danish masters and the Institut
Guegan, France. She is the oOwner of Arnild Decoration, doing setups for theater and television, hotels and
restaurents, private commisions and teaching. She is the cowriter of "Painted Rooms," published in Denmark.

Benny Carlsson (NORWAY)

Swedish-born Benny Carlsson gained his education as a youth through evening classes and professional work. He later studied under several Swedish masters, and attended decorating schools in Stockholm and Paris. Mr. Carlsson currently teaches in Norway, and is a visiting instructor to schools throughout the world. He also has the privilege of organizing the 2004 SALON in Oslo.

Mats Carlsson (SWEDEN)

Mats Carlsson was tutored by master painter Stellan Palm in Norrkoping. He received his diploma at the Institut Yannick Guegan in 1996. He has worked professionally since 1995 with private commissions and teaching. A member of the Palm Fine Arts Educational Center for Decorative Arts in Sweden, Mr. Carlsson teaches a 1-year decorative painting program at KOMVUX.

Donald Gray (ENGLAND)

Don Gray has taught and practiced special decorative work for over forty years. Past president of the Association of Painting Craft Teachers and a Chief Regional Assessor for City & Guilds, he has worked, exhibited, and demonstrated in Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Mr. Gray has enjoyed numerous awards and fellowships throughout his career, including Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers Award, the Chappell Bronze Medal, and is a Fellow of the Incorporated Institute of British Decorators and Interior Designers. His specialties include: signwork, lettering, color theory and technology, painted ornament and stenciling, marbling and woodgraining, glass gilding and embossing, and gold leaf and metallics.

Yannick Guegan (Quimiac, FRANCE)

Yannick Guegan, a decorative painter and lacquerer, has been faux finishing for more than thirty-five years. He is founder or the Institut Geugan at Mesquer-Quimiac in Brittany, where he teaches the techniques of decorative painting to international students. Yannick was awarded the title Meiller Ouvier de France, decorative painting/trompe l'oeil, the highest French distinction in the trade. He is also the co-author of "The Handbook of Painted Decoration."

Patrick Kirwin (USA)

Patrick Kirwin received a Masters of Fine Arts from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He has numerous awards and fellowships to his credit, including the Robert N. Alfondre Prize in Drawing and the Morris M. Aein Memorial Prize.

Mr. Kirwin currently teaches at the Art League in Alexandria, VA and the Smithsonian Intitution, as well as guest lecturing at several art schools around the world. He has had his work published in books, and designed and implemented public and commercial murals.

Pierre Lefumat (FRANCE)

Monsieur Pierre Lefumat is a French renown decorative painter who started to learn his art at the age of 14 years old. He has done some of the most beautiful work in the world, including at the Ritz in Paris, the Hotel de Crillon, Euro Disney in Florida and France, the Opera House in Hanoi, the Palace of Luxembourg, and many gourmet restaurants in Paris.

Now retired from a famous decorative company that he launched with Gérard Trouvé, he currently teaches at IPEDEC, the first school of faux finishes in Paris. He joined the NASODA roster in June 2001.

Patrick Laheyne (BELGIUM)

Patrick Laheyne was originally educated in house and decorative painting at Belgium's Technisch Instituut Glorieux. As a working practitioner, he continued to develop his skills in the field. His specialties include: marbling and woodgraining, gilding, signwork & lettering, Venetian platering, and calligraphy.

Mr. Laheyne is currently a teacher at the Technisch Instituut Glorieux EDUGO Campus and for the VION Association. He is also a member of the Belgian Painters Society.

Mike MacNeil (USA)

Mike MacNeil is a decorative painter, contracting and teaching through his offices in New York and California. In 1995, he was awarded the Freeman of the Trade by the Worshipful Company of Painters in London.

Mr. MacNeil has spent the last ten years on the road teaching marbling, woodgraining, and the business applications of faux finishing to painting contractors and artisans in North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim nations.

Charles O'Connor (USA)

Chuck O'Connor is the author of a current college textbook: Perspective Drawing & Applications. He holds a BFA degree in Industrial Design and was awarded an honorary Masters of Arts degree from the Columbus College of Art & Design. A faculty member at CCAD, Mr. O'Connor has taught Perspective Drawing, Advanced Perspective Drawing, Painting, Design, and advanced classes in Exhibition Design. He was Director of the CCAD Saturday Morning Art Program for 40 years. Mr. O'Connor is an accomplished painter, muralist, sculptor, and exhibition designer; he has received many awards and recognitions for his work.

Chuck O'Connor is also a renowned museum planner and science center educator with widely recognized standards for excellence and over 35 years of experience in the science center field. Numerous exhibit components developed by Mr. O'Connor have been replicated for over 80 science museums in the United States and other countries. He has served as a consultant to other science centers in the US. Canada, Europe and Asia.

Lotta Olsson (SWEDEN)

Lotta Olsson attended the Nordic Academy for Decorative Painting where she was tutored by master painter Stellan Palm in Norrkoping. She has worked professionally in the field since 1994, doing private commissions and teaching. A member of the Palm Fine Arts Educational Center for Decorative Arts in Sweden, Ms. Olsson teaches a 1-year decorative painting program at KOMVUX.

Pierre Ricard

Description net yet available.

Sophie Raymond-Simpson (FRANCE)

Sophie Raymond-Simpson, a former student at IPEDEC (the French school of faux finishes in Paris) became Pierre LeFumat's assistant after her graduation. She has been teaching faux finishes for four years while working for the French Haute-Couture House, Christian Dior.

Sophie loved painting since she was a little girl, but really started to master her gift as a painter in water colours. She lives in Paris and joined NASODA with Monsieur Pierre LeFumat June 2001.

Margaret Riley (USA)

Margaret Riley is a fine arts graduate whose career in decorative arts includes lectures, workshops, consultation, and new product development. Considered an expert in decorative acrylics and techniques, Margaret has consulted for decorative acrylic manufacturers internationally.

Her company creates designer wallcover, fabric, architectural stencils, and decorative accents. Commissions include the backdrops for the "25 Year Retrospective of Giorgio Armani" 2000-2001 for the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Recent works include large furniture pieces accented with decorative relief, gilding, and decorative painting to transform them to one-of-a-kind pieces.

Nancy Thorn (USA)

Nancy Thorn, of Gold Leaf Restoration, has been involved in doing museum quality conservation and restoration of gilded interior furnishings since 1972 including picture and mirror frames, furniture, clocks and musical instruments such as harpsichords and harps. She also does large-scale architectural gilding projects, both commercial and residential. Her commissions include Harvard Medical Library, Trump Plaza, Seattle Art Museum, New York Philharmonic, Portland Art Museum, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Kansai International Airport, Osaka, and Sacramento Justice Center. Nancy has been teaching gilding classes since 1990, at Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, for the Society of Gilders, and came to NASODA in 2001.

Evan LeGrande Wilson (USA)

Evan Wilson is a decorative painter who has been providing high quality art, restoration, and faux finishing for two decades. His work can be seen in Toyko, Egypt, Kairo, and various places across the United States. Evan is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles and has studied art at Otis college of art. He has also taught studios coast to coast as well as in Europe.

His recent endeavors include commissions from Pacific Bell, Pop star "Brandy," and Roy Disney Jr. Various newspapers and trade publications including the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily news, and the Veranda Magazines have recognized him for his talent and expertise, and have described his style as "pure," "elegant," and "richly expressive."