2531 Boardwalk
San Antonio, Texas 78217
Phone: 210-212-6177
Fax: 210-212-6183
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About Us

 

Born and raised in Rome, Nicola Vigini has become a well respected decorative artist in the United States.  During high school, he attended the specialized Liceo Artistitico which focuses on perspective, architectural rendering, still life and figure drawing, and sculpture.  "From about the age of five, I was always drawing and painting things and I was good at it.  My Father was an architect and he encouraged me at every opportunity."  He continued his studies at the University of Rome in Art-History and Philosophy and completed internships in restoration in Assisi and in other historical locations in Umbria.  Nicola transferred to the University of Paris and began his career in decorative painting at the Institute Superieure de Peintre Decorative in Paris where he studied under two of the most respected names in the industry, Yannick Guegan and Christian Martincourt.  

In March of 1987, Nicola moved to Seattle, Washington where he worked for a furniture manufacturer and took on a few jobs with decorative painters, broadening his skills.  After a short time, he was working for himself. 

"One of my first major jobs was a 35,000 square foot home which kept me going for a year and a half.  This job allowed me to create one of my icons that I call The Cellar, a trompe l'oeil piece done on a wall of an actual cellar which gave the illusion of another cellar leading away from the one you were actually standing in."

Nicola eventually began working for Vandelae Studios as the head instructor for advanced workshops.  Nicola and his wife Leslie began Vigini Studios, Inc. 1998 and both continue contracting and teaching in the US and abroad.

For inspiration, see Nicola's decorative painting commissions which have transformed religious institutions, private aircraft, exclusive residences and large commercial spaces, such as the new Getty Museum in Los Angeles into exquisite environments.         

 

         The Cellar

Leslie Morrison Vigini was raised in San Antonio, Texas.  Her love of architecture, antiquities and finishes began at an early age while growing up in an O'Neil Ford designed home in the Texas Hill Country.  After receiving a double major from Pine Manor College in Boston in Art History with an emphasis on Textiles and French with honors and completing summer Art-History programs at Harvard and Deree College, Athens, Greece, Leslie moved to Manhattan to attend the prestigious Cooper Hewitt Program, accredited through Parsons School of Design, completing a two year Masters in Decorative Arts program in NY and Paris. 

After graduation Leslie moved to Europe for 8 years to live in The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, and England where she practiced and instructed the craft of decorative and faux finishes.  Upon returning to her native Texas in 1995, Leslie worked in a studio in Houston and three years later began Vigini Studios, Inc. She continues to instruct and assist in projects.

 Leslie is fluent in Spanish and French and is conversational in Italian and Greek. 

Nicola and Leslie along with renowned international instructors shower students with 150% of dedication and continued on going field support.

Press
 “Mr. Roger Le Puil also told me it could be worth having an introduction written by someone known in the States in the world of decoration, to help promoting the book.  Mr. Le Puil gave us the name of Mr. Nicola Vigini; whose father was a teacher at the Art School of Rome and who also studied decoration at the IPEDEC (in Paris).  Mr. Vigini has a great reputation as a decorative painter."

-- A quote from Mireille Debenne from Dessain & Tolra Publishing, Paris, France to Nancy Green of W.W. Norton, Evanston, Illinois on choosing Nicola Vigini to write The Foreward of The Handbook of Painted Decoration by Yannick Guegan and Roger Le Puil.

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Beautiful Things

Original Art from the Artists of GUILD.com is a celebration of beauty in art.  It features more than 250 objects and two-dimensional artworks available to consumers worldwide during the first year of the GUILD.com website.  As such, it documents the remarkable union of new technology and enduring aesthetic values....

Artistic Stenciler

 

In my constant search for inspiration, I look back into the past to find sources for new creative ideas.  Growing up in Rome, surrounded by an environment so rich in history and art, inspired my future as a decorative artist.  Grottesca origins can be traced back to Ancient Rome around the first century AD and has always been a favorite style....

Walls, Windows & Floors

 

Decorative painting has become standard for walls.  Today, textured looks have overtaken simple faux glazing techniques - such as ragging, sponging, and stippling - in popularity.  Multilayerd glazes, embedded with materials like glass and metal, and Venetian plaster are relatively easy to execute one you know all the little tricks; they do, however, require a lot of more planning, preparation, and practice than the old standbys....

The Faux Finisher - Summer 2002

Nicola and Leslie Vigini and the staff of Vigini Studios, Inc. hosted the seventh annual gathering of international decorative artists, known as The Salon, in beautiful San Antonio, Texas, May 10th-12th. Salon 2002 was dedicated to the memory of Salon member Lars Grano....

The Faux Finisher - Fall 2002

The international decorative artists' Salon is a time for artists from around the world to share their special talents and skills with each other.  Public and private demonstrations were ongoing throughout the Salon in San Antonio....

 

 

Decorative Paint & Faux Finishes

 

Rag Rolling is a more challenging and time-consuming technique than Ragging, and the pattern created is more controlled and linear.  For Rag Rolling, you first apply glaze to a painted surface, then remove part of it by rolling a twisted rag from ceiling to baseboard.  This technique is most often done with a light base and deeper glaze, but some colors work well layered light over dark....

Country Lifestyle

 

Trompe l'oeil (French for "to deceive the eye") is a centuries-old painting technique that is back in vogue transforming new materials- columns, walls, cabinets and molding-into three dimensional illusion.  New can be made to look convincingly old or whimsical.  In this example, a modest-size wine cellar assumes palatial airs....

 

The Guild

 

Nicola Vigini, born in Italy, is a fine and decorative artist.  In Rome, he studied classical drawing and painting; later he apprenticed in restoration of 15th and 16th century frescoes....

 

Painting Today

 

Decorative painting or Faux (pronounced foe, meaning 'false') Finishing as it's know also has been around for thousands of years, yet it is an art form relatively few people come in contact with in day to day decorating circles....

 

Traditional Building

 

Vigini Studios hand-painted this three-panel screen, measuring 80 in. x 60 in., in Grottesca Motif....

Houston House & Home

From the simple process of sponge-painting wall to the complex art of marbling wood, faux finish work has arrived at a level of popularity that would astonish a time-traveler from seventeenth-century Italy....

Illusionsmalerai Heute

 

Most recently, a German publication, Illusionsmalerai Heute, a compilation of works of some of the best muralists in the world, published Nicola's Seattle masterpieces, “The Dome” and “The Wine Cellar”.

Television

Publications

  • The Guild: The Designers Reference Book of Artists, 2000

  • Phoenix House and Home

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Newspapers

  • San Antonio Express News

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Questions?  Contact us. 877-977-3289

This page was last updated September 23, 2007.

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