About Us
Nicola Vigini
Renaissance Artist Reincarnate
Italian born, Nicola Vigini is a highly respected decorative artist and teacher of the trade in the United States and abroad. He is one of the few instructors that combines his artistic abilities with decorative painting and faux finishing skills, all the while embodying the spirit of the renaissance.
The love of art and architecture runs deeply in Nicola's blood as his father was an architect and professor of architecture. On each side of his Italian and Greek families, artists abound. During his high school years, Nicola chose to attended the specialized and exclusive Liceo Artistitico in Rome, focusing 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. This is where he furthered his knowledge and respect for fresco painting.
Nicola transferred to the University of Paris and began his career in decorative painting at the Institut Superieur de Peinture 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. With a desire to move to a more sunny location, in 1998, he formed Vigini Studios, Inc. and Vigini Paint & Decorating, Inc. in San Antonio, Texas.
As an artist, he specializes in trompe l’oeil, grottesca and mural painitng and as a decorative artist he is fluent in woodgrain and marble and is widely recognized as a master of marmorino, fresco and plaster.
He is also the designer of the Vigini Series of stencils, a special line of Grottesca and Italian influenced designs and a range of instructional DVD’s.
For inspiration, see Nicola's decorative painting commissions which have transformed religious institutions, private aircraft, exclusive residences and large commercial spaces into exquisite environments.
Leslie Morrison Vigini
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. and Vigini Paint & Decorating, Inc. She continues to instruct, manage 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.
See TV Interview with Leslie Vigini discussing an ASID Charity Project for the Wounded Warriors
