In October, 2007, Ann was invited to join 61 other artists from around the world to present her work at the Meeting of the Masters in Dallas, Texas. She demonstrated two stone finishes on 5 foot columns, as well as gilding a design on an 8 foot by 5 foot panel.
Ann creates finishes for homes and offices, as well as on canvas, furniture and backdrops for private collections and special events. Her specialties include old world finishes, Venetian plaster and gilding.
Whether it's working with lime plasters, Venetian finishing or gold leafing, decorative artist Ann Onusko makes a living of bringing the aesthetics of Italy to Northeast Ohio.
And now, Onusko, owner of Village Decorative Arts in Bay Village, has brought one more thing artists and homeowners alike can appreciate — one of the region's first decorative arts schools.
The Great Lakes Decorative Arts Studio, which opened in January and is located in the former Lake Erie School building in Lakewood, offers a wide range of classes for homeowners looking to do-it-themselves or professionals who want to augment their portfolios. Class topics range from finishes, Venetian plasters, glazing, gold and silver leaf application, furniture finishing and metallic
finishing.
A decorative artist since 2003, Onusko got the idea to
open the art school last October while attending the
Meeting of the Masters, an exhibition of international
decorative artists. Onusko was one of 50
"masters" from around the world invited to
exhibit her talents to interior designers, architects,
professional faux finishers and the general public in
Dallas.
"I was pretty surprised when I got the
invitation," Onusko recalls of the honor that came
after finishing her work for Isola Bella, a boutique café
on the East Side. One of her favorite works, Onusko
turned a plain dome ceiling at Isola Bella into an
ancient Florence replica with blues and whites. She
created eight columns with grape vines twirling up each,
accented with intricate gold leafing.
Her handywork was featured in Faux Effects World
Magazine — a faux finishing magazine covering national
and international artists — and caught the eye of
executives from the art exhibition.
And it was while demonstrating how to gold leaf at the
Meeting of the Masters that Onusko was inspired to start
the decorative arts studio. "When I was at the
Meeting of the Masters, so many people asked, ‘When
are you teaching this class?' And I realized that in the
(Northeast Ohio) region there's really no school that
offers it. So I thought, why not start one." |
Training
Certified applicator of Faux Effects products and Fine Italian Lime Plasters.
Ann has studied with the premier finishing schools across the US, including those of Martin Alan Hirsch, Melanie Royals, Pierre Finkelstein, Mike MacNeil, Kelly King and Sepp Leaf in NYC.
· Member of Society of Gilders, SALI, and PDCA.
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