Portrait of an Artist: Patrick Ganino

Since we experienced server issues last Friday and Saturday, I would like for this interview have its full day without technical disruptions. I hope you enjoy it! Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

I first heard of Patrick Ganino when I joined the Faux Forum, one of the premiere faux finishing and decorative painting forums. He is the developer of the Faux Forum but is also the owner of Creative Evolution, a full-service decorative painting company that has operated in Connecticut and surrounding states since 1999. He has written a book entitled The Business of Faux, produced instructional DVDs for artists and teaches classes at his studio. His work has been featured in newspapers, magazines and television shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Pat’s incredible marketing skills are an innate talent but the same is true for his amazing artistry. He’s also one of the hardest working people I know of, so I’m glad I was able to have him sit still long enough to e-chat!

Fauxology: You have accomplished much in this industry. What have been some of the more fulfilling projects you’ve been involved with?
Pat: A few come to mind right off the bat. I would have to say that in the last few years the Top 3 would start with a 12-story building mural we did in New York. It is the biggest mural I have completed to date and a dream job to have. Very challenging and satisfying at the same time. The next would be a celebrity home that we had 30 days to complete and the home was 20,000 square feet. Quite the challenge but an amazing experience all the same. And third would be a 40-foot long mural I created for a restaurant requiring over 20 life models. All my family and friends were used. From shooting their pics in the studio, to creating the mural and finally seeing it installed in the restaurant made me step back and say, “This is what it is all about”!

Pat rigged up to work on the 50-foot NY mural.

The completed mural!

Part of the restaurant canvas using the real life models.

Fauxology: What do you think are the best things that have happened to the industry in the last 5 years?

Pat: Hands down the Internet has changed this great industry of ours into something that is almost not fair to the Masters of the past that worked so hard. Today’s technology allows us to communicate and create great relationships with artists from all over the world. Learning techniques ranging coast-to-coast in America and then abroad like France or Australia. Phenomenal. Our marketing strategies have changed and our cost to run ad campaigns and promote ourselves have dropped dramatically. I still concentrate on the marketing of my business but now behind a keyboard.

A mural for the interior of an elevator.

Fauxology: In your travels, what have been some of the most inspiring spaces you’ve seen that had decorative painting?
Pat: It is kinda funny — I find myself in this business for over 10 years now and have met many incredible inspirations as artists. I have been exposed to masters of the past and the present and I still always fall back to Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel as the piece that really inspires me. It sounds a little cheesy since it is overused in so many different ways but his style is amazing and the scale of what he was able to create, including color and composition, makes it something that never gets old to me.

Pat's greatest inspiration: The Sistine Chapel.

Fauxology: Let’s end on something a bit left of center. Have any predictions come true for you?
Pat: I am one of those guys that believes in positive visualization. I feel that most every positive thing that has happened within my business has come from the pre-thought of that action. I mean, if we don’t have a clear goal of where we want to go then how are we going to get there? I have specific goals each year and consciously and subconsciously I automatically find myself at those finish lines.

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