Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, George Zaffle completed degrees in journalism and foreign language at Ohio University before coming upon his true calling as a decorative painter. Following graduation in 1981 he headed West for California on his bicycle. En route he met Larry Boyce, a fellow bicyclist and one of the world’s top decorative painters (whom the New York Times called the best stenciler in America). Joining what later became Larry Boyce & Associates, Zaffle cycled throughout the Western states, learning the trade from Boyce as they ornamented and stenciled grand rooms along the way, hearkening back to the itinerant decorative painters of the 19th century.

Becoming passionate about decorative painting, Zaffle went on to study other techniques; such as trompe l’oeil, murals, faux finishes, painted marbles, true fresco, wood graining, gold leaf, old world cabinetry & furniture finishes, etc. He served apprenticships with several master painters and worked on the restoration of many churches, hotels, grand private homes and government spaces through the 80’s and 90’s. Eventually he attended the Van der Kelen School in Brussells, Belgium, at the time considered to be the finest school of decorative painting in the world.

Larry Boyce & Associates, reknowned for their travels, as well as for the extreme quality and beauty of their work, garnered a great deal of national publicity, appearing on the Today Show and Evening Magazine, as well as in the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Old House Journal and nearly every daily newspaper between San Francisco and Denver, from Washington State to the Mexican border. This publicity in turn led to many commissions with the rich and famous, including Bette Midler, Jessica McClintock, Danny Glover, and the Off ice of the Vice President in Washington, D.C.

Zaffle began teaching in 1986, and started his own decorative painting company in 1987. He has taught at the Joanne Day Studio in San Francisco and is currently an instructor of decorative painting at the University of California, Berkeley, an instructor/lecturer with the Stencil Artisans League, Inc. and teaches at various private schools throughout the U.S. and Europe, as well as in his own school at Lake Tahoe, California. With two partners he has also been taking students to learn painting skills while working on the historic rooms of Naworth Castle in England.

Awards: (Received by projects on which Mr. Zaffle has participated)

1994		First Place, United States, Interior Residential Painting (ornate), Painting & Decorating Contractors of America
1994		California Preservation Foundation, Award of Merit for the restoration of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Sacramento, CA
1987		Washington, D.C./A.I.A. Award of Excellence in Preservation of Historic Architecture, Office of the Secretary of Navy, Old Executive Office Building

Affiliations:
Artistic License Craft Guild of San Francisco Bay Area, member since 1983
Stencil Artisans League, Inc., member since 1992
American Society of Decorative Painters, member since 1994
Chamber of Commerce of Truckee-Tahoe, member since 1998

Select Commissions:

Residential
Bette Midler, Beverly Hils,CA
Jessica McClintock, San Francisco, CA
Danny Glover, San Francisco, CA
Steve Jobs, Apple Computer, Palo Alto, CA
William Randolph Hearst III, San Francisco, CA
Michael Tilson-Thomas, SF Symphony Conductor, SF, CA
Hahn Mansion, Atlanta, Georgia
Mandy Residence, Austin , TX
Fitch Mansion, La Jolla, CA
Schultz Residence, Santa Barbara, CA
Michael Moore, Santa Clara, CA
Tommy Hilfiger, South Lake Tahoe, NV

Commercial
Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Teddy Roosevelt’s Parlour Car, Aspen, CO
California Restaurant Assoc. Headquarters, Sacramento, CA
Gianni Versace, San Francisco, CA
Wilkes Bashford, San Francisco, CA
Archbishops Mansion Inn, San Francisco, CA
Whistler Hotel, British Collumbia
European Motors, San Francisco, CA
De Vera Gallery, San Francisco

Historic Restoration
Office of the Vice President of the United States, Washington, D.C.
Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco
Filoli Mansion, Woodside, CA
Bohemian Club, San Francisco, CA
Haas-Lilienthal Mansion, San Francisco, CA
Notre Dame University, San Francisco, CA
Sherith Israel Temple, San Francisco, CA
St. Francis Church, Sacramento, CA
California Historical Society, San Francisco
Palace Hotel, Port Townsend, WA
International House, U.C. Berkeley, CA

Old Buildings/New Work
Naworth Castle, Cumbria, England
Old First Church, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Zen Center Hospice
St. Francis Lutheran Church
D.O. Mills Building, Sacramento, CA
Trinity Church, San Francisco
Armstrong Mansion, Salt Lake City, UT
Thornton Loggia, San Francisco, CA
Golden Dragons, Chinatown, San Francisco

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A native of Cape Town, South Africa, widely considered the world’s most Beautiful city, Ms. Thomas received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. She worked extensively as a designer and graphic artist for several years in S.A. before specializing in decorative art.

After several successful commissions in South Africa she relocated to Austin, Texas, later to San Francisco, and now is based in Lake Tahoe, California, executing projects throughout the Western U.S.

Ms. Thomas’ primary interests are murals, trompe l’oeil, hand painted furniture and floor cloths, emphasizing designs and motifs of animal and plant forms. Ms. Thomas’ murals of the animal kingdom, aquatic themes, beautiful flowers and flowing plant life have been widely enjoyed by children at numerous educational institutions where she has been commissioned, as well as in private homes and public spaces.

Ms. Thomas is currently working on a line of hand painted furniture which she custom paints on a wide range of unfinished pieces, such as armoires, side tables, chairs, and the like. She is also busy on special order pieces created to fit particular design schemes.

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