DAC founder and owner Brian Bullard, MDA, instructed the opening faux finishing class in Fargo, ND, to break in the new faux finishing facility, DACN in Fargo, ND. DACN instructor and owner Dave Larson taught several faux finishes during the course as well. They received excellent positive feedback from the students, some of which had completed courses at DAC in St. Louis, so a few of the students were already familiar with "DAC Standard" facility and instructional requirements. 

The comments ranged from "this is just as attractive and functional as the other school" to "the two instructors mirror themselves perfectly in their teaching methods", exactly what DAC & DACN set out to do and wanted to hear. Everyone liked the option of attending both faux finishing schools with the guarantee that they would learn different faux finishing, plaster, or Trompe l'oeil / Mural techniques and methods at each location.

The week continued with the grand opening ceremony celebration on Friday night, as well as a Saturday night presentation of the "History of Decorative Artistry in Italy". 

The entire event was a great success and both Brian Bullard and Dave Larson would like to sincerely thank all students, attendees, participants, and vendors for their interest in this great trade of decorative artistry.

The project started several months ago with Dave prepping the surface and emailing the dimensions and images of the wall. Brian then came up with a design concept for the Trompe-l'oeil - Mural. "Because the door and window are actual three dimensional objects, it was very important that the design of the painting revolve around and support those natural elements", explained Brian. "After my decision to paint it with fake beams and supports, I knew that I wanted Dave's faux finishing / faux plaster work in the scene as well. I included his existing wall technique for the classroom, "Old Faux Stone Wall & Faux Plaster", on the lower one-third of the mural. Dave later received a scale diagram to execute his portion of the faux finishing work, which he completed before my arrival".

The next decision for Brian was the real subject matter of the painting. "I like doing things "geographically correct", in my terms, which means that painting a french cafe street scene on this wall wouldn't make sense. North Dakota is a beautiful state and I drew on its landscapes and elements to create this scene. I was most impressed with the "Badlands" and decided to use them as the inspiration for the landscape. From there it flowed, a broken sill, a hawk flying and one as a focal point. Dave had done such a wonderful job giving this new building some "old" faux character, I kept the tones and values down so my work is a simple accent to his sky ceiling, distressed faux wood effect, and faux plaster stone walls".