ABOUT
RON
Fourth-generation decorative painter. A family tradition since 1890.
Ronald Layman has spent his life with a brush in his hand. But for Ron, painting has never simply been about changing the color of a wall.
It is about craftsmanship. History. The people who came before us. The places we leave behind. And the stories hidden in the surfaces all around us.
FOUR GENERATIONS.
ONE BRUSH.
Ron’s story begins more than a century before Ron the Painter.
Around 1890, his great-grandfather, Joseph “Grandpa Joe” Wilhide, was painting and decorating barns, farmhouses and homes around the Lewistown, Maryland area, traveling to his work in the days of horse and buggy.
The trade passed through the family from one generation to the next — from Grandpa Joe to Ron’s grandfather, Roger Layman, and then to Ron’s father, Ronald Layman Sr.
Ron grew up surrounded by painters and the traditions of the trade. What began as a family occupation became a lifelong pursuit of decorative craftsmanship.
A LIFETIME LEARNING THE CRAFT
Italian Plaster
Venetian plaster, marmorino, grassello, tadelakt, scagliola and traditional lime finishes studied through years of hands-on work and training.
Marble & Wood
Traditional painted marble and wood graining techniques used to transform ordinary surfaces into convincing stone, mahogany, oak, walnut and other architectural finishes.
Murals & Restoration
Hand-painted murals, gilding, historic signs, decorative restoration and specialty finishes that preserve character while giving old surfaces new life.
FROM MARYLAND
TO ITALY
Ron’s pursuit of the decorative arts eventually carried him far beyond the techniques he first encountered growing up in a family of painters.
For more than two decades, he has traveled to Italy to study traditional decorative finishes and the materials, methods and craftsmanship behind them — from Rome, Venice and Florence to workshops where techniques such as scagliola and traditional Italian lime plaster continue to be practiced.
He has also pursued traditional painted marble and wood graining, studying the methods that allowed generations of decorators to create the illusion of rare woods and stone using little more than paint, specialized tools and a highly trained eye.
That combination of an American family trade and European decorative tradition has shaped the work Ron practices and teaches today.
REMARKABLE PLACES.
UNUSUAL PROJECTS.
Over the years, Ron’s work has taken him from private homes and historic buildings to nationally recognized institutions, entertainment properties and government spaces.
Whether matching painted doors to architectural marble, restoring the character of an old building, creating a mural, or reproducing a traditional finish, the challenge remains the same: understand the surface, understand the place, and make the finished work belong there.
RON THE PAINTER
After a lifetime in the trade, Ron realized that some of the best parts of the job weren’t only the finished surfaces.
They were the people he met, the places he entered, the history he uncovered, the techniques handed down through generations and the unexpected stories that appeared along the way.
Ron the Painter brings those stories together. The series follows Ron as he travels, meets people, discovers unusual places and uses traditional craftsmanship to transform the surfaces he finds there.
Every Surface Has a Story.
▶ Watch Ron the Painter