Slava Letkov

Slava was the last Master Painter and Teacher to work at the Zhostovo Tray Painting factory which is located near Moscow. He holds the special title, bestowed upon him by the government - "Merited Artist of Russia." Out of the hundreds of Zhostovo artists, only seven have ever attained this status. He also is the recipient of the Repin award. This, to a Russian artist, is the equivalent of receiving a Gold Medal at the Olympics. Slava has demonstrated at the Society of Decorative Painters Annual Conventions since 1994, so many of our decorative painters have been fortunate enough to watch him paint. He is an incredibly talented artist and has been working in this style for over 40 years.

Slava's works are in every Zhostovo art book currently available and are on display in a number of major Russian art museums. With the help of Tricia Joiner, Slava has translated his traditional oil painting techniques into acrylics and is now equally comfortable painting in oils or acrylics. He has team taught painting seminars since 1994 all over the U.S., in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. He won the 2000 Joan Johnson Award of Excellence, the highest award given by the Decorative Arts Collection. Slava has been nominated for the title of National Artist of Russia - the highest honor a Russian artist can ever achieve. Slava's wife, Taisa, is a retired factory painter and one of his sons also worked as a painter for the factory.