Dean Sickler is the owner and founder (1986) of Dundean Studios and teaches at all levels in faux finishing, specialty finishes and venetian plaster instructions. He has been in the painting and decorating business for over 30 years, having executed faux finish, restoration and art commissions from Beverly Hills to Fifth Ave.

Dean was a painting contractor in Los Angeles for 4 years after he earned his journeyman's card in painting in 1979. He apprenticed for two years from 1983-85 with Grace Darby: one of the original Masters from the Isabel O'Neil Studio in NY City. Classes were taken at the Day Studio in San Francisco in 1984-85. In Miami, Dean worked for two years under the guidance of Master Conservator, Emilio Cianfoni, and is responsible for many architectural and antique restorations at the Vizcaya Museum in Miami. He has recently worked at the Thomas Edison Mansion in Llewellen Park and the Willow House in Morristown expertly matching paint colors, restoring decorative art and architecture. He was commissioned in Spring, 2007 to render the Port'or and Red Levanto marbles for the new Visitors Wing at the U.S. Capitol.