The long journey

Karlo Zuno (real name Kiril Uzunov) was born on 22 July 1952 in the town of Rousse, Bulgaria.  Rousse, situated on the river Danube, is an old Bulgarian town with a 1800 years of history going back to the times of the Roman Empire.  Kiril Uzunov is a descendant of an old Bulgarian family with a rich tradition in music, arts and crafts.  Kiril attended primary art school from 1963 to 1967 and went on to graduate from the High School of Fine Arts in Sofia in 1972.  There, he specialised in graphics.  After his graduation he spent six years in Germany specialising in ceramics and stained glass.
Since 1972 he has taken part in a number of local, national and international fine art exhibitions.  His main interests are in the areas of fine arts, applied graphics, art graphics, murals, ceramic plastics, stained glass and polygraphy.  He is also experienced in advertising design, internal and external design, and has completed several projects for municipal and public organisations.
In 1977, together with his teacher, Maestro Dimitar Angelov, Kiril participated in the restoration of an antique style stained glass decoration in the Court House in Rousse, then in the Ministry of Defence (1979) and the Ministry of Finance (1980) in Sofia.
He also designed a number of modern stained glass decorations, murals and ceramic plastics in the resort of Sunny Beach, Bulgaria and Berlin in Germany.  He managed advertising workshops for a range of public companies in Rousse, Bourgas and Sofia.
In 1980 he started his own art studio with a focus on ceramics and silk screen printing and became a free lance artist.
In 1998 he was selected to restore some buildings with historical and architectural importance in Rousse as part of a programme funded by the European Union.
In 1999 he was elected as a Member of the Rousse Council with responsibility for art and culture.
He moved to the UK in 2002, where he settled in London.  The same year he held his first UK one man show in the gallery of the Bulgarian Embassy in London.  He became a member of the Croydon Art Society in 2004.  In that year he participated in the Future of Croydon public art exhibition demonstrating his new technology for design on glass surface using his own unique method.  His exhibits were seen by the public as ‘excellent, futuristic and unique’.  This technology can be used to decorate the glass facades of skyscrapers.
Since 2002 Kiril has held nine one man shows in London.  He continues to work as a freelance artist and landscape garden designer.  He regularly participates in the annual exhibitions organised by the Croydon Art Society.  In 2007 he held a demonstration and delivered a lecture on a new technique called candle smoke painting in front of members of the Society.
In 2009 he gained his City and Guilds teaching qualification and was granted British citizenship.
Hobbies: plays the piano, the accordion and the harmonica – jazz, blues and country music.
Marital status: widower
Karlo Zuno has more than 35 years professional experience as an artist and he is a proved multi-skilled fine arts expert.
Excellent references and professional portfolio available on request.