Honoring Tom Sparacino

I took painting and photo classes from Tom Sparacino, off and on, for the last twenty years. I just heard last night that he passed away, and have been incredibily saddened by the news.

I shared the following on his memorial guestbook, and wanted to post it here too.

I realize that Tom has had a tremendous impact on me-- from the painting instruction to the classroom debate and banter. Tom had a sort of quiet acceptance and welcoming way about him. And we had a good back-and-forth over the years. When I was a new student, sometimes he’d humor me when I would follow him around with my brush in hand, trying to get another question in. Later on, once I’d settled in, he’d pretend to hard-time me for showing up to class late. And then he’d put up with me stretching things out to the last minute, usually being the last one to clean up.

Tom combined painting instruction with a sense of humor, unfiltered criticism (a look at my canvas generated a ‘yech’ kind of sound on occasion), and honest encouragement. Not only did he teach me painting fundamentals-- I can still hear “dark to light” and “don’t make them all the same size and color”-- Tom pushed me and encouraged me until I found my own voice and style. After I had hit on nearly every painting cliche, he kept prodding me, even though I couldn’t understand it at the time.

Until one day I brought in a book of my ‘scribbles’. With his encouragement and help, I began painting my own thing, my own way.

In the last few years, since moving up the peninsula and becoming a mom, I couldn’t make it to Tom’s class anymore. I stopped by once and emailed a couple times, intending to get back in again. I’m bummed I didn’t get another chance. And even though I hadn’t been to class in years, I’m really going to miss it.

I don't think I can articulate, or maybe even realized until just now, how big an impact this little adult ed class and one teacher had on me. While on the one hand, I could say it was just a painting class, it was more than that to me. It was a familiar place I counted on. It was a place I could relax, chat, and express myself.

Even while most of the other students were painting quite traditionally, Tom challenged me and supported me in taking a different, unique path. He opened the door to real expression, and accepted what I cautiously and hesitantly put forth. That's been an invaluable experience and a journey that I'll continue throughout my life.