barbara sparks
Watercolor artist and teacher
COMMENTS FROM STUDENTS
"I would like to thank you for the wonderful l class I attended last Saturday. How fortunate that you are so willing to share your talent and knowledge of watercolor. Your enthusiasm is so inspiring. Thank you also for your generosity in providing such delicious nourishment. Most sincerely" WM
"I also wanted to thank you for your most generous spirit. You freely share your insight, and as blood sugars start to drop and overload floods the feeble mind (of people 65++++) u hauled out these unbelievable and decadent treats. It just made this day a party of epic proportion." -J
"BRAVO!! What a perfect day! U r such a delightful
Sherpa—and as we navigated the complex and amazing world of color—witnessing the EXQUISITE EASE, and the great finesse with which u wield the brush—more lessons learned than ten years of reading. As in health care, witnessing someone who is the Exemplar of their trade is truly the greatest lesson.
"It was such a fun class. You are a GREAT teacher-you were so relaxed, organized, and fun! I bet you were exhauseted at the end of the day!But felt you gave me a good grounding to go ahead and start practicing. I plan on attending the evening sessions in the fall. See you soon and thanks again for a delightful day-absolutely loved it." - D
I cannot properly express my heartfelt gratitude for all of your teachings this past year! I had never taken a class with you being new to the South Dakota watercolour community, but you had me hooked on that first Zoom "little lesson". I have learned so much from you through those little lessons and in your recent registered classes. I have already incorporated many of these learnings into my painting and hear your voice in my head every time I use them. You have definitely been my silver-lining throughout this pandemic.
Barbara, you have an amazing gift for painting, but more so of teaching and inspiring others. You have a wonderful way of making everyone feel comfortable, successful, and unrestricted. Although you have a wide network of good friends in the class you have always made me feel welcome and at home despite the distance and unfamiliarity. Thank you for this.
"...I volunteered at the Prairie Center to do art with infusion patients. And low and behold I meet Barbara Sparks! I took every workshop she offered. I met even more wonderful fellow artists. Barbara's excitement and encouragement helped each artist flourish. A rich lasting friendship has developed between us. Barbara had a vision to form a society where we could connect and elevate each other both artistically and personally." JA
"Thank you so much for putting forth the time and energy to hold classes and help us all reach for a higher level in our work. I love your stories and sense of humor throughout the day. You are such a gem.
I especially appreciate your willingness to spend the extra time to critique your own as well as our work....I learn so much from hearing and seeing other perspectives. Not just what isn’t working, but the why it is not working and then the way to fix it and the why making that particular change works. . It really opens my eyes for things to watch for and the little things that can really make big changes. Now the next step will figure out to do that myself." -MJM
"Hi Barbara! I never quite finished my sailing painting but thought I’d send it to you anyway since I didn’t bring it to class last week! I won’t make that mistake again, as I did so enjoy the review of everyone’s beautiful paintings. What a delight! It’s like being in a candy store and trying to decide which candy is the best when they are all so beautiful and gorgeous! I want to thank you for the class, it was so good. I took thorough notes and it will take me a while to get all the techniques you taught into my wheelhouse, but I’ll get there! See you in September!" -NG