Above: Tom Clark applies gold leaf to the apse above the altar. Left and right: Icons of Christ and the Archangel Gabriel painted and gold leafed by Tom on the iconostasis.
shall we go eat lunch?’ and Tom said, ‘No, I’d like to pray here a little while, just get a feel for it.’ So I said, ‘Ok, so I pick you up at one?’ and Tom said, ‘No, I’m just going to pray until we have the meeting.’ I said, ‘That isn’t until seven.’ Tom said, ‘That will be alright.’ I said, ‘Ok, that’s the iconographer I want.’” Tom’s prayer life and devotion to God are ultimately what led him to become an iconographer. “It was about 27 years ago. It was a calling, I believe, and it was a gift because I was always very artistic, but I never dabbled in iconography,” said Tom. Tom came from artistic parents who encouraged their children’s creative abilities. From an early age, Tom’s father would give him a canvas and encourage him to create. But Tom, who has no formal art training, had no interest in pursuing his talent until a fateful
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moment when he was living in Greece. “When I was 27 I met this guy in Greece. I was just literally walking down the street and looked in a shop and there was someone painting an icon, a small icon of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child. It was just immediate. I was very intrigued by that and I thought, ‘I think I can do that. I’d like to check it out,'” said Tom. What followed was five years of friendship and apprenticeship to the shop’s owner, Kostas Tsilsavides. Tom admired him both as a family man and an artist. During his apprenticeship, Kostas took Tom all over the world as an assistant, painting throughout Greece and Italy. Tom said he would sit and watch Kostas paint, taking in every detail, from the way he sketched to the way he mixed his paint colors, then he would practice
on his own. “I have a talent for drawing, but I had to practice,” said Tom. “[Kostas] would take me aside and say ‘You’re going to do things you’ve never done.’ He knew I had a natural talent, it just needed coaxing.” After five years in Greece Tom and his wife, Sophia, learned they were expecting their first child. They decided it was time to return to America. Once they returned, Tom had no idea how to turn his talent into a profession, but felt pulled to do so. His work in America started with little projects for churches. Slowly his name started getting around to other churches. He knew priests from his undergraduate study at Hellenic College, a Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, which also helped him network. And before he knew it, Tom was painting in churches all across the country. TheBestOfTimesNews.com