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DAVID C. HENLEY Publisher Emeritus
By David C. Henley
Publisher Emeritus
What prompted Wayne Scarpaci, a former Army radar specialist and field artilleryman who lives in landlocked Nevada, to pursue a career in naval and maritime art?
"I guess my father, a career Navy man, had a lot to do with it. I was always artistically inclined, but the stories my dad told of his wartime exploits and the sinking of his ship got me started painting U.S. and foreign warships," he told me at his home/studio in Gardnerville last week.
Scarpaci, 56, says his dad's dramatic story about his ship's sinking and his harrowing rescue from the sea during the Korean War "has always been in my thoughts."
Publisher Emeritus
What prompted Wayne Scarpaci, a former Army radar specialist and field artilleryman who lives in landlocked Nevada, to pursue a career in naval and maritime art?
"I guess my father, a career Navy man, had a lot to do with it. I was always artistically inclined, but the stories my dad told of his wartime exploits and the sinking of his ship got me started painting U.S. and foreign warships," he told me at his home/studio in Gardnerville last week.
Scarpaci, 56, says his dad's dramatic story about his ship's sinking and his harrowing rescue from the sea during the Korean War "has always been in my thoughts."
"When I started painting five years ago, my first canvas was of my father's ship. From then on, warships have been my specialty," he said.
Scarpaci's father, a Navy petty officer, served aboard ships and shore stations for many years. In August of 1952, he was serving as the yeoman aboard the 205-foot oceangoing tug the USS Sarsi, which was conducting towing, transportation, buoy tending and nighttime, close inshore, anti-mine and anti-junk patrols off the North Korean coast.
"It was about midnight on Aug. 27, 1952, when the Sarsi, which was on patrol three miles off the coast of the North Korean port of Hungnam, hit a floating communist mine.
"My father was on deck having a smoke at the time. The drifting mine had probably been cut loose by a hurricane and the Sarsi never had a chance.
"It began sinking at once and my father, like most of the other crewmembers, was thrown overboard by the impact. He broke both of his legs when the blast hit.
"He swam in the water for a long time until he and several others who were unable to find lifeboats, rafts and buoys the ship was carrying, were picked up by a Navy helicopter, the destroyer USS Boyd, and minesweepers USS Zeal and USS Competent," Scarpaci said.
Scarpaci's father, a Navy petty officer, served aboard ships and shore stations for many years. In August of 1952, he was serving as the yeoman aboard the 205-foot oceangoing tug the USS Sarsi, which was conducting towing, transportation, buoy tending and nighttime, close inshore, anti-mine and anti-junk patrols off the North Korean coast.
"It was about midnight on Aug. 27, 1952, when the Sarsi, which was on patrol three miles off the coast of the North Korean port of Hungnam, hit a floating communist mine.
"My father was on deck having a smoke at the time. The drifting mine had probably been cut loose by a hurricane and the Sarsi never had a chance.
"It began sinking at once and my father, like most of the other crewmembers, was thrown overboard by the impact. He broke both of his legs when the blast hit.
"He swam in the water for a long time until he and several others who were unable to find lifeboats, rafts and buoys the ship was carrying, were picked up by a Navy helicopter, the destroyer USS Boyd, and minesweepers USS Zeal and USS Competent," Scarpaci said.
Of the Sarsi's 97 crewmembers, five were lost that night and a large number were critically injured. Many treaded water or clung to the Sarsi's wreckage in the darkness rather than attempt to swim to the communist shore and certain capture, imprisonment and torture.
Wayne Scarpaci, who lives with his wife, Swarn, a native of India, in a house adjacent to the Gardnerville golf course, says he has painted at least 200 navy ships since he left the Army as a sergeant first class (E-7) and retired as a civilian computer technician.
Because he is a maritime historian as well as an artist, he has researched the histories of Navy ships bearing Nevada geographic names and as a result specializes in painting many of these.
Included among them are the famed Battleship USS Nevada, the cruiser USS Reno, the patrol frigate USS Carson City, the destroyer escort USS Ely, the submarine chaser USS Minden, and several LSTs or landing ships bearing the names of Nevada counties.
He also has painted other U.S. Navy ships such as the USS Saratoga, USS Philippine Sea, the USS Missouri, and the British ship Howe, the German warship Tirpitz and the Japanese ship Yamato.
In between painting naval vessels, Scarpaci finds time to paint military aircraft and historic Nevada trains, the latter including 1910, 1912 and 1932 Virginia and Truckee locomotives.
Wayne Scarpaci, who lives with his wife, Swarn, a native of India, in a house adjacent to the Gardnerville golf course, says he has painted at least 200 navy ships since he left the Army as a sergeant first class (E-7) and retired as a civilian computer technician.
Because he is a maritime historian as well as an artist, he has researched the histories of Navy ships bearing Nevada geographic names and as a result specializes in painting many of these.
Included among them are the famed Battleship USS Nevada, the cruiser USS Reno, the patrol frigate USS Carson City, the destroyer escort USS Ely, the submarine chaser USS Minden, and several LSTs or landing ships bearing the names of Nevada counties.
He also has painted other U.S. Navy ships such as the USS Saratoga, USS Philippine Sea, the USS Missouri, and the British ship Howe, the German warship Tirpitz and the Japanese ship Yamato.
In between painting naval vessels, Scarpaci finds time to paint military aircraft and historic Nevada trains, the latter including 1910, 1912 and 1932 Virginia and Truckee locomotives.
Painting in acrylic on masonite canvases, Scarpaci paints most of his works 18 by 24 inches, a standard size that is easily framed.
He sells his paintings from $750 to $1,200, depending on the intricacy involved and the time it takes to complete the works. Scarpaci also will accept special orders from customers wishing to have certain ships painted.
In addition to welcoming visitors to his studio in Gardnerville, Scarpaci also sells his works through several Nevada galleries. Appointments with the artist may be made by telephoning him at (775)-220-5976.
When asked if he himself had ever sailed the high seas, Scarpaci said "yes," noting that he shipped out on the carrier USS Kitty Hawk as a civilian computer technician. The voyage lasted several months and the ship visited Japan, the Philippines and Singapore, he said.
Scarpaci, who maintains a Web site (www.artbywayne.com) that displays many of his paintings for sale, agrees that it is incongruous that he, a former Army man who served on military posts ranging from Germany to Texas, specializes in nautical painting.
"My father, a career Navy man, infused the love of the sea in me when I was a child. It just won't go away," he said.
He sells his paintings from $750 to $1,200, depending on the intricacy involved and the time it takes to complete the works. Scarpaci also will accept special orders from customers wishing to have certain ships painted.
In addition to welcoming visitors to his studio in Gardnerville, Scarpaci also sells his works through several Nevada galleries. Appointments with the artist may be made by telephoning him at (775)-220-5976.
When asked if he himself had ever sailed the high seas, Scarpaci said "yes," noting that he shipped out on the carrier USS Kitty Hawk as a civilian computer technician. The voyage lasted several months and the ship visited Japan, the Philippines and Singapore, he said.
Scarpaci, who maintains a Web site (www.artbywayne.com) that displays many of his paintings for sale, agrees that it is incongruous that he, a former Army man who served on military posts ranging from Germany to Texas, specializes in nautical painting.
"My father, a career Navy man, infused the love of the sea in me when I was a child. It just won't go away," he said.
