An Artist's Life: Mario Castro

Recently, an art friend of mine moved into a nursing home in Uniondale. At 94 years old he has accomplished great things in the art field.

Mario Castro was born Marianno Cascio, the youngest boy in a family of four girls and three boys. His dad, who had immigrated through Ellis Island years earlier, was re-named Mario Castro as officers confused his original name. Throughout school, son Mario was known as Morris Cascio, Morris Castro, Marianno Cascio and Mario Castro. By the time World War II came, his official name became Mario Castro to match his father's Americanized name.

Even as a boy, Castro always had a love for art. He began putting the beauty he saw to paper when he was just 14 years old. He spent hours laboriously perfecting his skills and would sometimes even use his five siblings as models as they went about their activities.

As Castro got older and had to go to work, he spent less time creating his art. At the age of about 28 he enlisted in World War II, reaching the level of captain in the U.S. Army. He was sent all over the Pacific and took his sketch pad with him. Through his eyes he saw the beauty in a horrific situation and captured those scenes on paper. 

He created watercolors while stationed at some of the islands during the war but many were lost as he transferred to different areas. The countries he was stationed in would later influence his still life subjects. Castro never spoke about his part in the war but his sketches spoke volumes of the natural beauty of the Pacific area. 

After World War II, Castro came home and started a new job in New York City.  He also went to the Art Career School in New York City for one year. But getting married and starting a family took precedence. Castro's father moved in with he and his wife, Julia, in Garden City South, where he designed and built his upstairs living area and a lapidary studio in the basement.

Castro's art was put on the back burner for many years until the Beatles became the rage in the 1960s. His youngest daughter, Louise, pleaded for him to do pencil sketches of her beloved singing group. Something that simple gave him the itch to take out his sketch pad, and the mature chapter of his art career began.

Castro took art classes at Nassau Community College in 1960 for a few months, but when he realized he was starting to critique other students' work at their request, he decided to go out on his own. Essentially he was self-taught.  

"My mom was Dad's muse, and he painted a number of paintings of her," daughter Louise said. "She was the impetuous for his second career in painting and entering shows. She and my Dad were connected at the hip at the shows they went to."

Castro's nephew, Ritchie Helm of Uniondale, remembers him racing upstairs after a hard day of work to paint. Helm would follow and then watch him perform magic on canvas.

Castro's work in oils, pastels, pencil and graphic media included still life, figure studies and portraits in a traditional representational style. With his still life art, he set up a wood shadow box that he made, draped the material the way he wanted it and painstakingly arranged his prop pieces into the scene, creating a story. 

He'd move the items around until he was satisfied with what he saw. He controlled lighting using different strengths and types of bulbs. In his home studio Castro sketched what he saw, making corrections and adjustments along the way until his original idea was realized.

The completed sketch was then transferred to a gessoed masonite panel. He had perfected a way in which he mixed and applied the colors and shades he wanted for his detailed painting. Layer by layer all the parts of his idea came alive. The next step was planning out what type of frame and matting he was going to make.  He would go to his basement shop and design the perfect frame that completed the whole story. The cutting, staining or painting, and the finishing, would also be a careful project. When all put together, Castro's work was ready for an art show.

Castro retained his memories of the beauty in the Pacific. He painted quite a few still lifes using nostalgia as inspiration from his lengthy stay in Japan during the U.S. occupation following World War II. In his travels with his wife, Castro collected pieces from flea markets, garage sales and estate sales based on their love for all that was Asian. Family and friends contributed items they found as well. The outcome of these forays can be seen in his award-winning paintings The Jade Necklace and The Seven Dragons. 

In 1985, one of Castro's paintings was included in an exhibit in the well-known Grand Central Gallery in New York City. He also was one of the top 100 artists selected out of 13,000 entries in the July 1985 American Artist Magazine's "National Still Life Competition." His painting, Time Worn, told a story. Many of his paintings are now in private collections.

Castro started accruing local and national art show prizes, medals and honors in 1962. He continued until 2000 when he stopped to care of his ill wife, who ultimately passed away. Over the years, Castro has won over 300 awards. Some of the "Best in Show" and "Grand Prizes" were from the nationally known Salmagundi Club in Manhattan, the prestigious Hudson Valley Art Association, the national American Artists Professional League in New York City, the Nassau County Museum of Fine Arts in Roslyn, the Art League of Nassau County, the Kent Art Association in Connecticut and many more. 

Castro was a past president of the Art League of Nassau County and also served on its board of directors as an advisor for many years afterwards. Castro was on the board of directors for the American Artist Professional League, the Allied Artists of America and the Hudson Valley Art Association. He was also a member of the following Long Island art clubs: Tri-County Artists, National Art League, Suburban Art League and the Village Art Club.

There are 22 paintings by Mario Castro that have not yet been sold. His daughters, Diane Castro Petrulli and Louise Castro Goldman, can be reached at LadyLouise1950@verizon.net.