Here we are at the end of another year, and I look forward with much anticipation to the New Year that awaits us. I have lots of new ideas that have been put away in storage for far too long and I want to start working on them. I, of course, have new ideas as well; between new and old I will have more than enough work to do. We’ll see how things go – some of these projects are pretty involved and realistically I’m not sure exactly how much I’ll get done on these projects. Some of the projects are in need of attention much more than others, but at this point I just want to try and get as many of these completed as I can. Stay tuned! The last few years have been frustratingly slow at times in terms of creativity for me, but that’s now in the past and I can begin to concentrate on the many ideas that I have in mind. Establishing this site has helped a lot in terms of having a place to shed light on these ideas and that, in of itself, is a strong motivating factor. 

Along with the desire to create new things I am also filled with the desire to grow and expand within my given “style.” There’s always room for growth and sometimes the best way to achieve that is by just taking a big leap of faith and doing things differently. Styles have a lifetime and eventually run their course – you have to move on. This goes for the context of whatever it is that you’re trying to express. Sometimes, that can be a real challenge for some of us; after all, speaking your mind and not holding back can be a very uncomfortable thing to do. In the end, you have to do it; you either do it or you continue living a lie. Not exactly something I want to do.

This coming new year is one that promises a lot for me; it’s been a very long time since I’ve looked forward to the beginning of a new year with this much anticipation. I look forward to sharing all of this with you, my dear readers. Thank you very much much for your support. Happy Holidays to all of you!

This past week has been filled with lots of activity and I find myself somewhat reflective about it and other things. Things started last Saturday when I participated in Let’s Draw Davis!! A Sketchcrawl. I arrived about half an hour late but was surprised to see that a good amount of people had shown up – there were about a dozen of us. The first person I encountered was my friend and fellow artist Pete Scully who was already well into his first drawing of Davis Community Park. I greeted him and his wife and then wandered off to scout out a place to ensconce myself. I normally draw unsuspecting victims who are hunched over their laptops or sprawled out on couches at cafés so being at a community park was a little different for me. I sat next to a couple of ladies who were caught up in talk about pens and brands of sketchbooks; I thought about joining in but what would I say? I’m not on the lookout for different varieties of pens nor am I curious about other brands of sketchbooks. I know what I like and it works just fine for me, so I decided to keep quiet and just draw. After about forty-five minutes Pete and a few others had joined our little group to look at each others’ drawings. I didn’t have much to show; I had barely sketched the tree and scenery on the first image above – not a whole hell of a lot. Still, there was someone who seemed impressed by my tortoise like speed; “Oh, look at you. Wow, that’s really good,” bellowed a woman’s voice over my head. I didn’t respond as I felt that what I’d done wasn’t all that impressive. “Hey guy, I’m talking to you. Hey,” she said in a somewhat irritated voice. “Oh, thanks,” I said in  most unenthusiastic manner. By this point it had gotten too cold for us to stay outside so we decided to move into the Davis Public Library.

As we walked over, my friend Marlene Lee and I spoke about earning a living as an artist and being successful. At one point in our conversation Marlene turned to me and asked, “Do you feel that you’re successful, Salvador? After a brief moment of thought I said, “I used to work at a job where I spent lots of time in a cubicle and now I spend my days drawing. If success is measured by happiness then I would say I’m pretty successful.” It wasn’t the first time that I’d been asked that question and I suspect it won’t be the last. For me “Success” is nothing more than a process. If you keep at it eventually you’ll get what you want. The end result depends on what your goals are to begin with. You have to be honest with yourself in the beginning so that you can be prepared for the road ahead. My main priority is and always will be to be free and to enjoy my work. Whatever else comes after that isn’t something that I worry about too much. As we neared the library entrance I said to Marlene, “In the end you have to believe that it can happen. If you don’t then there’s no point in going forward.”

Today was Thanksgiving; today I saw lots of postings on Facebook about what different people were grateful for and that’s good. I too am grateful for all that I have: my health, my wife, and the fact that I get to do what I most love on a daily basis. Gratitude is something that should be shown on a daily basis and not set aside for some specific date or time. I believe it’s important to begin every day by acknowledging this most important thing. Aside from this you should endeavor to be yourself and live your life as you wish without worrying about what others may think.

This past week has been good, really good. Future plans were laid, I spent a day with someone that inspires me to live my life on my own terms, and had a good time in general. Life is good. It’s easy to overlook such things and take them for granted; lots of people do it all the time.

My week started in the company of my dear friend Kay; Kay is nearly eighty years old but you’d never know it based on her attitude towards life. I’ve only known her for less than a year but during that time I have watched, listened, and learned a lot from her. I don’t think it’s a fluke that she’s come into my life. Change is in the air for me and meeting someone like Kay only serves to precipitate that. Last Monday I had the pleasure of spending the day with this wonderful lady and, as you might imagine, talking about everything under the sun. During our conversation, she talked about how her life had changed when she was my age and how she had taken that opportunity to basically start anew and get out and explore life. Since that time she has gone back to school and completed a Master’s degree, taught in Vietnam, lived in Thailand, and traveled to lots of interesting places. At her age most people have fallen into a routine and have no interest in future goals. My friend is not that type of person. She continues to have a desire to explore and learn, and travel. How can you be around such a person and not feel compelled to go forward and aspire to everything that life has to offer? Thank you Ms. Kay for being who you are.

It’s hard for me to imagine continuing in the same way that I was prior to meeting my dear friend. You see things differently when you meet someone that’s done many of the things that you yourself want to do. None of this is new, It’s been on my mind for quite some time, but it wasn’t until now that I saw what needed to be done. There’s a lot to be done and there’s places and people to see and meet. I am ready; I’ve been ready. Making the decision to live life on your own terms can be the hardest decision that you’ll ever make, but in the end, you have to do it if you truly wish to live.

The week has begun on a positive note for me – cool and overcast. Unfortunately, it’s also begun with the beginnings of a cold as well; this predicament has led me to my computer and this blog to share some recent thoughts. Over the last few months I’ve spent lots of time sitting around cafés whiling away the time talking to friends and whatnot. This is nothing new,  it has been de rigueur for me  ever since coffeehouses exploded onto the scene back in the 90s here in the US.

A few days ago,  I thought to myself, “What if you spent the rest of your  life sitting around at a café talking and swilling coffee?”‘  I was very ambivalent about that thought; on the one hand I could see myself, sketchbook in hand, firmly ensconced at café somewhere in Europe taking in the scenery, but on the other hand I cringed at the thought of staying somewhere (here) where there is no ambiance or creative spark, even if there are coffeeshops. There was a time when sitting at a café was serious business; artist, writers, and intellectuals all sat around discussing and debating the issues of the day. Such is not the case here in my part of the world. Here,  intellectual conversation is as scarce as water is in the Sahara. As a creative individual this is unacceptable to me. I have chosen to put this into print because I wish to precipitate changes that I’ve wanted to see for quite some time. No longer will I be content with the monotonous rhythm that is so prevalent here in what I’ve sarcastically and accurately  termed Purgatory. I have no interest in patio furniture sales, American football teams, boating, hunting, barbecuing in my front yard, or any other number of banalities that people get excited over these days. Perhaps some of you who are reading this can relate to what I’m talking about; I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.

In closing, I can safely say that, yes, I can picture myself sitting at a café table for the rest of my life. As long as as it’s somewhere else and as long as there is interesting and stimulating conversation to be had you can bet that I’ll be happily ensconced wherever that may be.

The longest journey begins with the first step says an ancient Chinese proverb. This seems particularly appropriate since this marks the launch of salvadorcastio.com! At last, in one place, you will be able to find everything related to me and my work. This is truly a new beginning for me. I have lots of new projects in progress, and will be sharing them with you as soon as I can.  Please take a look around and tell me what you think. I have worked hard in conjunction with my partner Eric Giese to make this look as good as possible, and bring it to fruition. A big thank you to Eric for all his excellent work!

For those of you familiar with my Typepad blog, you’ll be happy to know that I will continue to maintain a blog within my new site. The actual blog page may not have all the bells and whistles that my former blog had but I feel that the other features on the site make up for those in a big way.

As I said before, I have quite a few new projects underway. I will be updating their progress here for you to see as soon as possible. Aside from new drawings and paintings, I will be starting work on some graphic novel projects that I’ve wanted to do for quite some time. I will make updates on these as my work progresses on them. My work has to have some personal reason, or meaning behind it, otherwise I won’t find the proper motivation; because of this, as you might imagine, progress is often tedious and slow. This is the nature of my work; quick and easy are not words that come to mind when talking about my work.

Finally, I’d like to thank all of you who have supported me in the past. You’re support is heartfelt, and means a lot to me. Thank you. I look forward to sharing all of my future projects with you. The best is yet to come!