Art is not where Sergio Castro wanted to take his life when he started at Santa Fe College as a general business major. He started helping his friend with her art homework and unveiled a talent that has changed his career path, earned him local recognition and put some serious money in his pocket.
Castro, 22, changed his major to studio art after realizing his talent and passion for art, trading in a future in the business world for a future in something he said he knows will make him happy.
"Monetary reimbursement only lasts so long," said Castro. "I want to give 110 percent of myself in what I'm doing. For me happiness is most important - waking up and being happy with what you're going to do that day."
His big break in the Gainesville art scene came with a showing at Sharab Lounge where a bartending job gave him the opportunity to show some of his work.
"Everything leads to something else," says Castro of his opportunities in Gainesville. "It's a good cultural breeding ground, just from around town and seeing how everyone communicates, it's a good place to work out of because there's a lot of inspiration. If you embrace what you do and you're happy with it, the negativity is outweighed."
Castro's inspiration comes from the little things that give life character.
As a child, he hated trips to antique shows and stores with his mom, an interior designer in Orlando, until he got closer to the pieces and noticed their texture, the little things that make each piece unique.
Castro makes visits to "The Junk Lady," a woman who sets up camp on State Road 441 and sells things that have been dropped off on about two or three acres of land, for inspiration.
His latest find, a luggage trunk dated back to World War II, will be part of a new series of paintings he plans on working on this summer.
"With my work, I like to draw attention to simplicity," he said, showing a piece he recently entered in a national competition and pointing out that it was one of his simplest pieces to date. "Not everything needs an overly deep meaning to be good."
He said when he started painting, he was into neatness and perfection, clean lines and no errors.
One piece that he found particularly well-made was criticized by professors for lack of personality and praised for a corner of the canvas where the paint had dried in bubbles.
A professor told him it was the little things in the work that makes something successful.
He finds success in his pieces when they evoke emotion in the spectators.
"I went from a really elementary, closed mindset and now, I go into [painting] with a lot of things in my mind," he said.
From displaying his work at Sharab and Wolfgang, Castro has gained a local recognition that has allowed him to work with Tim Tebow's First and 15 philanthropy, Cottage Grove apartments, University House apartments and has been asked to paint murals in local homes and fraternity houses.
In the fall, Castro will start as a junior transfer student in the drawing program at UF.
Before the end of the summer, Castro hopes to have a new series ready to put on display as a marking point in his new chapter.
The series will be his first attempt to keep a cohesive theme throughout several pieces.
"I just want to be as successful as I can, but at the same time, I want to show other artists that they can do the same thing," he said. "That if you have a talent, get out there and benefit from it."
