Interviewed by Billy Findley
Sports Editor
Q: How long have you told stories through sand art?
Castillo: I developed Sand Art six years ago and started performing regularly in 1997.
Q: What led you to that particular form of art work?
Castillo: I was pastoring a church that met in a movie theater and because of my advertising background wanted to include the arts.
Q: How did you learn to do this form of art?
Castillo: Practicing in my garage. As far as I know there are no books, schools or instructional manuals on how to do sand art.
Q: How long has “sandstory” been around?
Castillo: SandStory is really the brand name I developed. I think sand animation as done with stop action photography was first done by an artist named Feranc Kako in the the 1980’s
Q: What sort of reactions do you hope people will have when seeing your art or watching your performances?
Castillo: I hope people will understand the stories and be drawn closer to God.
Q: Where around the world have you performed?
Castillo: Beijing, China; London, UK; Bogota, Colombia; Calgary and Montreal, Canada; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Q: As an artist, what do you believe art should do for people?
Castillo: I believe “art can be the finger of God to touch men’s souls.” Art is making visible the invisible and giving us an emotional contact with the spiritual world. Through art we tell stories in ways that they cannot otherwise be told.
Q: If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring artist, what would it be?
Castillo: Don’t get discouraged. “Do not become weary in doing well.”