Meet Elizabeth Castro

I'm Elizabeth Castro, and I've lived in Olympia for the last 20 plus years, and I'm excited to partner with Oly AHA for this year's Arts Walk. 

Most of my paintings feature the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. My wife and I love to take road trips, and I am taking photos of all of the mountains and trees and lakes, rivers, streams. There is so much beauty that surrounds us in this magnificent place that we get to live. When I started painting, I began to see the world through new artist eyes. I began to notice the colors, the vibrancy, the contrasts, the textures. Even the way the light hits the water looks different to me now, because I'm thinking, How would I capture that through watercolor? Inspiration is all around me, and as the seasons change, new colors emerge, and I get inspired all over again.

I've been painting watercolors for the last year and a half. In 2024, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and that year was really hard on both of us. She went through surgery and six months of chemotherapy, and I was one of her caregivers during that time. When she was told that she was in remission in February of 2025, I looked for something that I could do for myself. While we were going through treatment, a friend had brought over a watercolor set and some cards, and we were painting them as a fun distraction and something that we could do together—and I remembered how fun that was. I pulled out some watercolors and paper from my kids' art craft supplies, and I played around with it. I found that it was a lot of fun and something that I wanted to keep doing and exploring, and so I ordered some art supplies, started watching some TikToks and other short videos of people painting, and I fell in love with it. 

It was such a calming, relaxing practice. I found myself doing it every day. Wetting the paper, dropping the pigment into the water, and watching the colors flow was so freeing. People have told me, "Oh, watercolor is so hard. You can't control where the water goes,” and that's exactly why I find it so enjoyable. I have no expectations about what my painting is going to turn out like because I can't always control where the water goes. I can relax and let my expectations of perfectionism go, and just create and explore and be. I found that hours would go by and I wouldn't even notice because I was so mindfully present in the moment. 

Watercolor is exactly what I needed at that time in my life. I painted every day for about six months, and one of my daughters said, "Mom, you're getting pretty good at this. Maybe you should share it with other people. There's a bazaar coming up for the holidays at the church, and you could sell cards and prints and donate the money.” And I thought, “That is a fantastic idea! You really think I could do that?” And she said, "Yeah, I'll help you.” So, she set up a booth on a Saturday and completely sold out of all of the cards that I had printed. Overnight, I printed some more cards. The next day, we sold the majority of those as well. It felt so good to have other people appreciate my art. What I found I was doing for myself was helping me connect with others as well, and I thought, “I'm going to keep doing this.” And so, I kept on painting. I printed more collections of cards. I was offering them for sale. I had some friends purchase some of my originals, and I started building a community around this love of art. 

Another way that I’ve been connecting with the community of Olympia through art has been offering watercolor mindfulness classes. Folks come together, setting aside their expectations and their self-criticism. We breathe, focus on the present, and let our worries go. One of the best things about watercolor as a medium is that you have to wait for the paint to dry, and in those moments when you're watching it become what it's going to become, and you're waiting to add the next layer, that's where the peace comes in. That's where the rest happens. That's where the relaxation is in those moments, and I can just be. And I wish that for you all too, to find those moments where you can just be.