Humor keeps this Newport Beach artist prolific 40 years after a debilitating stroke

Newport Beach artist Margie Castle refers to her unintended brush strokes as her “sweet surprises.”

Castle, who works in oils, watercolors and mixed media, suffered a stroke at age 33, an occurrence that was declared an anomaly. She was forced to find ways to accommodate her new normal.

“My hand moves errantly when I paint, so my good friend decided we will just call these ‘sweet surprises,’” Castle said with a giggle. She and her cadre of friends maintain a laugh-at-life sense of humor.

“Sometimes you wipe away the drips, sometimes you leave them on and just embrace it.”

Even though painting has been a passion of hers since she was 9, her dad urged her to pursue a vocation with more stability.

“Dad’s advice was to get a paying career and to paint from the heart so that I’d never have to sell a painting to pay the electric bill,” said Castle, who was born and raised in Southern California. “I married a Canadian, then moved to Toronto in 1973, where I began a career in newspaper and television soon after.”

Her love of painting then became like yoga to her, offering her a creative outlet in a relaxing environment.

During her time working for the Canadian National News Assn., Castle also found herself navigating the challenges of being a long-distance caregiver for her mother, who lived in Costa Mesa.

After her mom’s passing in 1981, Castle started thinking about how some aspects of her mother’s care had fallen through the cracks, and she considered how she might help improve the flow of information families desperately needed for senior healthcare.

“I felt that I had let my mother down as a long-distance caregiver,” Castle said. “I thought I had done everything I needed to do with the information I had at the time.”

It became her goal to arm others in the same situation. Drawing on her newspaper background, she determined she needed to create a format that would deliver resources and knowledge to older adults.

“I wanted to help create an avenue for all this great information for a certain age so they don’t feel they have to stop,” explained Castle. “I wanted to open up opportunities and make much more [resources] available and, by doing that, literally change thousands of lives. It was the best gift I could have given my mom.”

But, in the fall of 1983, right in the middle of developing what she dubbed her 50 Plus project, the stroke hit. Everything came to a halt.

“I found myself in the hospital, in a wheelchair, then crutches, then a cane, rehab, physical therapy, speech therapy, for six months,” said Castle.

“I attribute recovery to my team of friends,” said Castle. “They said to me, “if this is where you’re going to be, we love you just as you are, but we’re going to help you try to get to the next chapter of this.’”

When her art pals realized she couldn’t hold anything in her right hand, and that it was moving erratically, they went into action.

“They duct-taped my arm close to my side and attached a paintbrush onto my hand,” explained Castle. “Then they physically moved my hand toward the canvas.”

She explained the process of regaining her art skills took about 10 years of consistently painting, without always knowing what the end result might be.

“I was fortunate to be part of a group of painters that met and painted plein air at various locations around Toronto. Many also took workshops or hosted ‘paint and lunch’ afternoons,” said Castle. “It was casual, no structure … whoever could show up, showed up.

“They, along with my therapy team at the YMCA, challenged me to sketch or paint everyday. Even mundane things, like a chair, my cane or a shoe. ‘Just paint’ [they told me]. It was humbling … but setting that daily goal and accomplishing that task helped me accept the new me.”

After a delay of two years, Castle was ready to return to her pet project. In 1985, 50 Plus was finally launched.

Her creation of the now-defunct Today’s Senior Newspaper, along with hosting for CTV network the Seniors National Lifestyle television show, provided a format to present issues people over 50 face in order to improve the quality of their lives. She shared encouraging stories and offered important information that people could use.

Following the death of her husband in 2011, Castle left Canada and returned to Newport Beach. In 2019 she remarried and now enjoys her expanded family of six children and 12 grandkids.

Today, Castle’s artworks can be found at OCFA Showcase Gallery in Santa Ana and in public and private collections. On Saturday, she’s participating in the Newport Beach Art Exhibition at the Civic Center. Among her other works, she reports she’s created a special painting for the O.C. Susan G. Komen “More than Pink” breast cancer event that will take place in September.

Reflecting on her 1983 stroke, she remains philosophical about the journey she’s taken since that day.

“You end where[ever] you are once therapy is over, and the rest is up to you,” she said, smiling.