Bill Casto is no stranger to competition.
He spent years in the world of athletics. Athlete, coach, administrator, you name it, his career includes time spent coaching football at the College of William and Mary and as executive director of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
But he’s also a champion wood carver, a skill he uncovered later in life.
“The art world is so different than the athletic world,” Casto said.
It seems the two worlds existed within Casto before he even realized.
“My wife used to say that it was in me trying to get out,” said Casto, who lives in Williamsburg.
Like most rural kids, Casto said, he played sports growing up. He had a creative streak, too, and worked some with wood in his 20s, but career took over.
Still, “I always liked dealing with old furniture and rustic pieces,” he said. In learning how to repair and restore furniture, he uncovered a talent for carving wood. Around 12 years ago, Casto threw himself seriously into the craft, reading books, studying with professionals, working his way up in competition.
In 2013, Casto placed third in Interpretive Wood Sculpture at the Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition, the largest gathering of wood carvers in the world, he said. The interpretive category centers on capturing the essence of wildfowl, rather than likeness.
The next year, Casto won second place. He took the top prize in 2015 with “Wind Riders.”
“I seem to be able to see things in a piece of wood,” Casto said. “You can’t go against nature.”
Casto uses old, weathered pieces of driftwood. Sometimes he’ll sift through 50, even 100 pieces of wood before finding the right piece, the piece that speaks to him.
He’ll see the head, the wings, the movement – “All I’m doing is exposing that and putting form to it,” he said.
“When he takes a piece of wood, he sees it in a different way,” said Gulay Berryman, Williamsburg Art Gallery owner. “He comes up with extraordinary ideas, and that’s what I like about him.”
Berryman met Casto a few years ago.
“At the time, I was very new to the whole world of wood carving,” she said. “I’m fascinated by the way they turn a simple piece of driftwood into (a) beautiful work of art.”
As an artist, a painter specifically, Berryman said a wood carver’s approach is almost opposite of a painter’s approach.
“I start with a blank canvas,” she said. The idea takes shape in her mind before spilling onto the canvas.
“His ideas have to come from the shape of the piece of wood,” Berryman said.
Casto will introduce the art form, and his own process, at Williamsburg Art Gallery on Wednesday, May 18. He plans to display a piece of wood he sees something in, as well as a piece he has started and one he has finished.
Guests can also view Casto’s world championship piece, “Wind Riders,” on public display for the first time.
Life is unpredictable sometimes. Casto likely never could’ve predicted where wood carving would take him or, even more, the joy he would find in the art form.
“I absolutely love the part of finding a piece of wood, getting very excited about what it can be,” Casto said. “I can’t wait to get into a new piece of wood that I’m excited about.”
Some nights, he goes to bed thinking about a piece. He’s even gotten up in the middle night, consumed by the art.
“It’s wonderful at this point in my life to have a passion about anything,” Casto said. “And I do.”
Bridges can be reached by phone at 757-345-2342.
Bill Casto presents at Williamsburg Art Gallery
When: 5 p.m., May 18
Where: 440A W. Duke of Gloucester St.
Info: 565-0954, wmbgartgallery.com
