Castelli grew up in a military family enriched by travel and living in many places. While none of them seem connected to his present fascination with water and boats, his parents did pass down to him their love of history and cultures. This interest continues with Marc’s family and their vacations to Maine, Brittany, Iceland, and Italy reflecting the desire to have more than a casual experience with such places. Their destinations have usually been based on proximity to water. This reflects his consuming need to talk to those who work on the water and photograph, sketch, draw, and paint them and their boats. These include watermen, lobstermen, their workboats, America’s Cup racers and their yachts, and the extended families that race their log canoes of the Chesapeake Bay’s Eastern Shore.
Through the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies Program, his work has been requested for ambassadors’ residencies in Brazil, Qatar, and Madagascar. Through the U.S. Information Service he has exhibited his work in individual shows in Bombay, India, and Muscat, Oman. Sailing Magazine has regularly featured his articles and paintings on log canoes and traditional workboats of the Chesapeake. His America’s Cup paintings from the last four defenses and challenges have also been featured. The prestigious Mystic Maritime Museum Gallery has recognized him as a Modern Marine Master for several years. The quality of his dedication is reflected in the numerous private and corporate collections of his work, both nationally and internationally.
His success to date could never have been realized without the constant support and love of his wife Phyllis and their three children. It is from their home on the Eastern Shore that they see him off to where he needs to go and at times share those places that are always near the water.