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A picture is worth a thousand words. Now, a nationally-recognized muralist, Darlene Taylor, is sending a message of honor with a thousand brush strokes by painting a giant mural of fallen Hughes Springs veteran, Samuel T. Castle.
Taylor is from Texarkana, but she’s been traveling to Hughes Springs every day for over a month. She began working under the sweltering Texas sun back in June.
“I come out here every day from Texarkana and paint for 8 or 10 hours,” Taylor said. “I bring my food and water out here. I have what I need and I just paint. I’m excited for it to get done.”
Samuel T. Castle was a member of the U.S. Army. He was killed in action in Iraq in 2005. The City of Hughes Springs knew him as a hero, as well as a star football quarterback, baseball pitcher, and basketball player.
“He did everything and he was friends with everybody,” Taylor told the Bee. “He was the do it all, be it all, every guy. He was friends with everyone and everyone loved him. So when he passed away, it left a really big hole in the town. And a lot of people have been killed in the town that they honor, but they didn’t really have anything for Sam.” That’s why Taylor offered to paint the mural for free. However, the city took donations– not only to help with the mural, but also to restore the basketball court and park area, as well as to rename the park after Castle.
Taylor has traveled all over the country to paint murals. When asked what started her on the journey, she answered, “I didn’t start doing murals until 2019 when my husband, Andy, passed away. We were married for six months. I got depressed and didn’t want to come out of the house. He was the love of my life and I miss him terribly. I went to a very dark place and my son was trying to get me out of the house. He was like, ‘ You’ve gotta do something to get you out of this, gotta do anything.’ So I decided to paint the house. Andy had house paint out in the garage, so I went out there and painted a mural on the side of the house.”
After that, Taylor said a friend on Facebook happened to be a reporter for a magazine and did a story about Taylor and put her face on the front cover. It was all history from there. Taylor explained how her fame grew, “Someone who owned restaurants and a club wanted murals at their places. So I painted there. Then I got in a newspaper and another magazine. I got the attention of Channel 6 news and Shreveport. This was just after three murals. I started winning awards and getting recognition. A city called me and wanted a mural for their city. The next thing you know, it snowballed. January 1st of 2021, I quit my job and I’ve been painting full-time since then.”
Taylor is already finished with the first part of the mural, which showcases Castle in his military uniform, as well as poses in the sports uniforms he was known for. She also recently finished the other side of the building, which honors firemen, as well as Castle.
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