Meet Marthann Masterson

We were lucky to catch up with Marthann Masterson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marthann, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My family consisted of Mom and Dad and a very overbearing grandmother. My father was in the oil business and doing well. The crack began after my father was unfaithful. He went to confession and decided to move us to a small town south of Houston.
At first things were working out in the beginning. But then came the downward spiral that alcoholism brings. The money dried up and the fighting began. My grandmother’s solution was to take my sisters and move back to Houston. That left me to take care o. f my folks as the progression of their alcoholism
continued. Bills stacked up and the lights and phone were cut off. I remember trying to do my homework by candle light. My mother died first at 37 and my father a year later at 41.
My grandmother said there was no room for me at her house so I was alone at 17. My god mother took me in temporarily and gave me something I had not had in a very long time…hope. She said when the door slams shut
and life seem too difficult God opens a window. That one sentence gave me the strength to keep going and never give up.
I had to lie about my age to get a job but I was hired anyway. Married a nice man, had a child and all was well for
about 10 years. Then came divorce and my 16 year old moved in with his dad. There I was, alone again.
I have always had a passion for cooking and entertaining. Friends started asking me to cook for their dinner parties.
That lead into a career. I thought how hard can it be, doing what I love to do and getting paid for it.
The success of my catering business brought me clients like 2 presidents, 3 Kings, many celebrities including Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones band. But with the success came stress and with the stress came drinking. Before I knew it I had become an alcoholic.
I went to treatment, came home and sold my business and became a devoted member of a 12 step program.
After 3 years I met and married my husband. He was in the corporate world and his job required moving to other cities. I found myself in the midwest knowing no one. But word got around that I was a successful caterer and the NBC news affiliate contacted me and asked me to host a show about food and lifestyle. I thought how hard could it be? I produced a show called What’s for Dinner where I would go to the farmers and talk about growing food and the followed up with cooking. I won an award for a 30 minuter PBS special called Company’s Coming. We moved again this time to the east coast and I continued my television.
We moved again back to Houston and and I decided to learn about art. Took lessons and my instructor said I had talent and to go back to school, which I did. That was 20 years ago and now I am a successful artist with paintings in 2 continents and around the US.
With each road block I remembered to always look for the window to open. That gave me to drive to just keep going no matter what. Oh and I celebrated 34 years of sobriety last august.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

After I saw a painting in NYC that consisted of drips of paint, I came home and decided to try it out. First I dripped with a paintbrush and it was real messy, then I tried a sponge and it left marks, then a turkey baster which created bubbles. So driving home I saw a restaurant supply store and asked if they had any catsup squirt bottles which is now how I create drip paintings. I put 1 drop an inch across the canvas, let it dry, then come back with another color between the existing drips. I do this about 40 times creating layers and layers of beautiful colors.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Never give up. Believe in what you do and keep at it.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to produce an inventory. I am looking for additional galleries to be in and it is very difficult to promote your own work.

Contact Info:

• Website: marthannmasterson@mac.com
• Instagram: @marthannmasterson
• Facebook: marthannmasterson

Image Credits

Kenny Braun Photography (Portrait)