Today we’d like to introduce you to James Masters.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My husband and I recently moved back to Kansas City after being away for about 10 years. We always knew we’d be back. So many of our major life events took place here.
I originally moved to Kansas City in 2005 because of a conversion therapy program. Readers may not know what this is, but these are pseudo therapeutic practices that attempt to change a person’s sexuality or gender identity. A term more commonly used today is SOGICE, which stands for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts. Back in 2005, I was told that the Kansas City metro area had the “best” conversion therapy program in the United States. So, I packed up and moved here.
This was my third SOGICE program over five years, and by this point I was already beginning to question whether these programs actually worked. Less than a year into the program, I started questioning openly. Eventually, I was kicked out of the program and the Bible school I was attending and found myself homeless in Kansas City.
Oddly enough, this is one of the reasons I love Kansas City.
Community members found out that I was homeless, estranged from my family, and needed help. They helped me find stable housing, a job, and a community. Kansas City really showed up for me during one of the most difficult periods of my life.
Years after getting established here, I met my husband. We eventually moved back to Michigan so I could reconcile with my family toward the end of my dad’s life, but we always knew we’d eventually make it back home.
While away, I started working for a nonprofit that provided inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ people to explore their spirituality. I still contribute to this type of work today as a cohost of the Queer as Faith podcast, which launches in October 2026, and through religious trauma support groups and the Conversion Therapy Survivors Network.
When we returned to Kansas City, I started working with Unity Arts Ministry and began rediscovering my creative side. It had been about 25 years since I had painted regularly. As a child, I could hardly put a paintbrush down, but I never really thought to pick one up again as an adult.
I started using art as a processing tool alongside a great therapist and support groups. Eventually, I started sharing my paintings in those groups and discovered that people were interested in my work. So, I leaned into it.
I began submitting my work to juried exhibitions and, to my surprise, it was accepted. I was eventually juried as a permanent artist at Images Art Gallery in Overland Park and became an Artist Member of No Divide KC, a nonprofit that partners with Kansas City artists and organizations to create artistic events focused on the stories of underserved and misrepresented communities.
Today I paint, write, teach workshops, participate in gallery shows and popups, and run the Pure Joy Snail Mail Club.
There is something almost circular about my relationship with Kansas City. I originally came here because I was desperately trying to change who I was. When that world collapsed, people in Kansas City helped me rebuild my life. About 20 years later, I came home and found a creative community that helped me rediscover another part of myself that I had left behind.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road.
One of the more unexpected challenges has been rediscovering my creativity. When I joined conversion therapy programs, I was encouraged to reject my creative side. Getting back into the arts was difficult because my nervous system had learned to reject that kind of self-expression. There were both psychological and physiological barriers.
As a child, I could hardly put a paintbrush down. As an adult, I never really thought to pick one up again. When I finally did, painting could actually be triggering. Working through that has involved therapy, support groups and, somewhat ironically, the art itself.
The practical challenges of becoming a working artist have been very different. In that area, I’ve found tremendous support. One thing I’ve learned to do is find people who are doing something I want to learn and simply ask, “How did you do that?”
That sounds simple, but asking for help requires vulnerability. You have to accept whatever answer you get without allowing it to become a barrier. Someone might say no. You keep going. In my experience, though, most people genuinely want to be helpful.
I’ve learned a tremendous amount from other people, but I’ve also learned from making my own mistakes. Nobody else can live our lives for us or take the next step for us. We still have to take it ourselves.
I don’t really think of my story as a story about how awful life is. I think it’s about how wonderful life really is. I wouldn’t wish the difficult parts of my history on anyone, but I also wouldn’t erase them. Life has taught me a great deal about resilience and the meaning of joy.
It has also taught me that there are amazing communities and people willing to help us take the next step. They can’t take that step for us, but when we choose to take it, it’s astonishing how often support shows up.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My primary mediums are watercolor, gouache, and ink. I focus on capturing snapshots of life and creating pieces that convey a specific emotional resonance. Most of my paintings actually begin with an internal experience. I try to give form to feelings.
A lot of my work right now is centered around joy, wonder, resilience, and quite a bit of whimsy. My life hasn’t always been rainbows and butterflies, and I think that history has actually helped me communicate those emotions through my work.
My husband was recently looking at some of my earliest paintings and said, “They don’t have any feeling.” I laughed, but I knew exactly what he meant. Something has changed in my work as I’ve become more comfortable with self-expression. Now, the most common thing people say when they look at one of my paintings is, “I feel it.” I think that’s probably the best description of what I’m trying to accomplish.
My work is currently shown at Images Art Gallery in Overland Park and Creative Spark in Independence, and I regularly participate in popups and exhibitions around Kansas City. I’m also an Artist Member of No Divide KC, whose work supporting artists and creating space for underserved and misrepresented communities really aligns with my own values.
One of my favorite projects grew out of a conversation with Kansas City artist Theo Davis. He told me about his Snail Mail Club and, after hearing my story, encouraged me to create one of my own. I took his advice and created the Pure Joy Snail Mail Club.
Each month, subscribers receive an exclusive signed and numbered 5×7 print and a letter from me. I also curate a playlist around themes like joy, recovery, and resilience and include extras such as stickers, ACEOs and bookmarks.
Putting those mailers together has become one of my favorite times of the month. It’s a lot of work, but I get to send little packages of hope and joy out into the world. People have told me that they look forward to receiving them because, before joining, they didn’t really have anything to look forward to in their mailbox.
That’s probably what I’m most proud of.
I’ve spent a lot of my life working in nonprofit spaces because I want the things I do to benefit my community. Knowing that something I created made someone’s day a little better means more to me than just about anything else I could accomplish with my work.
My work also extends beyond painting. I’m a Licensed Unity Teacher and lead workshops about practical spirituality and metaphysics. Lately, much of that work has centered around creativity, expression, and resilience. I also completed training through the Polyvagal Institute and have incorporated some of those resources into workshops exploring nervous system regulation through creativity and self-expression. I also lead interactive workshops around self-acceptance, self-compassion, and self-love.
Painting and teaching might look like two different kinds of work, but they really aren’t for me. Both are about giving people opportunities to experience themselves and their lives a little differently. Sometimes that happens through a workshop, and sometimes it happens because someone looks at a painting and says, “I feel it.”
What does success mean to you?
Success to me is really about leaving a legacy of kindness.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s an interaction with a grocery store clerk or one of my closest relationships. Success would be reaching the end of my life and having people say, “He was kind.” I don’t even particularly care if my name is remembered.
I believe that everything we do has a ripple effect. When we are kind, that kindness ripples out into the world. When we demonstrate kindness, we make it a little easier for other people to do the same.
I’ve also experienced the receiving end of that. At one point in my life, I was homeless in Kansas City and people I barely knew helped me find housing, employment, and community. Years later, when I started trying to build a creative life, people once again answered questions, opened doors, introduced me to others, and helped me figure out what I was doing.
During a eulogy, I’ve never heard anyone say, “They won so many arguments. They made so much money. They had so much stuff.” We talk about how someone made us feel and what it was like to have them in our lives.
So, success for me is pretty simple. I feel most successful when I’ve had a positive impact on the people who encounter me in the wild. If something I’ve done makes another person’s day a little better, that’s a pretty good day.
Pricing:
- My mail club subscription is currently $8/month
- Magnets of my work are $6 each or 3 for $15 (Can be found at Images Gallery or popup events)
- 8.5×11 or 9×12 matted pieces are available at images gallery or popups for $45 (prints with no mats on Etsy)
- 4×6 matted pieces are available at Images Gallery or at popup events for $18 (prints with no mats on Etsy)
- Originals vary in price
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jamesmasters.net
- Instagram: jamesmastersart
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/jamesmastersart
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesmastersart
- Threads: https://threads.com/jamesmastersart
- Other: https://inspired2be.substack.com/ | https://inspired2bejames.etsy.com/ | https://linktr.ee/jamesmastersart
