Hello, I am John Masters. I have been an Atlanta Entrepreneur for almost 25 years and I am excited to bring my extensive business and personal experience to the world of Art & Entertainment.

Instead of boring you with my work history and resume, which can be found by clicking here, on my public Linkedin page, I will tell you what prompted me to move towards a life in the business of Art.

Here’s The Story…

As a young person growing up I was used to seeing my parents work a good bit to support the family. This left me with time on my hands which led to my friendship with Jay Marsh and his family of gifted artists. This relationship began early in High School so I spent a good bit of time around the arts at a young age, although I was no artist. Jays art teacher, who certainly saw his brilliance, did not care for my daily comedic interruptions. Through this relationship I became somewhat of a 3rd Brother to Jay and his brother Alan.

So my life was spent pretty equally between a family who was making their livelihood as entrepreneurs in business, finance and real estate and a family who was making their livelihood as entrepreneurs in the world of art and design.

This was my life and only at the age of 44 after several years of self observation due to the psychological toll of life has it become obvious that at the crucst of this life between two seemingly opposite worlds lies the foundation of an exciting, rewarding and lucrative life in the Business of art.

Unknowingly, in the recent past, I agreed to assist in the preparation for an event that would lead to this fundamental insight. This insight was not a lightening bolt. It was total self observation combined with a physical event which culminated in the seeing of undiluted truth.

The truth that we are in fact the creator of our own future and that life is only a random occurrence of events when we are blind to the true power that we posses. The power to effect change in any way that you see fit regardless of your perceived limitations. That the mind does, in fact, control the outcome and that just as one has been programmed for failure and struggle, one can also program themselves for happiness and peace.

So, The event that I ended up assisting with was the first night of the 2015 North American Grand Championships of Body Painting. I do happen to have some experience assisting Jay Marsh paint a few bodies more than a decade prior to this event but I am seeing now that this art form has grown very popular.

Something else happened… I met a girl.

However, I did not get her contact information before I left and she was from another country so I felt a bit disappointed that I had not stuck around.

The caveat here is that This Body Painting thing is going on for three days in a row so I know where she will be until Saturday night so I decide that I will just show up at the venue in the middle of the afternoon although I had not been invited and no one was expecting me. As fortune would have it the GPS on my phone delivered me directly to the backdoor of this event at a huge venue in downtown Atlanta.

So, I strolled up the back driveway and in through the back door along with all of the other workers, artists and volunteers milling around and having cigarettes. As I entered to see that there were possibly 300 or more people in the room, I realized just what a big deal this thing actually was.

As I walked in, Thinking “I hope this works” Almost immediately I am greeted by a man who was painted from head to toe hollering “Hey John, how’s it going” and then another and another and I realized that because of our relationship from the Thursday before they believed that I was supposed to be there which I now believe as well.

I began assisting people as I had done previously and finally ended up assisting the girl that I had met on Thursday who had peaked my interest in returning in the first place.

After many hours of working and observing the artists, models and volunteers at what turned out to be the absolute pinnacle of this art form in America, I realized something. There is an organic place for me here. A place where I can use the culmination of an interesting and diverse life to improve the live’s of others, make money and be perfectly happy all at the same time. A place where being a supporter of the arts is synonymous to being an artist myself.

I saw that the artists were focused on their art which they would later present to the world but were unknowingly presenting to me at that moment. And that everyone involved had a job that must be completed in a timely manner. That the event coordinators and organizers were artists as well, preparing to present their artistic vision to the world. I saw that as these people focused on the task at hand that they were very appreciative and relaxed to have someone watching their back; making sure that they had what they needed. Someone paying attention to what was going on around them as they were highly focused on their works of art. I saw that the models who would present these works of art to the public were exuding patience and poise as they stood for 8-10 hours to be painted and then another couple of hours waiting in line to be judged all while wearing ridiculously large head dresses, yet having to present a very lively positive attitude.

I realized later that as I spread my energy around the room in hopes of assisting people in creating their art that I had had over 12 hours of life in the moment with NO perception of past or future. I sensed that not only had I witnessed something special in that room but also that I finally understood that I had been allowing my life to happen to me; that I had allowed myself to become a passenger in my own life.

And, more importantly, That I was never going to do that again.

There was no question in my mind that I was going to move towards a full time life in the arts by supporting artists in the same pursuit. Although I am not an artist, and do not wish to be, I understand something that the struggling artist does not. That the struggle is in your mind yet you have projected it into the world. Art, and a life creating it, need be a struggle only if you wish for it to be.

I now see the shining opportunity of helping artists understand that the only way to change the world in a significant way is to do so from a position of power; from the position that the world needs your art whether it realizes it or not. And that your art will change the world whether YOU realize it or not.

We are all in this thing together, I as the one who wishes to support you in the changing of the world and you in the changing of the world. And, the more lucrative that we are in doing so, the more opportunities that we will have to increase the reach and influence of our work.

John Masters

(404)309-6173