Homeless man panhandled for days to buy art supplies

If you saw Jon Masters holding his “Just Need A Little Help” sign in Warrington last week and gave him money, well, he used it to buy a few bottles.

A few blues. Some blacks. Just a few bottles of paint to get started. And a few cheap canvasses.

“I was trying to get some money for some paint supplies,’’ Masters said Sunday, sitting on the side of the road near the Chick-fil-A on Navy Boulevard. “My sign said ‘Just Need a Help’ and it was the truth.”

It took the homeless man three days to collect $40 from kindhearted strangers to buy the supplies. On Saturday, he took his paints, his canvases and his service dog Sheba to sit under a tree on the side of the road, and began painting. And began selling.

“I sold three on Saturday and one today,” he said early Sunday afternoon. “I’m selling them cheap and I’m selling them as fast as I can paint them.”

Masters, 56, lived on a boat with Sheba until he was jailed for a few weeks for trespassing. (He said it was because he was at a public place with Sheba, who didn’t have her service dog vest on. Sheba spent a few weeks in the Escambia County Animal shelter. “She was in doggie jail. I was in jail.”) (Jon Masters is his pen/professional name. Real name Jon Spiel, but he goes by Masters so that’s what we’ll call him. We verified arrest report.)

The old sailboat had a leak and he had to pump water out every 24 hours. He said that while in jail, the boat sank, along with his possessions.

Masters has seizures; Sheba is trained to recognize an oncoming seizure.

He said he hasn’t had a “job job” in years, and started painting about five years ago while living in New Orleans. He has some anxiety issues, some mental stuff like the rest of us, as well as shoulder problems.

But he’s not complaining.

“I’m just trying to get some money together,” he said. “I’m not trying to be the homeless guy with all the problems. I have a little talent for painting, and that’s what I’m trying to do to make it by.”

He’s self-taught. Actually, that’s not completely true.

“It was me and YouTube,” he said. “I learned watching instructional videos and just adding my own technique and creativity.”

For a few years, he sold his paintings in New Orleans’ famed Jackson Square. He recently sailed to Pensacola on the old, leaking sailboat because he “was tired of New Orleans.”

He’s sold a few paintings, enabling him to buy a sleeping bag and a few more art supplies. His current paintings have an Asian-influenced flair, featuring dramatic landscapes. Most sell between $25 and $40.

“I wish I had started years ago,” he said. “Because I do have some natural talent.”

Masters said he knows it’s hard for people to support the homeless in the community.

“There are a lot of panhandlers out there these days,” he said. “I had my sign out for a few days, too. It’s not easy. But it’s what I do.”