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Houston-based artist Katherine Mason uses donated lipstick to create realistic paintings to honor those whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. 

Houston-based artist Katherine Mason uses donated lipstick to create realistic paintings to honor those whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. 

Houston-based artist Katherine Mason pulls out a container of donated lipstick, which she uses to create realistic paintings to honor those whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. Many of the lipsticks she uses come directly from women who've fought the disease or in honor of those who've passed from it.

Houston-based artist Katherine Mason collects letters and notes from people who donate lipsticks for her lipstick paintings.

Houston-based artist Katherine Mason has been working on a commissioned lipstick painting by a breast cancer survivor for months.

Houston-based artist Katherine Mason poses for a photograph with a lipstick painting at her studio Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Houston. 

Houston-based artist Katherine Mason poses for a photograph with a lipstick painting at her studio Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Houston. 

Houston-based artist Katherine Mason uses donated lipstick to create realistic paintings to honor those whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. 

When Katherine Mason was a kid, her mom would scold her for taking her lipsticks and painting her walls. Now it's a running joke in her family: Painting with lipsticks pays Mason's bills. 

"I used to joke that she should’ve let me continue and I would’ve been further along by now," says Mason, a Houston-based visual artist who molded her art business into a Lipstick Series called "Painted with Lipstick," aimed at supporting women who have battled, or are currently battling breast cancer.

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Mason fell in love with art at a young age, working with a variety of mediums from oil paint and pastel to acrylic paint and watercolors. She studied art in college, but after graduation struggled to turn her passion into a career. 

She tried advertising and painted as a hobby, but she hated it. Then she and a friend started a small clothing business. When that folded, she came to a crossroads: either get a "real job" or pursue art full time. 

"I was always told, 'Don't be a starving artist. Find something you can do with your art for sustainability,'" she said.

Then came the perfect idea: creating realistic paintings from lipstick to honor those whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. She teamed up with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to donate 20 percent of all her sales towards furthering their efforts to find a cure for the disease. The idea started with a "pulling" in her heart she said, after a number of close family friends were simultaneously diagnosed with the disease. One such friend told Mason the hardest part was coping with the physical side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

"That really affected the way she viewed herself and she said she felt really ugly and didn’t feel feminine," Mason said. "Her doctor told her to find something that made her feel empowered, and to get herself in a better mindset so she would have a better response to treatment. She would put on her lipstick before every chemo treatment and that was her way of telling herself 'I got this.'”

Confidence aids in the mental health part of the journey, says National Breast Cancer Foundation spokesperson, Ashley Miller. She points to the foundation's HOPE Kit program that sources items to aid women during treatment.

"While every breast cancer journey is different, many women feel encouraged and a sense of normalcy when they get ready each morning and stick to their normal routine," she said. "Lipstick, lashes and other beauty regimens can aid in making women feel confident and beautiful when they need it most."

Mason wanted her artwork to empower women and men across the world battling breast cancer, and remind them of their beauty. But first she needed lipstick — and lots of it.

In 2014, Mason painted her first piece titled "Devastated" depicting a lone woman hugging her knees.

"I imagined her by herself in her bathroom when the weight of her diagnosis sets in and she falls to the floor and hugs herself, crying under the magnitude of the journey that awaits her," Mason said. "Some people view that painting as a sad and desperate image but I believe there is strength that comes from the breakdown. An awareness and a clarity that comes from hitting rock bottom and knowing that you hold the power in how you address your future."

The painting uses a combination of pink and nude, neutral colors from Mason's own lipsticks and ones from her family and friends. She had to use what she had access to to get started, but began soliciting lipstick donations mainly from those who have been through breast cancer or family and friends of someone who had passed from it. It helped keep expenses low and allowed for those affected to get involved in the series.

"I’ve gotten so many beautiful letters along with the lipsticks and that’s so special to me," Mason said. "That’s my favorite part. Getting to know the story, who they belong to and where they came from makes it extra special."

But success didn't come overnight for Mason who had to move back in with her parents for a stint before she could pay the bills as a full-time artist. It took time and patience to master painting with lipstick. Her second piece came in 2016.

"It’s such an interesting medium to work with and it’s incredibly delicate so it’s been a massive learning curve to me," she said. "I don’t know of a lot of artists that have used it that I can learn from so everything’s trial and error. The first thing is lipstick is very soft so you have to be very delicate when you’re applying it and you have to have a very light touch."

Between the application, and extensive drying and preservation processes, Mason spends roughly four to six months to complete larger canvases and two to three months for smaller ones.  It took her three to four years to perfect the drying and preservation process. 

"The wax is what prevents it from drying properly," she said. "It has to be dried for about two to three months and framed to protect it from UV light, dust and fine particles in the air."

To date, she has received nearly 1,000 lipstick tubes in a variety of colors, from luxury brands and drugstore lines alike. In time she has learned which brands to use in certain parts of her paintings depending on how much wax they're coated with.

"The more expensive lipstick is a much better bang for your buck because the pigments in there are so rich and full and have a lot less wax. They’re very buttery, luscious formulas," Mason said.

If she wants a loud and bold look, she uses Mac, Estee Lauder or Yves Saint Laurent. For a softer look, she uses more affordable brands, which are more transparent, like Wet and Wild, Clinique, Bare Minerals or Elf.

"They’re all very useful in different ways," Mason said. 

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By 2019 her series was blossoming, and she was able to save up enough from selling other custom work to become a full-time lipstick artist. Her work is dispersed across three collections: body, floral and a symbolic collection with prints available ranging from $45 to $85 depending on the canvas size.

Last year she hit the jackpot netting her biggest sale yet, which allowed her to pay a few months rent in advance, reinvest in marketing the series, and donate to the National Breast Cancer Foundation without any financial insecurity. 

"Katherine has been an incredible blessing to NBCF," Miller said via email. "Her donation of almost $11,000 over the last couple of years of our partnership will make a huge impact for women and their families when they need it most. Her series is incredibly touching. Whether she is honoring the legacy of a female that has lost her battle with breast cancer or painting a curated piece to be gifted to a breast health patient in the midst of her journey — she is offering a tangible expression of hope that will last a lifetime."

Monique Welch is an engagement reporter for the Houston Chronicle.

Monique reports on the trendiest news within the greater Houston region and across Texas, and occasionally contributes to the Chronicle's race and identity newsletter, HouWeAre. A native Baltimorean and previous Tampa resident, Monique joined the Chronicle in the summer of 2021 after nearly four years at the Tampa Bay Times where she worked on all things digital, launched the newspaper's first race and identity newsletter, Regarding Race, and covered local news. Monique holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications Media Studies from Goucher College.

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