Edi Matsumoto holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Tsukuba University in Japan. After traveling around Southeast Asia exploring cultures and volunteering at the Mother Theresa’s Home for the Dying Destitutes in Calcutta, India, she came to the U.S. She earned a Master’s degree in Nursing, and she has worked in the healthcare field for nearly thirty years. Encouraged by her husband, Fred, who saw her sketch from 20 years prior, Matsumoto began taking art classes at a community college. In 2018, she earned her second Master’s degree in Fine Art from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Edi’s work has won numerous awards and has been shown at galleries and museums locally, nationally and internationally including the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the Triton Museum of Arts in Santa Clara, and Pacific Grove Art Center among others.

In episode 664 of the Fraternity Foodie Podcast, we find out what originally drew Edi to the healthcare profession, what was the moment where she realized she needed a different path, how her great-grandfather’s traditional Japanese ink brush art influenced how she sees art today, whether she felt tension between creativity and practicality when she was younger, what lessons she learned by working with Mother Teresa, what is the importance of people who believe in us, where the idea for her book “Otter Therapy” came from, how humor and art actually help reduce stress, how to choose the best career for yourself, and what famous painting she will turn into an otter masterpiece next. Enjoy!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtzwNrTIIK0