Our Studio
We are grateful to be now into 2 decades working in this studio.
In 2003 we inherited a piece of land on Lisa’s family Homestead as well as her Grandfathers carpentry shop. Over several years Matt and Lisa renovated the space, built a wood fired kiln and opened their door in the fall of 2005.
About the same time they became founding members of a local arts collective and Lisa began teaching ceramics at the Haliburton School of the Arts.
In 2008 They became members of the Haliburton Studio Tour and started to begin building their home, gardens and family.
Currently they are exhibiting in both applied and invitational shows and actively teaching in a variety of venues.
Meet the Craftspeople
Matt Mihlik
Matt studied Ceramics at Sheridan College from 1999-2002 followed by receiving a BFA in Ceramics from the Alberta College of Art and Design. Upon returning to Haliburton, Matt built a kiln strictly fuelled with wood and developed a greater appreciation for the firing process. In the early days after school Matt took on several Carpentry jobs and developed a strong interest in timber framing, joinery and an appreciation for hand tools and processes. In 2017 Matt took some specialized courses in Greenwood carving styles which fuelled a love for carving spoons from locally sourced wood. Matt continues to combine his passion for craft in both ceramics and wood. He is inspired by history, architecture and making objects in a fine craft tradition.
Lisa Barry
Lisa studied Ceramics at Sheridan College from 1998-2001 followed by receiving a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design. Upon returning to Haliburton, Lisa immersed herself in the vibrant Arts community through a variety of exhibition and teaching opportunities. She continues to expand her teaching portfolio and is passionate about sharing her love of the making and design process. Lisa creates fine crafted ceramics that are intended for daily use and appreciation. Her work consists of robust forms with warm toasty surfaces and hand painted motifs. Whether it is serving dinner to friends, baking a homemade apple crumble or putting flowers in a vase- her work speaks about utility but more importantly about being nourished.
Homestead Movers & Shakers
It takes a village….
We are truly grateful for the love, support and assistance over the past decade. We have been consciously trying to create a hub of creativity and learning opportunities at our studio and wanted to share a wee bit about some of these amazing people. We have been offering a work exchange program for the last 3 summers and this has become an integral part of our life and studio practice. Offering time, space and critical feedback has grown our craft community and allowed us the time to focus on making. We have some big dreams up our sleeves and are grateful to have these folks help fuel the fire.