Born and raised in Red Deer, Pat Matheson, MFA, has operated “the Farm” Studio on his grandparent’s homestead in the Rainy Creek District north of Sylvan Lake since 2000. Pat has actively pursued a long career as an artist, supporting the habit as an arts educator, administrator, art history librarian, and, at present, a public art administrator for The City of Red Deer. He received his formal training from Red Deer College, the University of Calgary and the University of Regina.

His artistic interests in the visual arts range from lithography, painting, and drawing to three-dimensional paper and multi-media sculpture. Ceramics has always been his first love however. First introduced to clay in College, it has served as his favoured vehicle of expression and provided the stimulus to always attempt to explore the boundaries of art.

At present, Pat has been hand building functional and semi-functional vessel forms. Versed in many ceramic techniques, he currently works mostly with the ancient Japanese firing process called “Raku”. The antithesis of most traditional firing methods, Raku is exciting and unpredictable often with otherworldly results.

Pat’s work is strongly influenced by the rural environment in which he lives and the history of the region. In Raku, Pat has found an interesting while challenging means to express his responses to and observations of the natural world around him.