Mary Ann Barwick announces the grand opening of Starry Night Studio in Calypso on June 18, 2022.(Lindsay Kornegay|Courtesy photo)
Mary Ann Barwick’s granddaughter, Addie Kate Kornegay, loves coming to Starry Night Studio. Here, she glazes a clay snow-girl during a winter-break art class.(Mary Ann Barwick|Courtesy photo)
Mary Ann Barwick’s son-in-law, Jon Kornegay, and grandson, Battle, construct a haunted house during a popular ‘family clay date’ at Starry Night Studio.(Mary Ann Barwick|Courtesy photo)
These are high-fire, nautical-themed pieces created by Mary Ann Barwick.(Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Mary Ann Barwick pieces together a fish mobile in her Starry Night Studio.(Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Shelves at Starry Night Studio in Calypso are filled with pottery created by Mary Ann Barwick.(Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Starry Night Studio is a light-filled, art-filled space that Mary Ann Barwick calls her ‘happy place.’(Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
The walls of Starry Night Studio are a colorful testament to Mary Ann Barwick’s creativity.(Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Starry Night Studio is located at 111 W. Trade St. in Calypso.(Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Do you have a personal oasis, a place where stress can’t find you and peacefulness surrounds you? Maybe overlooking the ocean or by a mountain stream or in the midst of the flowers in your own backyard? For artist Mary Ann Barwick, just such a place exists in the heart of Calypso, in her Starry Night Studio. “It’s a place that I can come and be creative, and it’s my happy place,” she says.
Barwick does painting, mixed media and (her favorite) pottery. But as much as she enjoys her solitude in the studio — “manipulating and coaxing [the clay] until it becomes a three-dimensional product that was once just an idea or sketch” — she also welcomes others, offering (mostly) pottery classes for both children and adults.
Barwick taught art in the Wayne County School System for 31 years, before retiring in 2009, so teaching is second nature to her. She deliberately keeps class size small (usually eight or so students), because, she notes, “I want that student/teacher ratio to be fair enough so that I actually have time to give individualized instruction.”
Typically, she offers one adult class each month, and each class consists of two evening sessions, the first session for building the clay project and the second for glazing.
Children’s classes have a similar format (separate sessions for building and glazing), but are held during the day and take place in summer, as well as during winter and spring breaks. In addition to pottery, the children’s classes also include either a painting or mixed media project.
One of Barwick’s favorite classes that she’s taught has been what she calls a “family clay date” last fall. Family members — in various configurations of grandparents, parents and children — gathered in her studio to make haunted houses. “That turned out to be loads of fun,” she says. In fact, it was so popular that several families have requested doing it again this fall, hoping to add to the houses they created last year as they work toward building an entire haunted village.
Barwick offers a wide variety of possibilities when it comes to accommodating groups’ interest in pottery instruction and has even gone off-site to teach (for example, she’s been to birthday parties and to church fellowship halls to oversee clay projects).
Upon retiring from the public school system in 2009, one of Barwick’s top priorities was to actually return to being a student herself. Determined to hone her pottery skills, she enrolled in classes at the Bailey studio of renowned master potter Dan Finch. “While there, I not only learned more about pottery-making, I also became a part of something much bigger,” she says. “What Dan’s studio provided was a family of potters who support each other, learn from each other, and then pass it on.” Finch died in April, a loss that Barwick and others still feel deeply. Finch’s “family of potters” is determined to help his wife, Amy, keep his studio going.
As for getting her own “official” studio, that’s a fairly recent development for Barwick. Previously, a room in her home, along with another room built onto her husband Danny’s shop, served as her creative workspace. But two summers ago, her daughter and son-in-law, Lindsay and Jon Kornegay, surprised her with detailed plans to turn an old dilapidated building in Calypso into Starry Night Studio. Jon had purchased the 1930s building (and original Calypso Town Hall) many years before, with hopes of one day restoring it so that it would once again be an asset to the town. His vision was realized on June 18, 2022, with the grand opening of Barwick’s studio.
Four months after opening, she held the first of what will become an annual Christmas open house event. The open house will always take place the Thursday evening before Thanksgiving, with the studio being open that Friday and Saturday for additional shopping.
Although she doesn’t have set days or hours when the studio is open, Barwick notes that she lives close-by and is happy to meet someone there if they are interested in talking with her about classes or seeing the artwork she has for sale. To contact her, email starrynightstudiocalypso@gmail.com. For more information, go to Starry Night Studio Calypso on Facebook. The studio is located at 111 W. Trade St.
