We’re looking forward to meeting you personally. We each take a great interest in our students and their work and we hope that your experience at The Villa is one of harmony, encouragement, fearless experimentation and just plain fun!

“I’ve made things with my hands as long as I can remember”. An art major in high school and then at CSUN, Mary studied graphic design and sculptural arts graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Though her profession was as a graphic designer, she always kept a hand in clay taking classes in ceramics and pottery and making

Mary C. Barnhill

William A. Barnhill

Our People

· See Mary’s ceramic portfolio...

· See Bill’s portfolio...

· See Bill’s web site...

things for the sheer joy of it. With husband Bill, Magical Planet was conceived and they designed and produced ceramic jewelry, cast stone environmental giftware and fossil replicas.

It was after several more years of study in the ceramics lab at Moorpark College that Mary decided to take her knowledge and artistic ability more seriously. “This is something that I was born to do.” In addition to pursuing her own body of work (she has exhibited at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in Ojai) in their wonderful new studio, Mary wants others to have the opportunity to learn about artistic expression through clay and to discover a fun and satisfying hobby.

Also a graduate of the UCLA extension Certificate Program in Gardening and Horticulture, Mary has had an extensive career in the nursery and landscape industry and has taught gardening classes at The Learning Tree University.

A.k.a. “The Kiln Master” (and “MacGyver”), Bill is one of those gifted “right-brained/left-brained” people. His background as an engineer has made him indispensable in the construction phase of The Villa for the Arts. Equally a fine gardener and craftsman, he is the creator of much of the Contemplation Garden where he spends

many hours maintaining his vast collection of cacti, succulents, orchids and bonsai.

Bill has explored many avenues for his artistic expression including drawing, painting and sculpture. Currently, he is working on a series of figurines inspired by the native peoples of the Southwest. He uses the slab method of construction for all his pieces and finishes them in painstaking detail in colorful, low-fire glazes sometimes with a luster finish.

For all the time he has spent in the arts (and in the garden!), Bill’s finest achievements are to be found in his writing. He has authored two books: A Place Between Heaven and Earth and Children of the Morning Sun, a published children’s book about a band of small animals that save the earth from an environmental apocalypse. William is also the screenplay-smith of multiple feature length projects including an animated adaptation of Children of the Morning Sun. Additionally, Bill has penned dozens of poems.

And if that is not enough, Bill has recently returned to his music. A fine acoustical guitarist and songwriter, he is currently writing and recording his first all original album entitled “Better Late Than Never”.

After the sun has gone down and the stars have come out, you can often find this amateur astronomer gazing through his telescope up into the cosmos. His engineering skills and his interest in astronomy lead Bill to build his own reflector telescope.

· See Mary’s garden portfolio...

Larry M. Johnson

With his Bachelor of Arts degree and a lifetime of artistic endeavors, Larry is a highly qualified and dedicated teacher. For over twenty years he has taught photography, drawing, cartooning, puppet- and mask-making, and, of course, sculpture to (in his words) “children of all ages, from 5 to 95”.

Larry encourages our attitude of serenity here at The Villa For The Arts. “Leave your stress and problems at the door! Just relax, focus on your work and have some fun with it.” He gives his students the structure they need to learn and improve technique, and the freedom and confidence to experiment with their artistic expression.

Larry is currently working towards his Masters of Fine Arts degree in photography at CSUN and spends some of his “spare time” producing his own line of affordable artist’s furniture and armatures.