Matt Barter was born in 1975. He was raised in the village of Sullivan, just outside Ellsworth, and grew up as part of the highly creative Barter family. With his father, Philip as his instructor, Matt began painting at a very early age. He sold his first painting, a still life based on Matisse, before age 10. As soon as he was able, Matt helped his father with the wooden wall reliefs that people associate most closely with Philip. By the time he was in his teens, Matt had started creating his own wall reliefs. "WorkingHarbor," a three-panel relief of a Maine fishing village, is the latest example of the younger Barter's amazing creativity. In addition to his paintings and wall reliefs, Matt Barter carves marvelous, folky figures of fishermen. Whether laden down with buoys (painted in the blue and brown shades of the Barter brothers' lobster buoys), lobster crates, or fish, Matt's fishermen are both expressive and fun.