Ever since he was a boy, Matheson has harbored a love of the sea and an interest in the ecology and culture of tropical islands. His passion for woodworking began when he was a child as well. While growing up in Miami he spent a good deal of his boyhood building small projects in his garage on his own. College led him out West and then on to Mexico where he studied Marine Ecology in the Gulf of California. Like a mangrove, his roots were in the water so after school he made his way back East and worked on boats from Maine to the Bahamas. His resume includes work as a boat builder, sail maker, first mate and captain. For a year in between his work on the water he found himself a position supervising a 200 acre tropical plant research center in South Florida where he was lucky enough to receive a hands on lesson in tropical botany(as well as use some of the fallen trees in his woodworking projects).

Matheson's fascination with functional arts evolved from boat building into furniture. He attended the North Bennet Street School in Boston, Massachusetts. The two year program in furniture and cabinetry gave him the added skills to create high quality furniture using traditional, time tested methods. He is fascinated with lesser known historic styles of furniture and the circumstances and influences that make them so unique. Early British arts and crafts, European campaign, and Colonial West Indian furniture are a few examples of these unique styles of furniture. The Colonial West Indian style of furniture is of particular interest to him and a style he specializes in.

Austin is a visiting faculty member at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine where he has taught since 2004.He teaches solid wood furniture construction to students in the
Twelve Week Intensive and Nine Month Comprehensive courses . In Miami, Austin is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Archictecture where he teaches Furniture Design and Construction.

Matheson worked and lived in Rockport, Maine for 10 years alongside some of the countries most talented craftspeople. In 2010 He relocated back to South Florida and continues to design and build custom furniture from his shop in Miami. A fifth generation Floridian, he continues to find inspiration from the tropical landscapes of this unique region.

"Work by students under professor Matheson"