John Beachli

John Beachli moved to Haliburton over thirty years ago and started a construction company. John did a lot of work with stone and became skilled at dry stone wall creation and began to teach these skills at the Haliburton School of The Arts. John was inspired by the work of George Pratt, a renowned stone sculptor and instructor at the school. (Pratt’s sculpture “Pan” is part of the Haliburton Sculpture Forest collection) He began studying with George to learn the craft and art of stone carving and spent time over the years with George in his studio in Vancouver. John now dedicates most of his time to stone carving. In July 2006, John was artist-in-residence at the Haliburton Sculpture Forest – working on this sculpture near the entrance to the Sculpture Forest and the Haliburton School of The Arts and inviting the public to visit and watch the work in progress. John donated the completed sculpture to the Sculpture Forest. It was installed on its current site in August 2006 and officially inducted on October 21, 2006.Two of John’s dramatic sculptures can be seen at the entrance to the Haliburton Hospital.