Mia Antonio is an artist who expresses her creativity through various forms of art. She is a model, a thespian, and a wood artist in her venture, where she showcases her uniqueness and creativity. In college, she dreamed of gifting her seafarer father a world map but it was out of her reach as a student, so she crafted it herself, igniting a passion for woodworking that led to the creation of MA. Wood Studio PH.
From the very beginning, creativity has been the quiet force shaping Mia Antonio’s life — long before she became known as a wood and painting artist.
Her story starts in the sweetest and most unexpected way. As a toddler, Mia was a tiny girly girl with a fascination for makeup far beyond her years. Her mother often said that silence in the house usually meant trouble — and with Mia, it meant an explosion of color. She would find her daughter hiding in a room, surrounded by broken lipsticks, shattered eyeshadows, and a full clown face of makeup. What looked like chaos was actually her earliest form of artistic expression.
As she grew, that spark never faded. Mia and her sister filled their childhood days with drawing sessions, inventing concepts, characters, and scenes from pure imagination. Creativity was their language — their comfort.
Her older brother, one of her earliest supporters, nurtured that love even more. When Mia was 17, he surprised her with her first massive Sephora palette — a treasure trove of color. It became the first real art kit she ever owned. From there, she ventured into avant garde makeup, painting her eyelids and face like canvases. This passion eventually led her into theater, modeling, and TV commercials, where she earned her first income and explored the world of performance and artistry.
Despite trying different paths, including studying Mass Communication with a major in Performing Arts, art always tugged at her heart. And unexpectedly, it was an act of love that led her to the medium that would change her life.
During her college years, Mia wanted to give her seafarer father a wooden world map — a meaningful piece that honored his journeys across the oceans. But as a student, such a gift was out of reach. Instead of letting it go, she asked herself a simple question: What if I just make it?
That moment shifted everything.
Mia began creating wooden maps by hand, learning the craft piece by piece. What started as a heartfelt attempt to create a gift for her father soon became a growing passion — and eventually a profession. Commissions flowed in from companies, agencies, and private collectors. With every project, she found herself rediscovering parts of her identity she hadn’t realized were there.
Wood became the place where all her past experiences converged — the colors she learned from makeup, the imagination from her childhood sketches, the storytelling from theater, the discipline from performing arts. Everything she had ever loved fit perfectly into this medium.
Art has always been in Mia’s heart — quietly shaping her, guiding her, preparing her.
Now, it is no longer just a part of her life.
It is her life’s work.
And this is only the beginning of her story.
