[1][2] She initially trained as a kindergarten teacher but after moving to Havelock North experimented with metal work before settling on creating pottery.

[2] In the 1971 Queen's Birthday Honours, Matheson was awarded the British Empire Medal, for services as a potter.

[10] In 2017, works by Matheson were included in an exhibition of early New Zealand female potters, held in West Auckland.

[11] Matheson's pottery was called "PAKA" and she wrote the name as part of her potter's mark, alongside a figure similar to an envelope with an extra line inside.

Her kiln in Havelock North was oil-fired, and was passed on to Helen Mason, whose husband was Matheson's nephew.