Baker Artist Portfolios

 The phrase 'small encounters' collectively describes my artistic interest which gravitates towards portraying nature’s diminutive details that frequently are unnoticed. My portfolio of drawings and photographs reflects this as it is predominantly comprised of depictions of subject matter which are small in stature and need safe guarding. Subjects such as Mid-Atlantic ephemeral lifecycles with depicted insects that visit or pollinate their flowers and butterfly life transformations prevail throughout much of my artwork. They are rendered in my compositions from photographs I have taken and entwined in time sequences that describe in detail their life changing progressions. I focus on my small, frequently hidden and fragile nature subjects believing that art can be utilized as an educational channel. Many insects and native flowers are disappearing due to disease, pesticides and habitat loss. I create my art with the intention of compelling a change in people’s understanding and attitudes towards my diminishing subject matter. My compositions are drawn large so that the viewer is presented with detailed visual information of easily distinguishable shapes and patterns of small nature subjects. I also include interpretations of scientific data, when applicable, into my drawings that frequently expands on viewers’ previous experiences with the subject matter. I hope my artwork will arouse interest for future conservation endeavors for disappearing pollinators and their sustaining flora.

My combined education of a BFA Summa Cum Laude degree from the Maryland Institute, College of Art (MICA) and a BLA Cum Laude degree from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) provides me with the background to artistically pursue small complicated physical world subjects. I learned visual and self expression during my early art instruction and years later was exposed to a fact finding scientific approach toward analyzing the natural world in my plant study classes. Combining the two approaches has allowed me to immerse myself into researching nature and in turn express the findings into a visual format.