Baker Artist Portfolios

I am a primarily self-taught artist who returned to creating in 2021 after a two decades, a career, three kids, and a global pandemic. When making art re-emerged as a part of my daily life, I began with a focus on acrylic painting and portraiture, developing a deep interest in manipulating color in nontraditional ways to achieve emotion and character in my work. While painting remains a source of joy that is central in my art, I have become deeply drawn to incorporating additional media. At first, this exploration was tentative – embroidered embellishments on a finished painting, or selecting a fabric background that I would then paint upon – until I eventually leaned into using any and all media available to me. My mixed-media collage style that has evolved continues to reflect my love of color, while allowing me to bring a depth and narrative that I struggled to achieve in painting. As with painting, I approach paper collage intuitively, moving quickly and not overthinking. However, when I reach the fiber portions of a piece, my process slows out of necessity – hand embroidery can only move so quickly! I have discovered that this segment of my creative process forces my busy brain to pause and reflect. During these times, I often find that a work in progress is telling me a story that I didn’t expect. I use fabric, thread, paper, beads, paint, ink, and found objects to create tapestry-like collages. While each piece has a story that emerged during its creation, I also hope that viewers will find elements that uniquely resonate with them and contribute to a personal connection with the work.