Playhouse Art Space
Leslie Baker – Raw Color
May 27 - June 23, 2016
Leslie Baker
“Leslie Baker’s Bather Series...are rendered in warm, softly modeled hues. They are as sweet as Cassatt and as delicate as Harunobu.” New Art Examiner
“Baker’s watercolors capture the 1940’s without nostalgia, their blue and white elegance comfortably warm and quiet in its effect.” The New York Times
“In more than 40 years of painting, Baker has mastered an array of artistic styles, from representational watercolor illustrations to luscious landscapes and large format oil abstracts based on monotype prints - the most painterly style of printmaking.” Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Ideas
After completing her masters at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Baker established herself in the city’s art scene, where she was represented by Rosenfeld Gallery. Her work was regularly seen in solo and group exhibitions in both Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
In 1985 Baker wrote and published her first children’s book with Little, Brown and Co. She went on to write and/or illustrate fifteen books for children working with authors such as Jane Yolen and Doug Wood. Her painterly illustrations earned her numerous awards, including the 1998 Children’s Book Award and selection as the US nominee for the international Ezra Jack Keats Award. They have appeared in The Best of Children’s Book Illustration and at the Society of Illustrators in New York.
In 1997, she and her family relocated to Martha’s Vineyard. a move that took her art in important new directions. Intrigued by the ordered edges of the surrounding land Baker turned toward large scale landscape working from on site studies in oil and watercolor. In 2003, she began working in monotype, the most painterly of printmaking techniques. Her work transitioned towards more abstract imagery, inspired less by direct contact with nature but by memory and marking.
Baker is currently showing at A Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard and the Copley Society in Boston where she had a solo exhibition “Saved Views” in 2010. In 2013 she was awarded the position of Copley Master. Baker is also a portrait artist with more than 30 years of commissions, most recently of Dr. Steven Atwood for the Atwood Library at the University of Pennsylvania. Baker welcomes the change in rhythm that comes from capturing not simply the likeness, but the personality and settings of her subjects.
Baker lives in West Tisbury with her husband David, three dogs, a cat and an ever expanding garden. To see more of her work, go to lbaker.com.
“Baker’s watercolors capture the 1940’s without nostalgia, their blue and white elegance comfortably warm and quiet in its effect.” The New York Times
“In more than 40 years of painting, Baker has mastered an array of artistic styles, from representational watercolor illustrations to luscious landscapes and large format oil abstracts based on monotype prints - the most painterly style of printmaking.” Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Ideas
After completing her masters at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Baker established herself in the city’s art scene, where she was represented by Rosenfeld Gallery. Her work was regularly seen in solo and group exhibitions in both Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
In 1985 Baker wrote and published her first children’s book with Little, Brown and Co. She went on to write and/or illustrate fifteen books for children working with authors such as Jane Yolen and Doug Wood. Her painterly illustrations earned her numerous awards, including the 1998 Children’s Book Award and selection as the US nominee for the international Ezra Jack Keats Award. They have appeared in The Best of Children’s Book Illustration and at the Society of Illustrators in New York.
In 1997, she and her family relocated to Martha’s Vineyard. a move that took her art in important new directions. Intrigued by the ordered edges of the surrounding land Baker turned toward large scale landscape working from on site studies in oil and watercolor. In 2003, she began working in monotype, the most painterly of printmaking techniques. Her work transitioned towards more abstract imagery, inspired less by direct contact with nature but by memory and marking.
Baker is currently showing at A Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard and the Copley Society in Boston where she had a solo exhibition “Saved Views” in 2010. In 2013 she was awarded the position of Copley Master. Baker is also a portrait artist with more than 30 years of commissions, most recently of Dr. Steven Atwood for the Atwood Library at the University of Pennsylvania. Baker welcomes the change in rhythm that comes from capturing not simply the likeness, but the personality and settings of her subjects.
Baker lives in West Tisbury with her husband David, three dogs, a cat and an ever expanding garden. To see more of her work, go to lbaker.com.