[Jennifer Baker](https://www.cohart.com/jenniferbakerfineart) is a contemporary oil painter with studios in Italy and Colorado. Her work explores poetry in the natural world, lyrical beauty and power. Her work is a meditation on her own connection to the majesty of the natural world, to the power of being alive. Her paintings are an ode to life, to becoming, and to majesty. They are a reminder to take a moment to release the trappings of the mundane, to look up, down, far, and close. To be still. Jennifer's paintings are part of private collections in 16 countries around the world. She was named a finalist at the Genova Biennale in 2021, and several of her paintings were recently auctioned at the Orlando Museum of Fine Art. She welcomes commissions! Jennifer is also a recent cancer survivor, and her latest body of work reflects the light she sought at the end of the tunnel, the light captured from the natural world and transmuted into her paintings.

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##### Can you describe your artistic process? What materials and techniques do you typically use?

I am an oil painter. I have experience with a myriad of other materials, including watercolor and acrylic. But oils to me are alive. There is a natural quality to oil paint that makes it unpredictable, inconsistent, and temperamental. An oil painting is like a living thing, and I often treat my paintings as such. When I close up the studio for the day after working on a piece, I literally don’t know what I will find when I return the next morning. The paint has a life of its own as it moves, cures and dries. I adore oil paint for this very reason. It feels like an extension of the unpredictable nature of the universe as a whole. I also adore oil paint for its sensual nature, how it moves and the depth it carries. And oil paint is like a diary. It lasts forever. I have several tubes of oil that I used in art school 30 years ago that I still use.

My process is about seeking light. Capturing it. Moving it around, making it sing. I am essentially an expressionist painter and never plan anything, even though my technique sometimes appears delicate. I do not own black paint, and create darkness from color. Building a chromatic gray is one of my favorite moments in painting.

##### What role does spontaneity versus planning play in your creative process?

I cannot plan! Every single time I have the audacity to think I knew what I was doing as I started work on a blank canvas, I am quickly reminded that creativity is a process of letting go. The frustration of trying to control my outcome is real. As I have matured as an artist, I have less and less episodes of creative block and frustration. If I am working on something that is stuck, I turn it over, wipe it down, paint over it, sing to it (seriously, I do this!), change the lighting, turn up the music, leave and drink a coffee or take a walk by the river and come back changed. The problems in any painting I am making are generally problems inside of me, not on the canvas.

I also was taught by a very wise teacher not to covet. “Do not covet” is literally written on a note and taped to my studio wall. If I see a section of a canvas that I love, that I think is so perfect, and try to covet it and keep it as I work the rest of the canvas, it is always a path to mediocrity. A painting is its own creature and needs space to grow, even if that means giving something up.   

##### Can you discuss a piece that challenged you both technically and conceptually?

This is a hard one! I have an intimate and loving relationship with everything I make. If I were to choose an especially technical piece of late, I would say “The ecstasy” was a challenge. It required a certain amount of control and intention to capture darkness in light, to create a sky that was lit and tumultuous without seeming foreboding. It is definitely one of my finest pieces of late.

##### Can you share a specific project or piece that holds special significance for you? Why is it important?

This month I am releasing a collection of paintings called the Angel Collection. While I have made hundreds of paintings, some very large and majestic, this collection of smaller paintings is especially significant for me. I spent most of this year battling aggressive breast cancer. I am cured now and coming forth from the dark, and these paintings are dedicated to moments in time, seen mostly in hindsight, when I know I was accompanied by angels through the absolute worst time in my life. They are small paintings, which are usually a challenge for me, and creating them was an intimate and personal experience. A sort of renaissance in my life. I am especially proud of them.

##### How important is the exhibition space to the presentation of your work? Do you adapt your pieces for different venues or spaces?

In general, my work longs for open space and light. Especially my larger works. When I exhibit, I am grateful for the chance to see my paintings breathe and move! But, it is also important to say that I believe that art is for every space, every wall, every home. I have often heard people say that my work deserves a big open white wall in a contemporary context. While that is true, I also feel that art is connection, and connecting with a piece of art means that it belongs with the person that connects with it. My paintings can transform any space into a sanctuary. Paintings do not need to match a sofa or décor, paintings need to live in harmony with the energy of a space. I don’t believe in the notion of having too much art. Ever.

##### How do you handle feedback on your work?

One of the things that comes with age is a healthy sense of self, at least for me. Especially after this year of battling cancer, it is quite hard to ruffle my feathers. I feel like art is akin to a cloud, or a flower, or a color. You either like roses or tulips, blue or pink. The shape of one cloud captures you and transports you, while another does not. You feel at home in an abstract expressionist wild ride of a painting or in a minimalist color field. One thing I know is that my art must inspire great love or nothing at all. Finding those who love your work is as important as finding those who don’t. Living in the middle, where everyone likes what I do, means I haven’t found my audience.

##### If you could collaborate with any artist, living or deceased, who would it be and why?

Oh what a question! I cannot choose only one. William Turner for his poetic expression. Georgia O’Keefe for her mastery of composition. Anselm Kiefer for his trees and forests. Da Vinci for the expression in Leda’s eyes. Chagall for his love story. Claire Basler for her flowers. April Gornick for her stormy skies. I could go on… 

##### What message or emotion do you hope to convey through your art?

I want my work to offer a moment of stillness, contemplation, a quiet dialogue with the planet. We humans are so very, very hurried. We are trained to exist in the world of the analytical mind. We are in a hurry. We are tired. We miss the majesty and beauty of every single sunset and sunrise. This planet is a miracle in all of its moments in time. I hope my interpretation of that miracle provides pause, breath, space, peace.

##### What impact do you hope your art has on the community or society at large, if any?

I hope that my art generates space, light, inspiration, peace. A moment of respite. Connection to the universe. Breadth of being. All of which trickle down into society. We are in need of these things, no?

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Jennifer Baker paints to capture light, moments of stillness and peace, offering a connection to the universe and a pause from life's hurry.

Spotlight: Jennifer Baker’s Ode to Life and the Beauty of Nature’s Unpredictability

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