Mette Baker
Life's been good to me! My career as a lawyer, led to the Danish Foreign Service, which led to living in six countries on four continents. In the process I acquired a husband and together we had the extreme joy of raising four sons. It's been a lot of fun!
The icing on this lovely cake came when I returned to a childhood passion and began to paint seriously. That was in the mid-80s in Australia where I studied for one year at the Canberra School of Art. I have painted in oil right from the beginning and still love to work in that medium. During the last few years I've also discovered soft pastels and am excited about the "closeness" and the pure colours that this medium offers.
With the boys all having "flown the coop", I now live with my husband and our dog in a large, but cozy, log home half an hour outside of Ottawa. Surrounded by bush and water, we get to experience the beauty and occasional challenges of the changing Canadian seasons up-close. I have a wonderful airy, bright studio right in the house where I can work to my hearts content day or night and where I'm delighted to have visitors to whom I can show my work.
Much as I love just to paint, I also get involved in a whole lot of things concerning the arts community in the Ottawa area, for instance:
1)As a working partner in Galerie Old Chelsea where my works are continuously displayed
2)As past president of Nepean Fine Arts League
3)As an active member of Ottawa Arts Association, East Central Ontario Arts Association, West Carleton arts association, and Pastel Artists Canada where I am the Ottawa representative
4)As artist representative on the Arts Committee of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ottawa
5)As initiator and organizer of artists' involvement in the Canadian Tulip Festival,
6) and finally with two colleagues, organizing semiannual artists' painting workshop tours to various locations in Quebec.
To see what I'm planning for the next year, have a look at my schedule of events .
I paint whenever I can. I love the process itself and enjoy capturing a scene that for one reason or another has made an impression on me.
I paint landscapes to celebrate the change of seasons and the incredible beauty by which we all are surrounded. Any one of many qualities can make a scene of special importance to me; the play of light and shadow, the varying stark or subtle seasonal colours, or maybe the special mood that comes across at different times of the day.
I paint flowers to make myself, and hopefully others, happy. I paint them where they grow and truly belong - to me that's where they are the most beautiful. Quite simply, for me painting is sheer enjoyment!
Contact Information
Phone: (613) 832-3737
E-mail: mette@mettebaker.com