Old News, New News, and Just Plain Gossip. To some this will be old news, to others, new.  The rest, well…

 

So how did I get here?

 

My first real experience at creating art to sell was the result of a trip around the world.  In France I had seen enchanting paintings of shop fronts and old churches; in Spain sculptures of white washed Andalusian villages.  Each country had unique architecture and history and I wanted to share my experiences in some way. 

 

I soon was making sculptures of my own out of clay and other materials.  Several represented these different countries, but as I began to travel around the US and learn our own history I made more and more American styled sculptures.  These pieces became collected and we had a dozen or so years of very successful business, mostly in the US, but also as far away as Japan and Sweden,   I even was voted a finalist for collectible of the year for two consecutive years in Canada.

 

 

Well times change, and so do opportunities.  It was time to do some real work, and I did landscaping and plumbing for awhile.  I complained that I wished I had time to do some form of art again.  Well, careful what you wish for.  As a result of injuries, I found the time.  In 2006 I picked up an art form I dabbled with twenty years ago:  scratchboard.  I also started oil painting for fun.

 

What is Scratchboard?

 

Scratchboard is a technique of drawing using various sharp and pointed tools to scratch into a thin layer of black India ink which covers a layer of white clay which in turn is coating a piece of board.  The result of each scratch is then a white line.  In essence one is drawing the highlights when compared to pen or pencil which draws the darker areas.  These white areas can later be tinted with various paints.

 

What about that Umbrella?

 

Back when I was creating Brian Baker’s Déjà Vu Collection and the Brian Baker Collection, I hid an umbrella on each of my sculptures as a kind of trademark.  I am not necessarily using this on my drawings or paintings.

 

 

Where can someone find one of the sculptures?

 

 If anyone is looking to find one of my sculptures, I have a tiny supply here.  Just contact me for details.  You can usually find some on ebay as well.