Category Archives: New England Landscapes

New England landscape paintings and digital images

Newburyport, Big Skies – Digital Images

Newburyport, Big Skies – Digital Images

Pink House - Digital Image

Pink House – Digital Image

Plum Island House - Digital Image

Plum Island House – Digital Image

Farm House - Digital Image

Farm House – Digital Image

Tree - Digital Image

Tree – Digital Image

*Press small images to enlarge*

All digital images are 9″x 12″, they are pigment prints, printed on archival watercolor paper. They are all one of a kind, signed – Mary Baker 1/1.

The price is $2,000 and does not include framing, tax or shipping.

All images are copyrighted, all rights reserved, © Mary Baker

The Secret Garden

Secret Garden, Mary Baker © 2017

Secret Garden, Mary Baker © 2017

The digital series “Big Skies” is finished, all 20, done in 2017.  I’m experimenting with new digital images. This one is called the Secret Garden, and the actual garden can be found at Maudslay State Park, Newburyport, Ma.

How the Digital Images Would Look Like in a Room

I’ve always loved the idea of medieval triptychs–paintings that are divided into 3 separate pieces. And I’ve always been intrigued the way Andy Warhol used multiple images that worked together.

Digital images over a couch

Digital images over a couch

One of the things that I have in mind for this new digital/prismacolor series, with large skies with landscapes on the bottom, is the ability to mix and match the images.

They could be used separately, they are 9″x 12″ unframed, which is a perfect size for let’s say between two windows.

Digital images between windows

Digital images between windows

However, they could also be placed three together, over a couch or mantle shelf.

So I’ve “imagined” how they would look like framed over a couch, and between three windows.

New Digital Art Images–Creative Euphoria

I hadn’t had this much fun creating in a long, long time as I was having with this new digital project.  I had no idea where process of this new adventure was going to go, but I was definitely on it for the ride.

For me, often the excitement comes at the beginning of a new creative discovery, it was that way during various stages of my professional painting career, and it was certainly that way with the new digital art images.

I would sit down at my computer every morning and couldn’t wait to see what I could create that day.  In many ways it felt as if it was a creative rebirth.

Pink House 1 © Mary Baker, digital image

Pink House 1 © Mary Baker, digital image

This is the first of many digital versions that I have done of the “Pink House.”  The Pink House on Plum Island Turnpike is iconic, and is probably one of the most, if not the most painted and photographed location in the Newburyport area.  It has captured the imagination of hundreds of professional and amateur painters and photographers for years.

The Pink House sits out by itself on the Newbury marsh.  There are no other houses surrounding it.  It is run-down and unkempt, abandoned, but in spite of its neglect it retains a dignity and honor and an unspoken link to Newburyport’s past. People notice it and fall in love with it instantly.

Apple Tree and Field © Mary Baker, digital image

Apple Tree and Field © Mary Baker, digital image

The  apple trees  of “Apple Tree and Field” are on the Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm, which is a magical place, a 230 acre site that includes a late 1600 manor house that once inhabited wealthy Newburyport merchants. It is open to the public, and more information can be seen about it here.

Airstrip 1 © Mary Baker, digital image

Airstrip 1 © Mary Baker, digital image

I have done many paintings of the airstrip which is on the marsh along Plum Island Turnpike. Those paintings were in all kinds of art shows and are in art collections all over the United States.  I’ve gone back to that particular place over and over again for almost 30 years. “Airstrip 1” is the first digital art image that I did of that particularly, for me, beloved spot.

Tree, Pasture, Digital Art Image

Tree, Pasture, Mary Baker © 2014, Digital Image

Tree, Pasture, Mary Baker © 2014, Digital Image

One of the “new” images.  “Tree, Pasture,” Mary Baker © 2014, integrated art image.

"The Pasture" Oil on Paper, 5.5" x 22" 2007 © Mary Baker (Sold)

“The Pasture” Oil on Paper, 5.5″ x 22″ 2007 © Mary Baker (Sold)

“The Pasture”
Oil on Paper, 5.5″ x 22″
2007 © Mary Baker
(Sold)

Same tree, same pasture, different medium.

Art Show of Mary Baker’s Paintings

Mary Baker–Paintings
October 31-December 31, 2009

apple-blossoms_frame

Art show of Mary Baker’s paintings

Presented by Kerim Kaya
Kaya
41 State Street, 
Newburyport, MA 01950
978-465-1330

Opening Reception:
Saturday, November 8, 2009
6 PM-9 PM

(Apple Blossoms and Wall © Mary Baker, Oil on Canvas, 24″ x 36″)

“A contemporary realist painter, she captures, with lifelike precision, the stillness of the Plum Island marshes, the petals of a bright yellow iris in the South End, apple blossoms clinging to a brick wall at the old gardens at Maudslay State Park and the Common Pasture, its vista unchanged by centuries.”

“Putting things in perspective,” by Ulrika G. Gerth, © The Newburyport Current, November 6, 2009

Field 2–Realistic Landscape

Field 2
Oil on Canvas, “20 x 30”
Mary Baker © 2009

Another one of the new Newburyport realistic 2009 landscape paintings by Mary Baker.

Field 2–A visible light on the horizon that the winding pathway is leading to. A moody landscape painting that reflects feelings about the challenging economic times that we are living in. Fear, despair and hope in the future.

Realistic Landscape Painting

Field 1
Oil on Cavas, 12″ x 24″
Mary Baker © 2009

A new realistic landscape painting.

In these challenging economic times, I find that my paintings reflect how I feel. Dark sky, almost like a guillotine, a sliver of light at the horizon line, and a very long pathway leading towards the sunlight, but a sliver of sunlight, none the less.

The Wonders of Photoshop

As we enter, or already have entered, into this lousy economy 2009, where “the arts” have taken a tremendous hit, I’ve decided to tap into my “inner geek.” I’ve always loved Photoshop, and as a painter I have always felt that Photoshop is one of those “guilty pleasures.”

What would literally take me years to paint, I can accomplish in Photoshop in 30 minutes. Instant gratification. Presto. One of the things that I have also been doing, is learning all about designing websites. And I love it. It’s been enormously rewarding. The present design for the Mary Baker Art-Blog is a very own Mary Baker, Mary Baker Art creation. As a painter, the pink tube at the top would have taken me a very long, long time to paint, but in Photoshop, it’s a zip.

And I’ve also been experimenting with how to create different frames for the web for my paintings in Photoshop, which is an amazing amount of fun. In this post is a painting of the fields, where I live, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, a small oil on paper, in an experimental Photoshop frame.

Realistic Landscape Paintings and New York City Art Gallery

marsh_4.jpg

Marsh 4
Mary Baker © 2007
Oil on Paper
6″ x 20″

(Sold)

And a nice thing happened.

A New York City realist gallery, specializing in Contemporary Realism (the kind of realism I paint) contacted me, and the art gallery has taken a few of my paintings and will include them in a couple of group shows this year.

This happened a few of weeks ago.

The Gallery is:
The Sherry French Gallery
601 West 26th Street
NYC, NY 10001
212-646-8867

The first show opens September 5– September 29, 2007.

“Mainly Maine
Landscape Paintings from Maine and Beyond”

Getting contacted by a New York gallery is nice. And seeing the realistic landscape, “Marsh 4” by Mary Baker, hanging in the heart of “Chelsea,” that has now become the heart of the art world in New York City, is nice too.

Mary Baker, (artist’s website)
(For a detailed a biography, please click here)

Artist, Realistic Landscape Paintings

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“The Pasture”
Oil on Paper, 5.5″ x 22″
2007 © Mary Baker
(Sold)

Along with being an artist, I am also very involved in the community that I live in, Newburyport, Massachusetts. So much so that I started The Newburyport Blog a little over a year ago.

One of the things that I’ve learned about as an artist, is how involved many of the people of Newburyport, MA are in preserving “Open Space” or Newburyport’s landscapes, something which as an artist, I had always taken for granted. Something I had always presumed would always be there.

I think paying so much attention to this fight for Open Space in Newburyport, MA is one of the many reasons that as an artist that I have gone back to painting landscape paintings.

The painting, the “Pasture” above is one of the many places that the people of Newburyport are trying to preserve.

As an artist it is a privilege to still be able to paint realistic landscapes of my home town, Newburyport, MA.

More of the “Open Space” realistic landscape paintings can be found at my artist website Mary Baker Art.

Mary Baker

Mary Baker–Painting, Realistic Landscapes, The Marsh, Newburyport, MA

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Marsh 2
Oil on Canvas
20″ x 30″
Mary Baker © 2006

Landscapes of the Marsh, Newburyport, MA

I’ve been painting the marshes of Newburyport, Massachusetts, a small New England seacoast city since 1983.

I always seem to go back to them. They are compelling.

Aside from the sense of wide open space, the vastness of Newburyport landscape, I keep wondering why I go back to painting the Newburyport marshes again and again.

Last year I found out something very interesting. I don’t know whether it is germane or not, but I am intrigued.

My ancestors farmed a large piece of land on Shelter Island. The land became a State Park.

Shelter Island is at the very end of Long Island, New York, in between the two forks at the end of Long Island.

I will reluctantly admit that I have never walked the land that my ancestors farmed so faithfully.

However, about a year ago I looked up pictures on the Internet of Shelter Island. And what I discovered was that the landscape is almost exactly like the landscape of Newburyport, Massachusetts.

So what I am wondering is if the landscape of Newburyport, MA and Shelter Island is somehow in the “hard drive” of my artistic unconscious.

Mary Baker

Mary Baker, Realistic Landscape Paintings of Newburyport’s Marsh

Marsh 1
Oil on Canvas,
24” x 36 “
Mary Baker © 2006
A painting of Newburyport’s marshes

Paintings of the marshes by Mary Baker are back!

This painting “Marsh 1” is the first one of the new series of marshes that has been completed.

The last marsh painting I finished was in 2002. Probably the last time the marsh paintings were exhibited was 1995. So it’s been a while for marsh paintings from Mary Baker, that’s for sure.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I had a marsh painting left in me, but I guess I do. I ended up liking this painting of Newburyport’s marsh a lot.

Mary Baker

Art, Realistic Paintings and Artistic Pathways

azaleas.jpg

Azaleas
Oil on Canvas,
18” x 24 “
Mary Baker © 2006

I think for the first time in my artistic career I’m not sure where I’m going. And I find this very disconcerting.

It’s not that I’m artistically blocked, I just don’t know where the artistic pathway is going to lead.

In my studio I am now working on 8 landscapes. The painting “Azaleas,” at the top of this post is the first one I finished.

What I’ve realized is that all the paintings have pathways in them. I realized this a few weeks ago. I find this very interesting — it certainly wasn’t planned that way. I guess the pathway in “Azaleas” leads to something beautiful, so that’s encouraging.

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Morning Glory and Road
Oil on Paper
7.5” x 17”
Mary Baker © 2004

When I was doing flower paintings I did a painting called “Morning Glory and Road.” It’s probably one of my favorite paintings. I like the haunted quality that it has. And I like the fact that it has a path in it, but the pathway is certainly somewhat ambiguous and I don’t think the viewer, including me, has much idea of where it’s going to lead. Is it going to lead away from the Morning Glory into who knows what? Or is it going to lead from this bright, almost ignited flower to other bright places?

Mary Baker

(Editor’s Note: Please do not use any image that belongs to Mary Baker. It is a copyright infringement and it is against the law. I have found at least one image on another site, used without my permission, in a way that is unacceptable. The image has not been removed, and I am not pleased.

Unfortunately this forces me to put copyright information across the art images, which ruins it for everyone who would like to see the paintings. Mary Baker)

Art, Realistic Landscapes and Landscape Paintings

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Apple Trees
Oil on Canvas
36″ x 48″
Mary Baker © 2006

I’ve gone back to painting landscapes. I painted landscapes for 14 years and in 2002 (I think) I painted what I thought was my last landscape. I simply didn’t think I had another landscape in me.

But last year I started 3 large (36” x 48”) landscapes of Maudslay State Park in the Spring. And I finished the first one a few weeks ago of apple trees in bloom. At the moment it’s on the home page of my website, Mary Baker Art. It is also at the top of this post.

One of the things people keep saying about my work is that it looks so photographic. This drives me nuts, because when you get close to the work, it’s extremely painterly. So what I did on the Homepage of Mary Baker Art was to include two up-close details so that people could see exactly how painterly the landscape is. And also, so that people can see that up close, the painting is very abstract.

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Apple Trees (Detail)
Oil on Canvas
36″ x 48″
Mary Baker © 2006

One of the things that I’ve found is that when people come into my studio, it’s the landscapes that they resonate with. A lot of the time they don’t even notice the flower paintings or the paintings of the neighborhood.

So what I decided to do was to start more landscapes. At the moment I have started 3 landscapes of the marsh (the marshes being up here in Newburyport, Massachusetts.) In the past, people have loved paintings of the marsh.

It’s taken me a long time to be able to paint paintings of the marsh. Psychologically I needed to paint what was right in front of me. And that was flowers and up close paintings of my neighborhood.

Psychologically, landscapes of the marsh feel as if I have some understanding of “the big picture.” They feel expansive. And all the landscape paintings have paths in them, which I find very interesting. I didn’t plan it that way.

And I’m surprised, because I’m excited about painting the landscapes of the marsh. I thought I would dread it. But it seems that on canvas I’m ready to wander down an expansive path to the unknown.