By Dylan Reubenking
dylan@yelmonline.com
A piece of Yelm is included in Manhattan Arts International’s online exhibition “The Healing Power of Art: Love, Peace, Unity & Hope.”
Deborah Ann Baker’s acrylic piece, titled “Serenity,” which depicts Lake Lawrence, is included in the exhibition from now through Jan. 31, 2024.
She painted the 14-by-16 piece on canvas while sitting on the bank of Lake Lawrence near her Yelm home. Baker said the artwork conveys the peace she experienced on the lake.
“It’s very relaxing to look at, and I’ve gotten several comments from people about how they could feel themselves on a boat out on the lake,” she said of “Serenity,” which took her about a day to complete. “I just love this area. The lake is very calming. That’s why I decided to settle here. Washington is absolutely beautiful.
Baker has lived in the area for 12 years and Washington state for more than 30 years. She is a published author, independent artist and illustrator who has instructed adults and teens in acrylics for nearly two decades. She also worked as a psychotherapist after earning her PhD in psychology.
She discovered the Manhattan Arts International’s exhibition through reading an open call for an artist, and the theme of how art can be healing and peaceful resonated with her. She decided between two pieces of art, “Serenity” and an abstract piece called “Love Blooms,” and chose the former for the exhibition.
“It’s very exciting to have my work in the exhibition. Recognition of a piece always feels wonderful, and it leaves with the idea of why you’re doing this,” Baker said. “I’m doing this to present more love and joy and beauty in the world, and so having that recognized in the world is the biggest joy.”
The exhibition presents art by 57 artists from around the world working in different styles and mediums. It opened online on Nov. 27 and is open to view through Jan. 31 at https://www.healing-power-of-art.org/the-healing-power-of-art-love-peace-unity-hope-2023-exhibition/.
Baker said that her approach for painting, or any type of artwork, is to meditate and “enter the void,” using whatever comes into her mind as the beginning of her next piece.
“My process is I usually get a feeling or a color or a scene, something evokes something. It’s kind of nebulous, so I just start with blocking in some colors on the canvas, and I open myself up to the feeling,” she said. “As I’m putting color onto the canvas, it starts to reveal itself.”
Before becoming an accomplished artist, she enjoyed drawing as a child growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was told by her third-grade teacher that she had no talent and that she would never become an artist because she painted a tree purple.
“I was squashed. I still did things at home, but I never showed them to anybody,” Baker said. “I tried to bring it back into my practice as a psychotherapist, and I found it was very healing for the clients. So I got back into that creativeness, and I’ve been painting now for about 35 years.”
Baker retired two years ago to pursue her art as much as she could. She most recently worked at the Timberland Library, where she taught acrylic classes. She hopes to continue creating art and proving her third-grade teacher wrong.
“I wish I could take that third-grade teacher to lunch to tell her that she gave me a gift because it was something that I had to grow from,” she said.
To find Baker’s art collections, visit https://deborahann-baker.pixels.com/.
