In 2000, after 25 years teaching English in high schools in England and middle school in California, Ann Baldwin decided to take the plunge and try forging a career as an artist. “I had been painting passionately since 1991 and was already exhibiting widely and selling my work, so it wasn’t such a hard decision to make. The hardest part was giving up a profession I really loved, where I was surrounded by people, for one where I essentially worked alone for most of the day,” she says.
How would you describe your work?
When people ask what kind of work I do, I always tell them I’m a painter. The next question is usually ‘What do you paint?’ to which I’ll reply ‘I’m a mixed media artist, so I include a variety of content - people, nature, abstract patterns’. What medium do I prefer? Currently it’s photography. I’ve been incorporating my own photographs into my paintings for a few years now, but in the last two years I’ve been focusing more and more on photography as a medium in itself.
What are your favourite mediums and subjects?
I love to shoot macros which look very abstract - bare winter trees, insects, birds, street scenes, architecture and seascapes... In fact, I’m currently creating composites by blending and masking multiple photographs in Photoshop. It takes me even longer than it does to create a piece with physical materials like paint, oil pastels and collage. Some of the photographs are printed on watercolour paper, mounted on boxes and given a coating of melted wax to create a more mysterious atmosphere. I’m still doing regular mixed media painting, of course... I like to mix images and ideas from England, where I lived until my mid-40’s and where I spend two to three months each year, with others from Northern California, where I live now. It says something about my divided self.
You took up painting after working in academia for much of your life. May we ask how old you were by that time because it would be nice to use this information to inspire others in their dreams.
By that time I was already 56 years old and needed a change to keep my mind active. I think many people who’ve been in the same career for a long time get burned out. This fortunately didn’t happen to me, as I left as soon as I could feel myself getting stale. I needed a new challenge, a risk. When I meet people in my art classes who are past 50 and longing to make art full-time, I tell them to be sure they understand the reality. It is not one long shining romance! At the moment you love making art in your spare time and it’s a real treat. When it’s a job, there’s a lot of bread-and-butter, repetitive stuff that has to be done - mailings, book-keeping, press releases, deliveries. It’s important to have supportive people around you. My husband is my rock. Without his help and encouragement, I’d have given up long ago... However, I never once thought of giving it up and getting a regular job. I had already been painting and selling my work for several years before I quit English teaching, then I taught part-time for a while. This allowed me to ‘test the waters’ and be sure that I wanted to take the plunge. So I guess my advice is - if you want it enough and you’re prepared to work really hard, go for it!
Describe an average working day if you have such a thing? Are you quite disciplined and nine to five in your approach or are you more ‘moved by the muse’?
During my first five years as a full-time artist I was extremely disciplined. I would try to do all my office work in the mornings and paint, or drive to see shows and artists in the afternoons and evenings. I was working a 60 hour week easily, sometimes more. I’d get frustrated at times when there wasn’t much time to paint. I prefer to be in the studio for long hours uninterrupted, so that I can really get into the work. I listen to public radio or play classical music while I paint. My present (purpose-built) studio has lots of windows on three sides overlooking rolling hills with herds of cows, but until four years ago I was working in my garage where the light was terrible. I didn’t care, except when it got too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer. When I moved to my new studio I couldn’t paint for six months - the room was so new and clean. Once I’d thrown paint all over the floor, my creative block cleared! Now, I have to confess, I don’t work in nearly such a disciplined fashion. Some days I’ll go out shooting all day and spend a whole week creating my images on the computer or incorporating them into paintings. Other days, I’ll work in the office in the morning, then go to the gym or do some gardening later.
Many people dream of making their living from their creativity but what’s it really like? Are there pros and cons?
It is one thing working at a job you know really well and in which you have already achieved a certain amount of success. It’s quite another leaping into the business of art... Making your living from your creativity is a strange situation. So much of the work involved is not by nature creative, but you can make it so. Whether I’m sending out e-mails or designing a postcard announcement, shopping for supplies or setting up my booth at an art fair, I can turn it into a something imaginative. The biggest disadvantage to creative work is that not everyone will love it as much as you do. You have to develop a thick skin against the slings and arrows. I have had every insult you could imagine hurled at my art - not usually at my face! People don’t always realise you’re right behind them when they make adverse comments. It honestly doesn’t bother me anymore. As long as enough people get pleasure out of what I do, I’m satisfied. When I’m feeling down or blocked, I remind myself of all the homes in which my paintings are hanging and being enjoyed.
Teaching and instructing from face-to-face classes and through DVDs seem to be an important element of your professional life now. Was the transition to being a teacher of art rather than the artist easier for
you because of your history?
At one stage I was teaching art several hours a week at a local art centre. I loved the contact with aspiring artists. They inspired me! I saw some wonderful work and any of those artists have gone on to achieve great success. I had to cut down on my teaching because I wasn’t spending enough time in the studio. Now I teach mainly through Art & Soul (www.artandsoulretreat.com [artandsoulretreat.com]) two to three times a year and small groups of four to six in my own studio from time to time. I still get a kick out of these workshops, especially watching total beginners gain confidence.
If someone tells me she isn’t really an artist, I encourage her to believe she is. Anyone can be an artist if they allow themselves to do what comes naturally. The kind of art I make is not at all what I aspired to make when I started. I wanted to be a classical landscape painter... en route I discovered other talents and ideas. I have never followed fashion or painted what the dealers or the interior designers wanted.
Recently a fine art publisher contacted me wanting me to create work in my own style but with prescribed content and color schemes. No way. I don’t even do many commissions unless I can get to know the buyers and their homes first. If they seem to be in sync with my own sensibilities, we can make it work. Otherwise, I have to let them down gently. The worst commission I ever did was a repeat of a small painting made much larger. What looks good small doesn’t necessarily translate into a large piece. Being approached to make DVDs by Creative Catalyst in Portland, Oregon, was very exciting. Now that I teach fewer classes, it is satisfying to me that artists all over the world can learn my techniques through these videos. I have just recorded a new one for release this (USA) summer. At the time I made the recording, I was suffering from bad asthma and a dislocated jaw! You can imagine how often the cameras had to stop rolling while I coughed and groaned. But they’re such great people, they put me at my ease and made sure it would all turn out fine.
What are the key points/advice you share with students in your classes?
There are a couple of things:
1. Don’t worry about the ‘mistakes’ you make along the way. Covering them up is easy with mixed media. Only you know the history of your painting.
2. Don’t even think of judging the success of a painting before several days have passed. Hide it away then look at it with fresh eyes. If it looks bad, start another. Don’t think that every painting has to be good. The old masters were quite capable of painting badly.
What’s the creative scene like in San Francisco? Are you a member of any artist groups? Are there galleries/spaces/groups you like to hang out with?
The art scene in San Francisco and the Bay Area in general is always buzzing. You could go to an opening every night of the week if you were so inclined. I now live 40 miles from the city, so I’m not as involved as I used to be. I’m a member of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, one of my favourite places. There are also a lot of galleries on Geary Street which show many different kinds of work, some of it cutting-edge. I like to be challenged in my art viewing. In the wine country, near where I live now, most of the art is more conservative, but places like Benicia, Berkeley and Oakland, which offer more unusual fare, are not far away. Art funding is being withdrawn at an alarming rate here, so many of the important non-profits are struggling to survive. Art doesn’t even appear on the school curriculum in public high schools except as an elective. In the current economic climate, more and more galleries are going out of business, and some that are not have turned to a more ‘dumbed down’ kind of art.
Tell us about your plans for 2008 and beyond. Can readers in Australia and NZ buy DVDs from your website?
I’m currently writing a book, ‘Creative Painting Workshop for Mixed Media Artists’, to be published by Quarry Books in March 2009. It’s a lot of work in quite a short space of time - eight months. Of course, I’m not just the writer; I’m also the artist demonstrating my techniques. I’m the official photographer for all the artwork and studio set-ups too so it has been quite demanding.In the immediate future I look forward to Teaching collage at the Art & Soul Retreat in Portland, Oregan in October. I hope to be exhibiting again at the Sausalito Art Festival, one of the biggest in the USA, in early September. I will be spending much of my summer in Dorset, England, where I’ll be photographing as much as I can. I am currently putting together a portfolio of photographic collages in the hope of exhibiting them together some time next year. I am re-vamping my website to include galleries of my photos, as well as my mixed media work. Meanwhile, I am concentratingon meeting the deadline for my book.
Contact: Ann Baldwin
Based:San Franciso (USA)
Website: www.annbaldwin.com [annbaldwin.com]
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