Sit Down With Our #090 Featured Artist

Rosemary Baker

Instagram / @beeswaxarts
Featured Artist / #107ScrawlrBox 

Rosemary Baker began her journey as a watercolor artist at the age of 50. She lives ina multigenerational household in New Jersey with her husband, two grown sons, heroctagenarian father, and four cats. Rosemary has worn many hats in life, including holdinga corporate job in information technology, founding an internet photo greeting cardcompany, learning to be a beekeeper, and working as an EMT for a busy 911 service. She’spassionate about women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ inclusivity, freedom for Ukraine, and creatinga just and equitable world for everyone.

We absolutely adore your cute little paintings! Do you have a favourite animal/creature you like to draw?

Thank you so much! My three favorite animals to paint are foxes, bears, and black cats.

Your paintings look like they’re straight from a storybook! Do you ever give your characters a story while painting them?

My subjects often develop themselves as I go through the process of painting, and sometimes they seem to tell their own stories that I never would have predicted!

Do you work from reference, or are you the kind of artist who draws from memory?

I do a combination of imagination and references. I have paintings on the brain at all times and whenever I close my eyes I am creating ideas in my mind. I usually start deciding which animal I want to paint, develop the facial expression and build out from that.

What was the first ever art supply you ever owned?

I vividly remember a box of 64 Crayola Crayons with a built-in sharpener. I loved taking all of the wax crayons out of the box and arranging and rearranging them according to color. I can still picture the waxy smell and the feeling of lining them all up in a perfect gradient, and marveling at the color names like Cerulean Blue, Goldenrod, and Raw Umber.

What does your work space look like?

A corner of my bedroom is dedicated to my painting studio area. We have four cats so I always have at least one purring art companion with me, and I have learned to keep my supplies covered because these cats would like to drink my rinse water and make paint footprints from my palette. Because I love the watercolor spatter effect, it seems like every surface in the area has a sprinkling of dots of paint, especially little white gouache splatters that somehow always go further than I expect. I have lots of art hanging up, including my most treasured piece, a signed print of Midsommar (2019) by the artist Mu Pan.

Would you say you are an organised artist? Or thrive more in chaos?

Hahaha… I love organization, color coordination, labels, and knowing where everything is, but somehow my space and my process ends up being chaotic and all over the place.

Are you kind of artist who does warm up techniques or do you go straight in there?

Definitely a warmer-upper. My first lines are always a little shaky so I get them out on scrap paper. And I usually test a few color mixes on my palette and paint a few swatches just to get into the flow.

Do you ever find it hard to make time for making personal art?

Of course! I have to be intentional about it. I set deadlines and block off official work time for myself each day. One of the nice things about watercolor is that it can be painted in sections in small chunks of time, so I can make a lot of progress with small slices throughout the day. I also dedicate daily time to the art community on Instagram where I have met so many amazing artists.

What is it about working with watercolours that you love most?

The unlimited colors! I love that I can mix up the exact shades I want, and that even with a limited palette I can paint anything that my imagination comes up with. My favorite is mixing various yellows and blues to create an array of natural greens. Almost every single one of my paintings has green in it and I almost never start with green paint - I always mix it with my blues and yellows. Also, for practical reasons, I appreciate that watercolor takes up very little space and cleans up easily.

If you only had one supply for the rest of your life – what would it be?

What? Impossible question! If I had to only have one thing it would be my trusty pencil. I’m glad this is not a real scenario because I’m very attached to my paint, brushes, masking fluid, painter’s tape, and paper.