Lawrence Baker was inspired to become an artist at a very young age. His family would drive down south to visit relatives and Baker found himself losing concept of time as he stared out the backseat window. He became immersed and hypnotized by the panoramic setting of the landscape and it was these car trips that Lawrence felt set him on the path to become an artist.

Lawrence received his BFA, MA, and MFA, from Kent State University and taught visual arts for the Cleveland Municipal School District. His work has been exhibited throughout Northeast Ohio, including at Karamu House Inc., Massillon Museum of Art, Ashtabula Arts Center, and Cleveland Botanical Gardens. His art has also been exhibited at the Springfield Museum of Art, Trumbull Art Gallery and the Beck Center for the Cultural Arts.

Formerly a painter, his present fixed medium is graphite and he focuses on aspects of landscape in his drawings. For inspiration in his own work Lawrence looks to Fairfield Porter, Vincent van Gogh, and Jacob Lawrence. Of his artwork, Lawrence explains that “I am well aware these everyday observations [in nature] are things we as a busy society sometimes take for granted. As a result, I am determined to show the qualified beauty in all of them.”

CAN Journal / Fall 2019 written by Douglas Max Utter