Mette Baker

About Mette

Life's been good to me! Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, I enjoyed sketching as a young schoolgirl.  This interest, however, got put "on the back burner" as I studied to become a lawyer which lead to the Danish Foreign Service.  Several countries, a husband and the joy of raising four sons ensued before I returned to my childhood passion.  That was in the mid-80s in Australia where I studied  at the Canberra School of Art.

With the boys all having "flown the coop", I now live with my husband and our dog in a large, but cozy, log home half an hour outside of Ottawa. Surrounded by forest and water, we get to experience the beauty and occasional challenges of Canadian nature and the changing seasons up-close. A wonderful airy, bright studio right in the house allows me work to my hearts content day or night. Visitors are always welcome;

About My Painting

Quite simply, for me painting is sheer enjoyment.  I paint whenever I can.  I love the process itself and enjoy capturing a scene that for one reason or another - typically because of its light, colour and texture - has made an impression on me.  Right from the beginning I have painted in oils and still love to work in that medium.  In recent years however, I have also discovered the soft pastels and am excited about the "closeness" and the pure colours offered by this medium.

Landscapes enable me to celebrate the change of seasons and the incredible beauty  which surrounds us. Any one of many different qualities in a scene may catch my attention: the play of light and shadow, the varying stark or subtle seasonal colours, or maybe the special mood that comes across at different times of the day.

I have always loved flowers - fields of wild flowers, profuse gardens or filling a house with their beauty.  Painting flowers is therefore a most enjoyable extension of this passion.  Mostly, I paint them where they grow and truly belong - to me that is where they are displayed at their best.