DEBORAH BAKER, PhD
Deborah Lee Baker is a Spanish-American abstract painter and clinical psychologist based in Los Angeles, CA. Her colorful and emotional paintings favor reusing and reiterating particular techniques, color combinations, and themes while continuing to evolve new expression. Given her educational and professional background, it is not surprising that psychological themes permeate Baker's work. She enjoys changing perspectives within a painting, or zooming in on particular details, actions we might apply to our own lives while in psychotherapy. In paintings, she might allow the history of various layers to shine through the top layer to remind us of the origin of things, and how this history has impacted the present.
Deborah Lee Baker has shown a painting in every Mirrors of the Mind show since inception. Her paintings have appeared in numerous TV shows and a few commercials. You can see more of her work online at www.deborahleebaker.com.
Serenissima
(Acrylic on canvas, 12" x 12 ")
My intention for this painting was to celebrate a close friend's birthday, by sending her blessings of "moving forward with ease and joy." The painting was meant to evoke watery, light tranquil scenes, as well as symbols of water transportation: boat, submarine, surfboard, fish. When my friend saw it, she said it reminded her of the architecture and canals in Venice, Italy, where she grew up, and was later married. It remains her favorite city in the world. Venice is nicknamed "Serenissima," meaning the most serene; it seemed a fitting name for this painting.