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Jeannie Baker | |
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| Born | Jeannie Baker 1950 (age 74–75) Croydon, London, England |
| Occupation | Artist, author, film maker |
| Nationality | English Australian |
| Period | 1975–present |
| Genre | Collage constructions and children's picture books |
| Website | |
| www.jeanniebaker.com | |
Jeannie Baker is an English-born Australian children's picture book author and artist, known for her collage illustrations and her concern for the natural environment. Her books have won many awards.
Baker was born in London, England [1] on 2 November 1950. She studied graphic design at Croydon School of Art and Brighton Polytechnic, earning honours in art and design, before making her home in Australia in 1975. [1] In the early 1980s, she lived in New York on an Australia Council Visual Arts Board residency. [1] Her book, Home in the Sky (1984), was developed there. [1]
Baker developed the illustrations for her first book, Grandfather, during her final year at Brighton College of Art. [2]
Baker uses a variety of textures in her works. "When I can, I like to use textures from the actual materials portrayed, such as bark, feathers, cracked paint, earth, knitted wool and rusty tin… so that their natural textures become an integral part of the work". [3] Baker’s collages illustrate her picture books, but also stand individually as works of art. They are part of many public art collections and have been exhibited in galleries in London, New York and throughout Australia. [4]
Baker is the author-artist of a number of award-winning picture books. Among them is Where The Forest Meets the Sea (about the Daintree Rainforest), a Boston Globe-Horn Honour Book, and the recipient of an International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour Award and a Friends of the Earth Award in Great Britain. Window was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in Great Britain and both Window and Mirror won the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award. [5] Baker was the IBBY Australian nominee for the prestigious 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration. [6]
Her work focuses on a diverse range of issues including: family, society, sustainability, the environment, car-free urban spaces, urban sprawl, land degradation, a sense of wonder, nature deficit disorder, introduced pests, Australian outback and wildlife.
Baker was nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2021 [7] and again in 2022. [8]
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