“I aim to communicate to people through different layers of meaning in my work, the most obvious of which young children can understand and the more subtle, older readers.” (Jeannie Baker)
Contextual Statement
Jeannie Baker is an Australian author, artist and filmmaker (Baker, n.d). She was born in England but lives in Sydney and is internationally renowned for her work (Walker Books Australia, 2007). Baker went to art college and studied art for five years (Walker Books UK, 2008). Originally she started off as a painter but loved the use of different textures so moved on to her unique use of collage (Walker Books Australia, 2007). The art of collage involves piecing materials together to form a new whole. A collage can be entirely made from the same material (eg.paper) or encompass a number of different materials. Jeannie Baker uses a range of different materials such as earth, knitted wool and feathers (Walker Books Australia, 2007). She begins her artwork by drawing her ideas and then works on creating the collage with a focus on texture and colour (Walker Books Australia, 2007).
Baker can be seen as highly valued in visual arts education, particularly at a primary school level, due to the fact she uses her collage in the form of picture story books. Her well known books include: Mirror, Window, Belonging and Where the Forest Meets the Sea (Baker, n.d). Due to her creative and very unique style, Baker’s picture books can be explored by students and help them gain greater understandings of the art of collage. Furthermore, although often wordless, Baker’s books often contain important themes and messages often associated with an environmental focus (Walker Books UK, 2008). Students can reflect and interpret Baker’s key messages and themes, gaining deep insights into how a picture can literally tell a thousand words. In this website, four Visual Arts lessons regarding Jeannie Baker are outlined using AusVels standards. These lessons incorporate the dimensions Creating and Making and Exploring and Responding. They focus on Baker's books Window and Mirror and explore the concepts of collage and cultural artwork.
More Info on Jeannie Baker can be found at: http://www.jeanniebaker.com/index.htm
Baker can be seen as highly valued in visual arts education, particularly at a primary school level, due to the fact she uses her collage in the form of picture story books. Her well known books include: Mirror, Window, Belonging and Where the Forest Meets the Sea (Baker, n.d). Due to her creative and very unique style, Baker’s picture books can be explored by students and help them gain greater understandings of the art of collage. Furthermore, although often wordless, Baker’s books often contain important themes and messages often associated with an environmental focus (Walker Books UK, 2008). Students can reflect and interpret Baker’s key messages and themes, gaining deep insights into how a picture can literally tell a thousand words. In this website, four Visual Arts lessons regarding Jeannie Baker are outlined using AusVels standards. These lessons incorporate the dimensions Creating and Making and Exploring and Responding. They focus on Baker's books Window and Mirror and explore the concepts of collage and cultural artwork.
More Info on Jeannie Baker can be found at: http://www.jeanniebaker.com/index.htm
Figure 1: Jeannie Baker. From “Jeannie Baker – artist, author film-maker”. (n.d). http://www.jeanniebaker.com/index.htm
Figure 2: Creating Collage. From “Jeannie Baker – artist, author film-maker”. (n.d). http://www.jeanniebaker.com/index.htm