Richard Baker

#reading #novels I'm enjoying discovering C.P.Snow. I read Corridors of Power a year ago. Currently nearly finished Homecomings. I think I will read them all in random order as they crop up in charity shops. Perhaps I needed to grow old to appreciate them.

On the spot Cambridge watercolour drawing from 1995 with the Senate House and Gonville and Caius in the distance and Bene't Street going off to the right. Sold a long time ago.

An old oil on canvas of mine from 1988. The dragon is a lovely Chinese (I think) embroidery on silk bought for pennies from a jumble sale decades ago. The Chinese lanterns were from the garden but haven't been able to get them growing in recent years. I've planted some new seedlings this year 🤞

Choosing a hat, pastel 2002 (based on the Cambridge market hat stall but with imaginative additions)

Sleeping, pencil 1981

Some supermarkets in Thailand use banana leaves to wrap fresh food, replacing disposable plastics. This biodegradable alternative makes use of agricultural byproducts and reduces the environmental impact of conventional packaging.

Very old pencil still life of electric guitars and cymbals.

A cartoon I did for a Cambridge Drawing Society newsletter some while ago, faithfully depicting a Private View held in Cambridge Guildhall.

This watercolour is from a sketching visit to Toseland in Cambridgeshire in 2021 where I painted the manor house nestling among the trees. I was in the company of these magnificent horses, curious about what I was doing. I still have this watercolour. #watercolour #watercolor #enpleinair

This is a Cambridge ink and watercolour drawing from 1990 which I had forgotten about. It is a view along the Cam with Magdalene College on the right. I found several photos stuck to some card and this is a scan of one of them. It must have sold ages ago but I can't remember where it went.

Mixed flowers on the patio, dry pastel with touches of oil pastel (now on my son's wall)

Lily pond at Fowlmere, pastel 2015.

Evening punting by Darwin College, Cambridge, pastel

Lucy and Katy with a rather macabre family heirloom, Indian ink and wash 1981.

G asleep, pastel and charcoal pencil from 50 years ago.

My watercolour drawing of a crowd mingling in front of Clare College gate prior to a May Ball (sold). #Cambridge #MayWeek

Another pastel from 1998: a view from Grantchester Meadows.

The Cat and the Fiddle, a pastel from 1998 (sold). The dear little cat came from an animal rescue sanctuary and was very nervous but lived a long and happy life before passing away through natural causes.

One of my Cambridge May Week scenes, gouache, Daler/Rowney FW ink and oil pastel. Dated 2014 but it was a reworking of an older one (people were more likely to dress like that in the '90s). It's quite small and I don't think it was ever exhibited.

Watercolour sketch of flag irises.

Swan Meadow Pond in Saffron Walden, mixed media work. Saffron Walden is a beautiful town in Essex and we used to visit regularly. Not somewhere we can get to easily now I no longer drive but train rides to Ely and Norwich make up for it.

Hat stall in All Saints' Garden, Cambridge, pastel 2011. #pastel #hats

Large pencil drawing of plants growing down the bottom of the garden including gourds, teasels and cucumbers

Flowers growing in a container on a garden table (mostly pelargoniums and fuchsia) - pastel.

Still life from 9 years ago, oil on canvas, with a vivid background which is actually a very zany summer shirt, an African carved seated figure with a flat hat, fruits and gourds plus what I think are a couple of Armenian cucumbers #stilllife #oiloncanvas

Blue pumpkin with a brass Buddha figure, figs and a persimmon, pastel still life on a green cloth.

I've always wandered around with a camera and I'm particularly pleased with my ones of Portsmouth in the 1960s. I took these two in Woolworths from the balcony, probably using the Russian 35mm camera I had then (a Cosmic 35). Fascinating details from so long ago. #Portsmouth #PortsmouthUK

Quick portrait of a model at a life drawing session, watercolour drawn directly with the brush #watercolour #watercolor #portrait

I updated the "about me" page on Flickr as my website is now so antiquated. If you are interested here's the link. Flickr has always been a very useful place to store photos of paintings and the link should open without having to sign up. www.flickr.com/people/baker...

Young women out on the town, watercolour and Indian ink

L drawing in the King's art studio surrounded by bags (from about 1991)

Pastel portrait of an old friend sitting on our sofa from quite a long time ago. #pastel #portrait #lifedrawn

Another version of the four musicians at a pub table (in this one the woman on the right is singing). This is gouache, oil pastel and Daler/Rowney acrylic ink. I've kept all these mixed media works and hope to produce some more. There was one of a guitarist with his dog that wasn't finished.

Musicians playing at an Irish music session in a Cambridge pub, gouache, oil pastel and Daler/Rowney acrylic ink. #Irishmusic #jigsandreels #mixedmedia

Musicians in the Beaconsfield pub, Cambridge, gouache, oil pastel and Daler/Rowney acrylic ink. #Irishmusic #fiddles #jigsandreels#guinness

Musicians in the pub, gouache, ink and oil pastel. #Irishreels #fiddles #guinness #whistles #guitars #flutes

Southsea beach, watercolour and Indian ink 1991 - just a sketchbook memory but has been hanging on our wall for a long time. Happy days!

Still life watercolour, various objects with heritage tomatoes, star fish and gourds. I did a whole series of tabletop still life paintings that summer of 2020 when we were in Covid lockdown. #art #watercolour #stilllife

Fulbourn Manor, watercolour drawing on a hot day not very long ago. Sorry, I've made it look like it's falling down. I'm sure it isn't.