Primarily a plein air landscape painter, Joe Baker works in oils, watercolors and pastels with occasional pieces in acrylics, charcoal and prints. Recent paintings exhibited include subjects from the Berkshires, the Maine coast and the Adirondacks, as well as material from travels to Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Baja California.

Joe’s vocation is computer programming – custom software and websites – and he designed, created and maintains websites for the Kent Art Association (www.kentart.org) and the Housatonic Valley Art League (www.hvart.org), including developing the 2004 www.HousatonicRiverSummer.org site, among others. See his website at www.bakerworks.com. Prior to this career, he was for many years an instrument-maker. His violins, violas da gamba, and hardanger fiddles are owned and played by muscians on three continents, as well as being included in university and museum collections. He has a BA in biology from Princeton University and worked for five years as a cowboy in Wyoming before moving to the Berkshires in 1974.

Joe Baker is an artist member of the Housatonic Valley Art League (formerly the Sheffield Art League) and an Elected Artist member of the Kent Art Association.

Teachers: Joan Griswold (oil), Leonard Weber (watercolor), Barbara Doncaster (watercolor), Krista Edlund (abstract acrylic), Philip Howie (figure drawing, sculpture), Julie Shapiro (oil), June Parker (pastel).

Workshops: Edward Minchin (watercolor & acrylic), Frank Federico (pastel, oil), David Rohn (oil, watercolor), Dominic DiStefano (watercolor), Dennis Sheehan (oil).

Awards:
   July 2005 Sheffield Art League Juried Summer Show; 3rd Prize.
   Aug 2005: Sheffield Art League Member Show; 3rd Prize
   Sep 2005: Kent Art Association Fall Show; John T. Mott Award for Marine Painting
   Aug 2006: Housatonic Valley Art League Member Show; Honorable Mention
   Aug 2007: Housatonic Valley Art League Member Show; 3rd Prize

Shows and Exhibitions:
   2008: Kent Art Association Members’, Spring Shows, Kent, CT
   2008: Housatonic Valley Art League Juried Summer Show, Sheffield, MA
   2007: Kent Art Association Members’, Spring, President's, Elected Artists' Shows, Kent, CT
   2007: Housatonic Valley Art League Juried & Member Shows, Sheffield, MA
   2006: Kent Art Association Members’, Spring, President's Shows, Kent, CT
   2006: Housatonic Valley Art League Juried Summer Show, Sheffield, MA
   2005: Kent Art Association Members’, Spring, Elected Artist, President's and Fall Shows, Kent, CT
   2005: Sheffield Art League Juried Summer & Member's Shows, Sheffield, MA
   2004: Kent Art Association Members’, Spring, Fall and President’s Shows, Kent, CT
   2004: Sheffield Art League “Housatonic River Summer” Show & Member Show, Sheffield, MA
   2003: Kent Art Association Members’ and Spring Shows, Kent, CT
   1998 – 2003: Sheffield Art League Juried and Member Shows, Sheffield, MA
   1995 – 1999: Joan Griswold Studio shows, Great Barrington, MA
   1994 – 1995: Hudson Valley Watercolor Society shows, Hudson, NY & Kingston, NY
   1993 – 1995: Monterey Arts Council Summer Shows, Monterey, MA

Publications:
   Sanctuary, The Journal of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Nov/Dec 1996.

Joe Baker's paintings are held in private and corporate collections.