Artist Portfolio: John Baeder

Who doesn't love magic. Reality and illusion. The "Wow Factor,” what the photorealists are all about. We push reality, bringing ourselves to our image using the photograph as a steppingstone. A visual note akin to writers who use notes for their text. The painting enhanced from tidbits of information collected together to make an image, a total, whole painting. For me, tiny areas of abstraction—when pulled away, a representational painting. I've always been fascinated with faux objects. Fruit, flowers, vegetables. And food items, too. The real look fake, the fake look real. The eye is fooled, just the way the illusionists work. With that fascination, I've always been enamored with traditional still-life painters. The plethora of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Dutch masters. Chardin, the brilliant Frenchman. Luis Melendez, the young and equally magical Spaniard. The personal and intimate kitchen-windowsill series of my paintings from 1997 pushed still life in another direction with paint. As photographs, they would have appeared boring. Painting faux elements does not work; their subtle nuances show well only in a photograph where the magic resides. Traditional faux elements were not enough. Since commonplace objects are part of the traditional makeup, I decided to use many "commonplace" objects—my 1:24-scale automobile and truck collection. Why not a visual jolt? Their presence and contradiction push the tradition further. All still-life artists used books of some kind; they were lying around the homestead, too. I use books as form and color, but more as biographical statement. Often there are hidden messages within them. More fun for the viewer. More fun for me. The most important element borrowed from all the past masters is the use of northern light. Fortunately, I was able to have this advantage. It made for a purity and integrity that followed the old-style techniques. Taking from painting inspiration and returning to the photograph is an exercise in liberation, like the old-master painters, taking advantage of what's in front of you unconsciously and consciously turning that fixation into art.