VOS BESOINS
by Abby Elise Baker
2024
acrylic on raw cotton canvas and ornate vintage frame
While participating in the 2024 Columbus Arts Festival, I live painted Vos Besoins to help connect with the Columbus community and showcase how I create my paintings from start to finish. Over the course of three days I worked on this piece, and had experiences I will never forget. With this painting, I knew I wanted to share her inspiration and the impact she has had on me, so I wrote my very first blog post. Now, I am not a writer BUT this artwork needed to be written about!
FANÉ
by Abby Elise Baker
2024
acrylic on raw cotton canvas and
ornate frame
Worthington this year (2024) added a new Night Market that runs every 3rd Thursday of the month for the summer season. And knowing that they are #1 in their farmers markets, I knew I wanted to be apart of this new concept! After a few months of participating, I unexpectedly had some health issues where I was getting extreme migraines and vertigo, which made markets impossible to attend. In the midst of these episodes, I had to really think about how I could keep going but also be easier on my body and mind. Since art is always a sense of calmness for me, and it was about the only thing I could do while sick... I decided to live paint at the remaining markets for the year. And Fané was the first painting I created when returning back to the Worthington NIght Market.
JUST DANDY
by Abby Elise Baker
2024
acrylic on raw cotton canvas and
ornate frame
When telling someone you are "Just Dandy", there is an underlying feeling that is being masked by the joyful smile you put on. While this painting has bright blues and the field of dainty flowers, it also has an underlying sense of sadness and gloom. It's abstract and expressive brush strokes play with the idea that this field just came out of a rainy day and blue skies are on the horizon. This play of emotions is meant to relate to its viewer. While some see a happy painting, others see the depth of sadness that is being masked. Either is right, and all is represented here.
ROSES ARE RED
by Abby Elise Baker
2024
acrylic on raw cotton canvas and
ornate frame
This piece was a commission for a client in Columbus, Ohio, designed to complement a mustard-yellow living room and celebrate a deeply personal connection. The artwork, a bold yet tender floral arrangement, was created as a birthday gift from the client to his wife.
Using mood boards to guide the color palette and composition, I sought to balance quirky, romantic, and modern elements. The single red rose amidst a sea of pink blooms serves as the heart of the piece—a tribute to the wife’s uniqueness and the special way she stands out to her husband.
I strive to create works that tell stories, intertwining color, texture, and symbolism to evoke both personal and universal emotions. This painting is not only a celebration of love but also a statement of individuality and connection, made richer by the intimate context of its creation.
SALTWATER ROSES
by Abby Elise Baker
2025
acrylic on raw cotton canvas and
ornate frame
This painting is a deeply emotional piece, capturing a mix of contradictions: beauty and pain, hope and doubt. I envisioned roses being tossed into water—a moment suspended between growth and destruction. It’s almost as if the water is nourishing them, yet the salt is destined to destroy them.
They drift on the surface, caught in a battle against their inevitable demise. Their vivid colors and scattered positions radiate a quiet strength, almost as if they’re refusing to sink without a fight. There’s something hopeful in their resistance, a kind of willpower to endure despite the turbulent waters around them.
In this moment, the roses are neither fully consumed nor entirely free—they’ve just been thrown in, caught in that fragile space before the waves decide their fate.
UNE JOURNÉE À PARIS
by Abby Elise Baker
2024
acrylic on raw cotton canvas and
ornate frame
This painting captures the essence of a cold winter day in Paris. A gloomy sky, the dim silhouette of the Hôtel de Ville, a solitary cyclist, and the unlit extravagance of the large streetlights together evoke a quiet, melancholic charm.
