2022,  What a wild ride it has been.     Welcoming in 2023 with hopes of creating a lot more art.  We ended the year with a small fire out side in the backyard,     Listening to far off fireworks and the silence of the night.  It was a very intentional evening. I also completed my last painting of 2022.   One of the exciting things about 2022 for me was i sold my first international painting.  It resides in Granada Spain!   i learned never to use USPS for international sales.     It did make it eventually unscathed!

This blog has been active now since April of 2014.   That is nearly 8 years.    So crazy how the time goes.   As i begin a new year i renew my intention that is stated on my website.   I hope to spark joy, to elevate and to cause a pause and a ponder.   My desire is that my viewer will hesitate, question and feel touched in a tangible  way.  

As always I am grateful for the support shown in all of its many forms.  Wishing you all a healthy, happy and peaceful 2023.  May we recognize the blessings, accept the shortcomings and feel the love

xo
​Stacia

i have been returning to the studio and have been feeling great about it.   i am in an abstract mood and am planning an abstract series and this is the first in that series and it sold very quickly.  I love the rich color palate with an autumn essence,  My favorite season of the year and it has been a beautiful fall this year in Colorado. 

My blog has been a work in progress since 2014!  That amazes me.   I love how it is a collection of my thoughts over quite a long time.   Getting back to my blog . 

I tested positive for COVID today for the first time.   

Stay tuned for new work and new inspirations.  If you want to receive my blog posts you can sign up on my website email list at  staciabaker.com.

I am grateful for you support and for appreciating my paintings .  xo
​ 
​ #staciaspaintingstruthbetold #staciaspaintings

​My last blog post was 04/2022.   That is not that long ago. I was just revisiting my blog and I have to say although I have been slacking at it of late,  I am totally impressed!    I have published almost 50 blog posts between April 2014 and now ( it is crazy that is over 9 years!  )

   I think i would like to put it into a book.    Just random thoughts but nevertheless a collection of thoughts and art.   

I would like to continue my blog.     So here we have a start .   Thinking about rainbow sherbet and rubber tires.    Who suggested that name for a painting that I did.?  I am trying to find a copy of it but today rainbow sherbet and rubber tires underlies this painting .    I love the power of transformation .    

We are upon the seasonal change.  Summer is beginning to wane but is clinging tight which is welcome.    

It is time to go home to Maine for two weeks!  I am beyond ready.    

Hello all!

It has been several months since my last blog post and I have not been nearly as regular with my blog in the last couple of years but today deserves an announcement!

I had my first international painting sale today.   This painting titled Mercy Me is 36 x 48 inches and was SO MUCH FUN to paint!

She is on the way to Granada Spain.  Honestly if only i could have personally delivered it .

I have been painting now for 10 years.    As many of you know, I started while going through chemotherapy for breast cancer. Painting is the best thing that came out of that messed up time.     I am so in love with painting and love connecting with others by way of my artwork.   

I appreciate all the support that ya'll have offered me.    

Spring is springing here in Western Colorado and it is a welcome transition.   
​ Covid has taken a back seat to sad stories coming from Ukraine and across our Southern border.   i am not sure what the answer is to any of it but my task will be to send more beauty out into the universe in any way that i can

Hoping that you personally are also enjoying the breaking spring.   

love you, 
​Stacia

--When I can be the witness, all manner of miracles occur-- old wounds heal, the past reveals itself to be released, present dramas play themselves out without sinking emotional talons into my soft skin.     

The witness welcomes truth and dares to meet reality on its own terms.     It is the ground in which the seeds of transformation take root and finally flower.   

When the witness is awake, the lake of mind is still, and in that mirrored surface, I see my own true face.

                                                                                            Danna Faulds

  
t has been 7 months since my last blog post.   In the past i  had a very regular monthly post and perhaps that may come again but for now it is when the feeling strikes.  I love that i have the register of those posts from April 2014-today!!!!

 I just had the best month of sales ever !   OCTOBER.    I sold 5 paintings in one month and several were very large paintings. 

  That makes my heart so happy .  I have recently bought several new canvases and some new paint.   With regards to paint, i have been on a mission for the last year to use up old paint and i have limited myself in terms of buying new materials.    I am in a mood to declutter in general. 

That being said, i am ready to go on a major paint shopping spree soon. !!!    My hope is to get into my studio a lot in the next couple of months .  It is hard to believe the holidays are almost upon us but for us the holidays are pretty simple considering. 

Kelly and I have been busy working with a consultant from Denver who is helping us with a multidisciplinary approach to planning for the future for Lucas.    Navigating the "system" and all of its intricacies is complex but essential i am learning.   We are in the process of putting together a team of people.   An attorney, a financial planner well versed in the planning in the setting of disability , a disability advisor ( from a mother's perspective ) and  people who care about Lucas,    

It is daunting and overwhelming and feels like a college course!!!  So that is where i am putting a ton of energy at the moment.   We have a pile of assignments.    Overall , i am confident we are taking the right steps while at the same time it pulls on my heart so deeply.   It is very hard!

This week i revisited a couple of my first paintings on FB.   i took my Be Brave , Be Bold painting which is definitely a classic painting for me as it was possibly my first.  i digitally randomly edited it and loved how it came out.  It is kind of crazy/spacy/out there but.......I will share it here.  

I am so amazed by the fall that has gone on for forever.... My favorite time of year.   There is a feeling of winter on the doorstep.  I hope that you all are healthy and as always thank you for your support.

May we all Be Brave and Be Bold .   

xo Stacia

I have been on a mission to use up the paint that is in my studio.     For me being in an art store is like being in a candy store.    I love buying paint and brushes.   At the onset of the pandemic i made a commitment to myself to use up old paint and not to buy new paint unless i knew distinctly that it was a color that I needed.  i have bought paint here and there but i have done a pretty good job sticking to this commitment.  Last night i set out to clean my studio and to organize my paints so that i really know what i have and need.

One thing I have been more and more clear about are what my colors are.    What colors am I drawn to?   What colors am I not really drawn to?   I  am getting very clear about the colors that make up my unique palette.   Some of my paints have gotten really old because they are not the ones i tend to reach for.    I got rid of those paints that i have not touched in a couple of years.  It was an interesting exercise as i thought about my own unique style.   

I ended up with a clean surface upon which to start anew.   I bought this table at an antique store a few years back.  It has a glass top and it is my favorite surface ( palette) to work on.   When it comes to color mixing, my preference is to mix on this surface or directly on the canvas itself.   I do not mix colors ahead of time but more in the moment.  This is what works best for me and my unique style. 

I like that i am gaining insight into my process as a painter.   Another one of the things that I have been doing a lot of lately is taking an older painting and allowing it to become an underpainting of a new piece of work.   Painting over.   I have also committed to not buying new canvases until I really NEED them.   I have many pieces of work that are unfinished and that is where i am placing my focus.  There are times where a raw white canvas calls me but i am really working to use the resources that are already here.  Applying universal principles to my painting process.   

Becoming clearer about who i am as a painter/artist/human.   Stay tuned for some new work!

xo
​Stacia

It has been 6 months since my last blog post.     I am hoping to return to a more regular voice.    

2020 was a crazy year and 2021 is now upon us.    Covid has changed the world in so many ways as well as our own personal lives.   If you would like to share what  the greatest impact you have experienced please do.  

As a physician it has been a huge question mark.    So much we do not know and talk about learning as we go.    A Pandemic.    
As a painter i am thriving.    I feel a new level of confidence in my capability to create beauty.

I thought i would share what happened this weekend in my studio.    I have had a painting hanging in my bathroom now for a year or so.  My husband did not think i should sell it as it is one of his favorites.    I recently posted it and got three interested customers.     The painting officially sold.    I went out to my studio to prepare it to ship to California.    I usually will finish with a coat of gel medium.   It adds a final layer of frosting.   It goes on white but dries clear.     I finished this step and went to bed.   

When i got up the next morning the painting was still white.  I realized my mistake!   I covered it with gesso not gel medium.   Gesso is white and does not dry clear.   Essentially it was like painting white over the entire painting. The painting was lost.  

I could not believe it.   I told my collector that the sale was off and then went to try to brainstorm how i could tackle this situation.    I decided to start with a sander.   I sanded it and found a fascinating texture left behind,    I will continue to work on this painting and i suspect it will come out very interesting...

​ It was stressful but what i know for sure....

My income thank God comes from me being a physician. 

 My art brings me income but i know that this painting has taught me a huge lesson.   I have gotten to a place as an artist where i am confident i can rebuild from a ruined painting and i do know that there is huge value in that.    My confidence as an artist has grown enormously.    The photos show a transition of this huge mess up / lesson.  Stay tuned for where this goes!

My passion remains.   I hope 2021 brings many new beautiful paintings and my gratitude goes out to all those who support me.  

much love,
 
​stacia

My mom had a really bad single car accident last night in Asheville NC.   She will be having neurosurgery tomorrow .  That is a big deal .   I believe that my mother is going to be fine.  

But it brings me to a deeper issue.  She is 84 totally healthy, totally deaf without her hearing aids but capable at this time to manage life with her sweet husband Matt who has dementia.   But my family is scattered all over the country
 
In the last 24 hours i have felt the village that we are.  This includes me and my sisters, Matts kids and partners who chose to be involved and my mom's dear friends in Asheville,  most notably Suzy.   

Suzy you saved us last night.  You gave us peace of mind to know that Matt would be cared for while the medical team focused on my mother.   

I realize the vulnerability of life like i always have as a doctor.  That shit happens and we cannot always be prepared.

What i recognize tonight is the value of the system that is in place to respond when help is needed.  the village.   we must have a system in place where when crisis hits, we have people to respond.  

Lessons learned.  Know peoples phone numbers which we typically do  not know as we are cell phone dependent .  In a crisis it is evident.  

Make sure you have a list of  contacts so you or others may know how and who to contact.

But tonight i realize what a gift it is.  

Thinking of how Suzy showed up to spend the night with Matt in case he woke up in the night and did not remember that his life partner was at the hospital.   That she contacted the police to figure out what happened and to find that the car was totalled.  to follow up with the vet hospital to be sure that Archie, my mom's canine companion was ok.  To assure us that Matt was ok.   

​ A total gift ... family and friends.   

    

I KNOW  there are great police.   Those who are compassionate and care and hope to do the right thing.  

There is misuse of power.   Perhaps tilted towards the black and brown population but I have my own story.   One about not brutality but mistreatment.   One about a dike cop.   Now let me clarify I am not homophobic.  Some of my favorite people are gay and lesbian and i do not use the work dike.  All but for certain circumstances like this one. It is the only time in my life I have referred to anyone as a dike.

This story takes place in 1989.   Probably August i am going to say.   

I was as a 28 year old middle class, well educated, law abiding young woman , married and mother of 1 ( Keenan).  I had struggled so much with the decision of going to medical school at 28.  Leaving Colorado .  All the fears that you hear. How it is going to change you and your marriage and your ability to be a present mom.   I did not want my life to change but i did want to become a doctor.  

We lived in Lyons, Colorado and had a tiny little house that was ours.    We decided that we needed to sell it as we were going to upstate NY for medical school at Albany Medical College.   It was stressful.  I was torn about whether we were making the right decision.   Kelly had to stay back to finish our house and get it sold.   Keenan was 15 months old and was going with me to NY.   My medical school orientation was in a couple of days.  I was so sad to leave Colorado and was intrepid about the upcoming changes.  

Kelly was taking me to the airport in Denver to fly out.  As we were driving down main street in Longmont the tension was present.   Kelly and I started to have an argument,  Nothing big. In fact I have no idea what it was about but we both got defensive and offensive.   As is usually the case with Kelly, when there is an argument he tends to want out.  He pulled over the truck and started walking up the street.    In my normal fashion (lol) I got out of the truck, grabbed Keenan and started to go after him.    When I got to him, reached for his arm and  i said "Kelly, let's talk".    He retracted his arm and said " leave me alone".  

End of story.   Suddenly the police pulled up.  An innocent bystander in Wendy's had witnessed this and called them.   This is where the dike comes in.  She was short and stout and mean and tough.   She told me that I was under arrest for domestic harrassment and she was mean.   Now Kelly is easily 100 lbs heavier than my what was then maybe 120 lbs.   She placed me in handcuffs.  Kelly told her , " no you cannot take her away .  She didn't do anything".  They would not listen and took me to jail .

Because I was leaving the state to fly to NY i was not eligible for bail.   I spent the night in Jail in an orange jumpsuit.  I had to call my mother and tell her not to pick me up from the airport as i was in jail.   How humiliating is that???

I spent the night and the next day went to court.   Me in my orange jumpsuit and handcuffs and a bunch of big guys dressed the same.  Charges?  assault, rape... who knows what else.   I was placed on probation for 6 months in Colorado and left the state that day .   When you fast forward time 24 hours i found myself in NY.  At Albany Medical College orientation. Standing under a huge totally white tent in a dress feeling very excited about what was to come.  I remember meeting new people and thinking to myself ,   " I bet no one else in this tent spent last night in jail".   I was demoralized and embarrassed and incredibly hurt and angry. 

It has been almost 31 years since that happened.   I wrote letters to the editor of the newspaper but other than that could not speak of this story for many years.  Tonight I am ready to put it into writing.    I am a white well educated female mistreated by the police 30 years ago.   It horrifies me what they did to me .   This is mistreatment and inappropriate use of power. 

I know that there are great cops but there are bad cops too.   Those that abuse their power.    And i cannot imagine how that is compounded by having black skin.   There needs to be accountability.  

Thank you for reading.   This was a very traumatic experience for me and I am happy that I can finally see a little humor in it.   Not there is nothing funny about what happened,  other than at this point I can add it as a story of my life.  As inappropriate as it was. 

Police should be held accountable for their actions. 

Peace,

Stacia