Jeannie Baker Jeannie Baker i(A41543 works by)
Born: Established: 1950 Croydon, Surrey,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe, ;
Gender: Female
Arrived in Australia: 1975
Heritage: English
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BiographyHistory

Jeannie Baker studied art and design at Brighton polytechnic, UK before settling in Australia in 1975. The turning point for her affinity with Australia was a visit to the Daintree which inspired her award-winning children's book Where the Forest Meets the Sea (1987), set in the tropical rainforest and which has sold one million copies worldwide.

She is the author and illustrator of numerous picture books, several of which have won Australian and international awards. These include Polar (1975) by Elaine Moss in Britain, followed by Grandfather (1977) which she wrote and illustrated, Grandmother (1978), set in Tasmania and Millicent (1980) about an elderly woman who feeds the pigeons in Sydney's Hyde Park. She creates collages that mimic nature in minute detail - a bonsai approach - and photographs them for her picture books.

While she refuses to sell her works, she lends individual pieces to public galleries. Her collage collections have been exhibited in galleries in London, New York and Australia. The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney has committed itself to exhibiting her work for a decade, changing the display every two years.

Many of the books have a strong environmental focus and the stories in some of them, Window on a Changing World, (1991), for example, which won a Children's Book Council Award in 1992, is a series of views from a window on a landscape being changed by expanding suburbs, without text.

Baker has said that Australia has given her the freedom and space to explore her art.

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Desert Jungle Newtown : Walker Books Australia , 2023 26043260 2023 single work picture book children's

'In spectacular and astonishing collage detail, Jeannie Baker captures the deep beauty, mystery, and hidden vitality of the desert landscape – and why it needs our protection.

'Chico’s grandpa has taken him on holiday where he grew up as a child, out in the desert. Chico has no interest in exploring the land – the desert jungle frightens him, and he’d much rather play on his his tablet. Grandpa decides that it is time to show Chico the secrets and the wonders that the desert has to offer so that he will not fear it but, instead, welcome it, embrace it and help protect it. Grandpa shows Chico paths through the cactus and the scrub, teaches Chico the plants' names – ocotillo, cholla, cirios, pin cushion, fishhook – and, soon, Chico begins to understand the wonders of the wild. He learns the value of watching, waiting and listening for all the life that hums within his desert home.' (Publication summary)
2024 shortlisted The Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature — Picture Fiction
2024 CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Notable Book — Picture Books
2024 nominated Yoto Carnegies Library Association Awards (UK) CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) Awards — Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration
y separately published work icon Desert Jungle Newtown : Walker Books Australia , 2023 26043260 2023 single work picture book children's

'In spectacular and astonishing collage detail, Jeannie Baker captures the deep beauty, mystery, and hidden vitality of the desert landscape – and why it needs our protection.

'Chico’s grandpa has taken him on holiday where he grew up as a child, out in the desert. Chico has no interest in exploring the land – the desert jungle frightens him, and he’d much rather play on his his tablet. Grandpa decides that it is time to show Chico the secrets and the wonders that the desert has to offer so that he will not fear it but, instead, welcome it, embrace it and help protect it. Grandpa shows Chico paths through the cactus and the scrub, teaches Chico the plants' names – ocotillo, cholla, cirios, pin cushion, fishhook – and, soon, Chico begins to understand the wonders of the wild. He learns the value of watching, waiting and listening for all the life that hums within his desert home.' (Publication summary)
2024 shortlisted The Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature — Picture Fiction
2024 CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Notable Book — Picture Books
2024 nominated Yoto Carnegies Library Association Awards (UK) CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) Awards — Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration
y separately published work icon Playing with Collage Melbourne : Walker Books Australia , 2019 17172350 2019 single work information book children's 'A how-to guide to making your own collages, brimful of fascinating hints and tips from a master of the genre.

'Over the course of a 40-year career, Jeannie Baker has perfected the art of collage in the creation of picture-book classics such as Where the Forest Meets the Sea and Window, a Boston Globe-Horn Honor Book. Her stunning pieces, devised by assembling all sorts of different textures, are known all around the globe. Whether it's dried flowers or tiny shells, spaghetti or postage stamps, she uses the world around her to make work that is astonishingly beautiful and deeply creative. 

'In Playing with Collage, she shares her secrets at last – and encourages her readers to get creative. Within each of this book's four main sections, Jeannie presents an abstract collage of her own and offers suggestions and starting points for beginners. There are no right or wrong answers in this treasure of a book, it's all about trusting your instincts ... and playing!' (Publication summary)
 
2020 shortlisted Educational Publishing Awards Australia — Primary
2020 CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Notable Book — Eve Pownall Award
VIEW ALL AWARDS
Last amended 26 Oct 2021 09:15:10
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