August 4, 2021 | St. Lucie Cultural Alliance | Member Spotlight – Jane Lawton Baldridge
Contributed by Dorothy Kamm
Member Spotlight – Jane Lawton Baldridge
Water has been part of Jane Lawton Baldridge’s life since infancy, when her mother took her in her bassinet, placing it beneath her seat when she went boating. Growing up on the coast of Texas, Jane sailed and raced from an early age, ultimately winning a gold medal in 1976 for the U.S. Women’s Open Championship race sponsored by U.S. Sailing. (Jane points out that at that time, women sailors were excluded from many competitions.) She also is a U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain.
Spending so much time on oceans and rivers, Jane became very aware of the issues of water pollution. “Too many people were not – and still are not – taking water issues seriously,” says Jane. “I wanted others to understand what I saw and what I knew.” She uses her artwork to express the subject in its myriad moods, as well as the challenges of human impact.
Although she has depicted other subjects, her portfolio always included abstract paintings of water. “I used to be teased about placing so much blue in my paintings, but the best days at sea are filled with blue sky and blue water,” says Jane. “The blue tones I employ are extensive, reflecting the breadth of blues found in nature.”
Jane developed her own artistic process, one that employs painting, layering, glazing, alchemy, and viscosity to create a fluidity that effectively captures water. Her paintings represent the medium in the best way possible: swirling, bubbling, splattering, spreading out on a shore, glowing with bioluminescence, or interspersed with sand particles. The large size of the canvases impacts the viewer in the manner of large bodies of water. Yet, there is much to see among the detailed surfaces. “The paintings look like and mimic water. They speak of beautiful days and possess my passion to bring awareness of it in all its forms,” observes Jane. “Despite the force of water generated from a storm, it is unable to defend itself from us. Water is a finite resource, and we’re reaching a tipping point regarding its pollution,” she points out.
Jane’s artwork has been featured in solo and juried exhibitions all over the world. Recently, she was chosen for a solo exhibit at the Elliott Museum on Hutchinson Island, which is open through October 31. More than 20 paintings and three mannequins, along with the gold medal won in the 1976 sailing race, are displayed.
Jane calls her paintings sea stories, her mannequins sea level stories. The mannequins are covered with recycled navigation charts of areas at risk of flooding and pollution. Jane then applies paint to the legs and lower torso, rising up the bodies to represent sea level rise and tidal flooding.
Throughout the years, Jane has lived in various places, including on a boat from 2009 to 2019. At first docked in Southport, North Carolina, she and her husband moved the boat to Fort Lauderdale when he transferred jobs in 2016. Two years later, his job brought them to Stuart. In 2019, they moved off the boat and bought a house in town, allowing Jane to have a land-based studio in her home.
When Jane moved to Stuart, she sought out information about the local art scene and to scope out opportunities. She read about Alyona Ushe, Executive Director of the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance, and thought here’s someone who will shake things up. Jane says, “I saw the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance growing art and cultural awareness logarithmically, expanding in depth and breadth, and I wanted to be part of it.”
For more information about Jane and her art, visit https://artstlucie.org/members?neonid=1036. Contact her at gosail@bellsouth.net or 910-233-0860.
To learn more about the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance and the benefits of membership, please visit ArtStLucie.org, email: info@artstlucie.org or call 772-462-2783.