Jane Baldridge shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Jane, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
This is a great question. I think in my practice, I have been chasing the feeling of being successful. When I am at my best in the studio, success is feeling good about new work. This year, I chose not to try for another big solo exhibition. The pressure involved in pulling a solo show off is very intense. Finding venues, constructing a proposal, and following up with curators is just the beginning. Then you must create the work and documentation and get it delivered and installed then have the events associated. The “successful” feeling of doing all that is great, but I realized I need to slow my roll. I was losing touch with the more important success of the work. And what I mean is, does the work tell the story I meant for it to? Is it technically proficient? Do I love it??? So in a way, I sorta stopped the outward work for symbols of success to get me back focused on the more important success of each painting or creation.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My practice, Oceana Phenomena, includes paintings about my experiences on the water, which I call my sea stories. Also, I have a growing assortment of sculptural people, children, and animals covered in recycled navigation charts and painted to look as if the water is rising up their bodies. They are my sea level chronicles here to tell the stories of our coastlines and the threats of permanent inundation. And then I also have an eight-minute film, Wisdom of the Waves, that has garnered 22 awards in 34 International Film Festivals, and whose purpose is to make the viewers want to love and protect our water features on the planet. I have been creating for over five decades, and I have come to realize that my focus always comes back to the water and its importance to all living things.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
My relationship with the ocean. During a troubled childhood, I was offered an opportunity to race in the Gulf of Mexico on a boat with friends. When we sailed out of sight of land, the feeling of happiness and calm I had never known enveloped me. I was astounded by the peace in my heart at that moment. I realized “out there” is where I belonged as well as where I would not only survive but thrive. I knew then that if I could escape to the water I would not suffer at the hands of others. I would be the best sailor I could be to open up a life that offered a better outcome.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
How to dig deep. On some boat deliveries, a positive outcome was not guaranteed. The weather, as well as the boat, could turn on you. But failing just wasn’t an option. You have to grit your teeth and give every ounce of intelligence, strength, and stamina to survive some of those storms. The survival instinct is strong within me. When I was young, I survived out of spite; on the water, it is a badge of courage. You cannot control others or the weather, but you can use your wits to survive both.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Haha. Yes and no. I am an introvert. I want to be sailing with my husband, sailing a Sunfish, on our son’s skiff, on the water somewhere, or in the studio at the easel, or making something alone. But for the business of art, we must be in public and talk about our work. Thank goodness I paint about what’s important to me, so it is not so painful when telling the stories about boat trips or my passion for the whales, dolphins, and fish. But would I rather be on the water or in the studio instead of at an art opening, EVERY TIME!
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
When I was a little girl, I was asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I said a sailor and an artist. When I hit 40, I looked around and realized I had done it. My siblings were given much more direction than I. As a “later child,” I was let loose in the world very early and made my own decisions, bad or good. I would say I definitely was not told to do any of what I am now. I was feral, and this is the path that I created, so it must be mine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://artspeaks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janelawtonbaldridge/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-lawton-baldridge-7475987/
- Twitter: https://x.com/JaneLawtonBaldr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paintings.janelawtonbaldridge/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@janelawtonbaldridge
