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ARTIST STATEMENT
"I live in the heart of the Colorado Plateau and feel a strong connection to this place and its people. In my work I try to communicate the essence of the light, the space and the geology of the landscape with honesty and simplicity. I believe a well executed painting can suspend disbelief and feel like a higher, more harmonious reality—a sanctuary for the eyes and the mind." |
BIOGRAPHY
Joshua David Baird is an American artist and Utah native who captures the awe-inspiring colors and spacious vistas of the Colorado Plateau in his artwork. His fascination for the region was ignited as a child when he caught his first glimpse of the spectacular scenery at Cedar Breaks National Monument.
Josh is a lifelong student and keen observer of the natural world. He is especially interested in the behavior of light and perception of space. Much of his work is an exploration of how these two qualities influence us aesthetically. Painting for him is the process of distilling the most desirable characteristics of these qualities and editing the complexities of nature down to simple, visual poetry.
Josh studied art at Brigham Young University and Utah State University. He received both a Bachelor of Arts in drawing and painting, and a Master of Arts in art education from Southern Oregon University.
Josh's preferred medium is oil, and the primary subject found in his artwork is the landscape of the Southwestern United States. Josh is continually experimenting with new subjects and media, and constantly exploring the full continuum of pictorial representation and abstraction.
Josh has won many awards at various exhibitions and plein air painting events which include three 1st places at Plein Air Paradise in Midway, Utah and Artist's Choice at Escalante Canyons Art Festival. His paintings are part of numerous collections including the Salt Lake County Art Collection and the Springville Art Museum, Utah's largest and oldest art museum.
Josh currently resides in Kanab, Utah. Josh's current gallery representation can be found at David Ericson Fine Art in Salt Lake City, Utah; Raven's Heart Gallery in Kanab, Utah; and the Thunderbird Gallery in Mt. Carmel, UT. For more information go to www.joshuabaird.com.
Joshua David Baird is an American artist and Utah native who captures the awe-inspiring colors and spacious vistas of the Colorado Plateau in his artwork. His fascination for the region was ignited as a child when he caught his first glimpse of the spectacular scenery at Cedar Breaks National Monument.
Josh is a lifelong student and keen observer of the natural world. He is especially interested in the behavior of light and perception of space. Much of his work is an exploration of how these two qualities influence us aesthetically. Painting for him is the process of distilling the most desirable characteristics of these qualities and editing the complexities of nature down to simple, visual poetry.
Josh studied art at Brigham Young University and Utah State University. He received both a Bachelor of Arts in drawing and painting, and a Master of Arts in art education from Southern Oregon University.
Josh's preferred medium is oil, and the primary subject found in his artwork is the landscape of the Southwestern United States. Josh is continually experimenting with new subjects and media, and constantly exploring the full continuum of pictorial representation and abstraction.
Josh has won many awards at various exhibitions and plein air painting events which include three 1st places at Plein Air Paradise in Midway, Utah and Artist's Choice at Escalante Canyons Art Festival. His paintings are part of numerous collections including the Salt Lake County Art Collection and the Springville Art Museum, Utah's largest and oldest art museum.
Josh currently resides in Kanab, Utah. Josh's current gallery representation can be found at David Ericson Fine Art in Salt Lake City, Utah; Raven's Heart Gallery in Kanab, Utah; and the Thunderbird Gallery in Mt. Carmel, UT. For more information go to www.joshuabaird.com.
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VISUAL POETRY:
AN INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST JOSHUA BAIRD Artist Joshua Baird is as humble a person as he is talented an artist, traits that seem ineffably entwined in many of the most gifted and complex visual creators. This year has been an exciting one for Joshua, with a three-man show at the David Ericson Fine Art Gallery beside 'greats' G. Russell Case and George Handrahan and his Freshman juried entry into this year's Maynard Dixon Country Camp Out event in June beside 36 of the country's most prominent artists. I sat down with Joshua this week to talk about what got him started as a painter, why he thinks light is like jazz music and how Maynard Dixon can still stir his soul. Here's part 1 of May's artist feature interview with Joshua Baird: 1. Please tell us a little about yourself - where you went to school, etc. Did you have anyone in particular who encouraged you as an artist or helped you to grow? I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. My parents and family were always supportive of my artistic pursuits. As a kid I was always drawing dinosaurs, whales, cars, whatever subject fascinated me. In third grade I designed the logo for my elementary school which had the effect of branding me as a future artist amongst my peers. In middle school I started taking private art lessons and I was fortunate to have really good art teachers in high school. While I was in high school I visited Gallery 56, now called David Ericson Fine Art. I told Dave I wanted to paint a mural in my bedroom and asked him for advice. He told me all about Maynard Dixon and gave me his first edition copy of “Desert Dreams: The Art and Life of Maynard Dixon” by Donald J. Hagerty. I’ve been talking to Dave about art ever since, he’s a great mentor. From there I studied art at BYU for a semester and Utah State for a couple years. I later finished my bachelor’s degree in painting and drawing at Southern Oregon University. I followed my bachelor’s with a master’s degree in art education. 2. Did you always want to be an artist? What’s your first memory of knowing you wanted to or could be an artist? I was a really shy kid and art was a way of communicating my thoughts about the world and my interests. Art has always been a part of who I am. I can't imagine myself not being involved in the creative process on some level. My earliest memory is watching my dad paint a portrait of my mother. According to the 1981 date on the painting I was 2 years old. I have vibrant memories of exploring renowned sculptor Ed Fraughton’s studio. My dad ran his foundry when I was a little kid. I got the smell of paint and clay deep in my bones during those years. Memories like these influenced my direction in life toward studying art and building a life around it. The idea of art as a potential career came much later. 3. Are there other artists in your family? My dad is a really creative guy with a knack for figuring out how things work. He's dabbled in painting, sculpture, model airplanes and antique car restoration. He's spent most of his life as a metal craftsman restoring and manufacturing architectural ornamentation for fancy homes, hotels and buildings. His company is currently restoring the exterior dome of the U.S. capitol building. My mom is an artist in many ways, and a very enthusiastic supporter of the arts. Both my grandfathers dabbled in paint and many of my family members are involved in the arts in one way or another. 4. I’ve read that you started your art career painting western scenes - what initially drew you to that? I remember looking out over Cedar Breaks National Monument when I was 4 or 5 years old. My family was touring around Brian Head because one of my distant grandfathers homesteaded and lived on the Eastern side of the mountain. I remember slowly walking up and over a small hill and the view opening before me. My little mind simply could not wrap itself around what I was looking at. It was so beautiful! I think I’ve been dedicated to the study of light and space ever since. That experience, and the fact that my ancestors have lived in the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin for generations is what holds my interest in the landscapes of this area. I’m not opposed to painting other places and subjects, but they don’t feel as meaningful and authentic to me as the landscapes of the Colorado Plateau. 5. Who most influenced you as an artist? I think Maynard Dixon has had the greatest impact on me as an artist. His sense of composition, his sense of color and value, his draftsmanship are unparalleled. Mostly I think about his philosophical paradigm as an artist. He believed it was his |
responsibility to paint the West as he saw it, not as popular culture wanted it to look. Dixon gave the western art of his time a refreshing dose of honesty. Rather than portraying a snapshot Buffalo Bill style fiction of guns blazing and horses stampeding, like in the paintings of Remington. Dixon’s paintings are mostly still, silent and timeless. When he painted native americans, he painted them as he observed them or remembered them from firsthand experience. There’s still a romantic element at play, but really his career was a giant U-turn in the history of Western Art. This dimension of pictorial journalism combined with his expertise as a painter and his sensibility as a poet are why I think he’s the greatest of his time, and why he's had such an effect on me.
6. Maynard Dixon’s early career as an illustrator continued to influence many of his later pieces - do you see that in your work also? I think this is one of the secrets to Dixon’s success as a painter. His work as an illustrator taught him to draw quickly and accurately, to effectively stage and compose a scene and to work with a limited pallet. It also helped him nail his values so the final printed image–whether in color or monochrome–looked perfect. My experience with graphic design and illustration has helped me quite a bit, but the technological restrictions Dixon had to deal with forced him to keep his images in very simple terms. Without those restrictions artists and designers of our time have to make an extra concerted effort to restrain ourselves from making things complicated. It’s always important to remember that elegance and sophistication is a byproduct of carefully focussed design. 7. What is it about landscapes that draw you in? A good landscape painting is inviting and allows the viewer to hang out and look around. It’s gratifying for the mind to experience a pure sense of place where there is order and balance in the colors, shapes and edges. Where distracting complexities have been eliminated. Where the sense of light and space are easy to discern. A well executed painting can suspend disbelief and not only appear to be real, but it can feel like a higher, more harmonious reality, a sanctuary for the eyes and the mind. 8. Your work tends to capture moments on the landscape with the most dramatic plays of light that create strikingly emotional imagery - it’s a hallmark of your style. Is that something you did in your early work also? When I learned to understand the behavior of light and how to capture it in paint, painting became so much more exciting! The emotion in a painting is dependent on how successful the quality of light is portrayed. I’m still learning about it, it’s a lifetime endeavor. Light to a painter is like sound to a Jazz musician. It’s a simple idea, and it’s fundamental to the art, but it’s as big as a universe in possibilities. It takes a lifetime to explore and understand that universe. 9. Do any of your paintings have a particularly interesting story attached to them? Once I was painting at the Heber City airport during a plein air festival. I was all set up to paint an old Cessna airplane in the distance. I wasn’t thrilled about the subject. All of a sudden, an antique, yellow Stearman biplane landed and parked right next to me. I painted it instead. As soon as I finished the painting the pilot got in, drove away and took off. It won an award and a lady from the airport museum asked about it; I told her I would donate it to the museum if they would give me a ride in the biplane. They agreed and I was so excited! But unfortunately the scheduling didn’t work out. I gave them the painting anyway, but I wish I could have gone up in that biplane! 10. If someone had never seen your work, how would you describe it to them? I live in the heart of the Colorado Plateau and have always had a strong connection to this region. I'm always trying to communicate the essence of the light and space and geology of this place honestly and simply. Occasionally, I include manmade features that tell the story of the people who live and have lived here. I’m not trying to make images that look like photographs. In my paintings you see the record of the process in each stroke. The colors are more pure, the features are more simple. I don’t paint each leaf on the tree or every rock on the ground. Sometimes I don’t even finish the painting at the edges. The idea is to edit all these complexities and distill the scene to create a visual poem that is luminous and spacious. To view more of Joshua's artwork, click here to visit his website. THUNDERBIRD FOUNDATION WEBSITE |
CURRICULUM VITAE
JOSHUA DAVID BAIRD
American Artist, Musician, Filmmaker & Educator
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
David Ericson Fine Art, SLC, UT
Juniper Sky Fine Art Gallery, Kayenta Art Village, Ivins, UT
Raven's Heart Gallery, Kanab, UT
Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts, Mt. Carmel, UT
EDUCATION
2006 MA, Art Education, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR
2004 BA, Painting & Drawing, Magna Cum Laude, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR
2002 Utah State University, Logan, UT
1998 Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 Recent Paintings, Kanab Massage & Healing Arts Center, Kanab, UT
2015 36 Views of the Colorado Plateau, Healing Arts Gallery, Kanab, UT
2014 Facetime: Portraits of Large Domestic Animals, The Village Artspace, Kanab, UT
2011 Colorado Plateau Studies II, Healing Arts Artspace, Kanab, UT
2011 Colorado Plateau Studies I, The Village Artspace, Kanab, UT
2009 Recent Field Studies in Oil, The Village Artspace, Kanab, UT
2005 Featured Artist, Rogue Gallery and Art Center, Medford, OR
2005 Spill, SOU Center for the Visual Arts, Retzlaff Gallery, Ashland, OR
2005 Impressions of Land, SOU Hannon Library Art Gallery, Ashland, OR
2004 Earth Portraits, Art Chairs Gallery, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 Recent Work, Raven Heart Gallery, Kanab, UT
2016 Three Man Show: Joshua Baird, Russell Case & George Handrahan, David Ericson Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT
2015 Recent Work by Kanab Artists, Healing Arts Gallery, Kanab, UT
2008 Recent Paintings by Valerie Orlemann and Joshua Baird, The Wine Store, Salt Lake City, UT
2008 Western Legends, Kanab, UT
2007 Juniper Art Group Show, Juniper Art Gallery, Kanab, UT
2004 Rogue Gallery, Medford, OR
2004 Student Art Show, SOU, Ashland, OR
2002 Undergraduate Student Art Show, Utah State University, Logan, UT
1997 College Board Studio Art Show, Princeton, NJ
1996 Springville Museum, All-State H. S. Art Show, Springville, UT
INVITATIONALS & JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2021 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2020 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2019 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2018 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2017 "Mapping: The Poetics of Utah Expression", Sears Gallery, Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2017 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2016 Religious & Spiritual Art, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
2016 92nd Annual Spring Salon, Springville Museum, Springville, UT
2016 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery, Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2015 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery, Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2014 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery, Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2013 Sears Invitational, Sears Gallery, Dixie State University, St. George, UT
2007 Religious & Spiritual Art, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
2006 LDS Museum of History and Art, 7th International Art Competition, Salt Lake City, UT
2003 Take a Walk along the Rogue, Rogue River Bridge, Grants Pass, OR
2002 Undergraduate Art Show, Utah State University, Logan, UT
1997 College Board Studio Art Show, Princeton, NJ
1997 LDS Museum of History and Art, 5th International Art Competition, Salt Lake City, UT
1996 Springville Museum, All-State H. S. Art Show, Springville, UT
AWARDS, HONORS & SCHOLARSHIPS
2016 Honorable Mention, Religious & Spiritual Art, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
2016 3rd Place Plein Air Moab, Moab, UT
2016 Honorable Mention, 92nd Annual Spring Salon, Springville, UT
2016 Honorable Mention, Sears Invitational, Dixie University
2015 Artist's Choice, Escalante Canyons Art Festival, Escalante, UT
2015 Plein Air Award, Plein Air Magazine, Escalante Canyons Art Festival, Escalante, UT
2015 2nd place Heber City Paintout, Plein Air Paradise, Midway, UT
2015 Award of Merit, Plein Air Paradise, Midway, UT
2011 Award for Community Leadership in the Arts, Kanab Arts Council, Kanab, UT
2009 1st Place, Main Street Paintout, Plein Air Paradise, Midway, UT
2009 Honorable Mention, Plein Air Paradise, Midway, UT
2009 1st Place, Plein Air Paradise, Midway, UT
2007 1st Place, Juniper Art Group Show, Juniper Gallery, Kanab, UT
2006 Award of Merit, Everett Reuss Days, Escalante, UT
2005 Featured Artist at the Rogue Gallery, Medford, OR
2005 Davis and Cline Exhibition Nominee, Ashland, OR
1997 Talent Award Scholarship, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
1997 Full Tuition Scholarship Waiver, Utah State University, Logan, UT
1997 Winner, Advanced Placement Art Poster Contest, Princeton, NJ
1997 1st Place, Pottery, Granite District Art Show, Salt Lake City, UT
1997 Best of Show, Granite District Art Show, Salt Lake City, UT
1997 Sterling Scholar, Technology Ed & Graphic Arts, Salt Lake City, UT
1996 Principal’s Purchase Award, Olympus Art Show, Salt Lake City, UT
2nd Place, Springville, H.S. All-State Art Show, Springville, UT
1995-96 Member of the National Art Honors Society, Salt Lake City, UT
FILM FESTIVALS, HONORS, AWARDS AND SPECIAL SCREENINGS
2020 "Women Who Play With Fire" screening, Kanab Arts openning, Kanab City Library, Kanab, UT
2019 "Scarab" screening with live dancers, Creative Arts Academy Benefit Concert, Bountiful, UT
2017 Arches Director's Award for "Canyon of Motion", Utah Dance Film Festival, Orem, UT
2017 Audience Choice Award for "Virga", Utah Dance Film Festival, Orem, UT
2012, 2015-2018 Panel Judge, Little Hollywood Shootout Film Competition, Kanab, UT
2016 Screening, "Canyon of Motion", Raven's Heart Gallery, Kanab, UT
2016 Official Selection, "Virga", New Jersey Outlet Dance Project, Hamilton, NJ
2014 1st Place, "Broken Leash" Score Composer, Little Hollywood Shootout, Kanab, UT
2012 1st Place, "Ketchup Kid" Co-Directer, Little Hollywood Shootout, Kanab, UT
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS & SPEECHES
2021 "Mormon Tarot and its Implications for Past, Present & Future" with Cheryl Bruno, SLC Sunstone Symposium, Sandy, UT
2019 "Tarot, Mormonism & The Fool's Journey" with Sarah K.S. Hanks, SLC Sunstone Symposium, Sandy, UT
2017 "The Three Aesthetic Ideals" presentation, Arts & Tarts at Raven Heart Gallery, Kanab, UT
2017 "Aesthetics and Our National Parks & Monuments" speech, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument Rally, Kanab, UT
2010 "Truth, Virtue, and Beauty", Education Week, Kanab, UT
SELECTED MUSICAL PERFORMANCES, COMPOSITIONS, ALBUMS & HONORS
2022 Music producer & musician for Danny Monnett's album: "Danny Monnett: Ain't Nobody Here But Me", Kanab, UT; Nashville, TN
2021 Stone Company live show, Spring City Music Festival headliner slot, Spring City, UT
2021 Stone Company live show, Hwy 89 Music Festival, Boulder & Escalante, UT
2020 Stone Company live show, Trailfest, Kanab, UT
2020 Stone Company live show, Kanab Music Festival, Kanab, UT
2020 Stone Company live show, Piper Down Pub, Salt Lake City, UT
2020 Music Co-producer & musician for Stone Company's album: "Stone Company", Kanab, UT
2020 "Country Legends" stage production, Lake Powell Concert Association, Page, UT
2019 Stranded Tourists set, Peach Days, Hurricane, UT
2019 Roo Arcus, electric guitar, headliner for Western Legends, Kanab, UT
2019 "Country Legends" stage production, headliner for Western Legends, Kanab, UT
2019 Guest Musician with The W-Duo, "Spring City Bluegrass & Folk Festival, Spring City, UT
2018 season, "Always Patsy Cline", guitars, Redstone Theatre, Kanab, UT
2018 “W-Duo & American Train”, Page Concert Association, Page, AZ
2017 season, "Home for Christmas", guitars & mandolin, Redstone Theater, Kanab, UT
2017 season, "Always Patsy Cline", guitars, Redstone Theatre, Kanab, UT
2016 "Scales of Time", score for dance film "Canyon of Motion", Official Selection of Utah Dance Film Festival, Orem, UT
2016 Boulder City 4th of July Celebration, guitar, mandolin & vocals, Boulder, UT
2016 "American Train" Sets, guitar, mandolin & vocals, Western Legends, Kanab, UT
2016 "American Train" Set, guitar, mandolin & vocals, Live at the Terrace concert series, Kanab, UT
2015 "A Canyon Peoples' Portrait World Premiere", Legacy Folk Ensemble: banjo, mandolin & vocals, Kanab, UT
2015 "Pitchforks & Torches Live", guitar, mandolin & vocals, at the Terrace concert series, Kanab, UT
2014 "Broken Leash" Score, Little Hollywood Shootout, Kanab, UT
2009 Panel Judge, Western Legends Fiddle Competition, Kanab, UT
WORKSHOPS & SPECIAL PROGRAMS
2013-21 Trip Coordinator/Art Instructor, KHS/Grand Canyon Youth San Juan River Trip, UT
2019 Program Coordinator for the Muse Program, Kanab High, Kanab, UT
2017 Drawing Foundations Course, Raven Heart Gallery, Kanab, UT
2016 Workshop Instructor, "Introduction to Oil Painting", Escalante Canyons Art Festival, Escalante, UT
2016 Workshop Instructor, Alla Prima Painting, Soulstice Retreat, Stein Eriksen Lodge, Deer Valley Resort, UT
2015-2016 Workshop Instructor, Watercolor workshops at Amangiri Luxury Resort, Big Water, UT
2014 Introduction to Oil Painting workshop, Kanab, UT
2014 Fundamentals of Visual Communication workshop, Kanab, UT
2008 Landscape Painting Workshop Instructor, Desert Art Emporium Workshop Series, Kanab, UT
2007-2008 Art Instructor/Presenter/Planner, Art for Animals Artist Retreat, Best Friends, Kanab, UT
2005 Visiting Artist, Central Point High School, Central Point, OR
TEACHING
2018-2021 Commercial Art/Fine Arts/Multimedia Department Head & Instructor, Kanab High, Kane County District, UT
2019-2020 Industrial Design/Drawing/Painting/Art Foundations, Kanab High School, Kanab, UT
2018-2019 Basic Design/Commercial Art/Digital Photography/Drawing/Painting, Kanab High School, Kanab, UT
2015-18 Weekly Instructor, Re-Creation Retreat (residential treatment center), Fredonia, AZ
2007-2015 Commercial Art/Fine Arts/Multimedia Instructor, Kanab High/Valley High, Kane County District, UT
2007-2011 Art Foundations Instructor, Kanab Middle School, Kanab, UT
2006 Art/Ceramics Instructor, South High School, Medford, OR
2006 Teaching license, OR
2006 Master of Arts in Teaching: secondary art education, Southern Oregon University
2005 Art Instructor, Hedrick Middle School, Medford, OR
SELECTED PUBLIC & PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
David Ericson Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT
Historical Arts and Castings, South Jordan, UT
Joe & Lee Bennion, Spring City, UT
Ken Sanders, Salt Lake City, UT
Paul & Susan Bingham, Mt. Carmel, UT
Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
Salt Lake County Art Collection, UT
