Artist Statement

My work is the expression of a lifelong affinity with the landscape. I live on the North Yorkshire coast of the UK, and this location is a constant source of inspiration to my artwork. My interest lies not in making a literal representation of nature but rather in celebrating the physical sensory experience of land and sea, and I hope to capture some of that energy on paper and canvas. Conservation of the landscape and its wildlife is very important to me and I regularly take part in beach cleans, and environmental and animal rights campaigns. I have been a conservation volunteer with the North York Moors National Park since 2006, working on tasks such as tree planting and butterfly habitat management – this feeds into my work as a landscape artist and enriches the artwork I create.

Recently drawing and collage have been central to my work and I like to combine pastel, charcoal and graphite to explore mark-making. In my abstract work, associations arise from the colours and lines – a fresh green may be reminiscent of new foliage in springtime, a round shape may recall pebbles smoothed by the waves. The paintings are reworked several times with a gradual layering of paint and oil sticks (oil paint in solid form) are often used to integrate drawing and painting. Influences include Abstract Expressionism (particularly Willem de Kooning), Joan Eardley, Cy Twombly and Cornish art.

I have exhibited extensively across the UK, including with the Royal Academy of Arts, the Society of Women Artists, and the Pastel Society UK, London. I’m honoured to have won several awards for my work such as The Arts Club Charitable Trust Award, the Haworth Prize, and the Unison Colour Young Artists Award, and I’m thrilled to also be an Associate Artist of Unison Colour. It was a huge honour in 2017 to be elected a member of the prestigious Pastel Society, London. My work is included in private collections across the UK and Europe, Africa, Mexico, the US, Australia and Singapore.

Qualifications

1998 – 2001 BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree University of York, Scarborough Campus (no longer affiliated)
1995 – 1997 GNVQ Advanced Art & Design
A-Level Art		 Creative School of Arts, Scarborough

 

Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions

‘Royal Academy Summer Exhibition’, The Royal Academy of Arts, London
’Winners: Award Winning Artists 2020 – 2022’, Mall Galleries, London
‘The Haworth Prize’ at the ‘New English Art Club Annual Exhibition’, Mall Galleries, London
‘Pastel Society Annual Exhibition’, Mall Galleries, London (2013 – 2024)
’Les Pastellistes’, Pastel Society of Eastern Canada (PSEC) Annual Exhibition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
(SOLO) ‘Wild Nature’, Watermark Gallery, Harrogate
(SOLO) ‘Contemplating Nature’, The Yorkshire Arboretum, Castle Howard, York
(SOLO) ‘Layered Land’, Birch Tree Gallery, Edinburgh
(SOLO) ‘Line in Motion’, Birch Tree Gallery, Edinburgh
Cambridge Contemporary Art
(SOLO) ‘Forest and Moor’, Watermark Gallery, Harrogate
‘A Contour, a Curve – the Lie of the Land’, Gallery 57, Arundel, West Sussex
‘Painting: Light of the North’, According to McGee, York
‘A Woman’s View’, Blue Tree Gallery, York
‘Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition’, Mall Galleries, London
The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle
Cricket Fine Art, London
Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance, Cornwall
‘Bath Society of Artists Exhibition’, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath

Awards, Prizes and Membership

2024 – ‘Old Parcels Office Open 2024 2D Prize’, OPO, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
2021 – ‘The Artist Magazine Award’, Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2017 – Elected a member of the Pastel Society, London
2017 – ‘Highly Commended Work in Monochrome Prize’ from STABILO UK, Society of Graphic Fine Art ‘DRAW17’ Exhibition, Menier Gallery, London
2017 – Invited to be a Unison Colour Associate Artist
2017 – ‘The Picture Framing Workshop Prize’, Kunsthuis Gallery, Crayke, York
2016 – ‘The Unison Colour Young Artist Award’, Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2015 – ‘The Haworth Prize’, New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2014 – ‘The Arts Club Charitable Trust Award’, Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2006 – Shortlisted for ‘Art Scholarship for Rural & Landscape Artists’, Royal Bath & West of England Society

Publications

The Pastel Journal, US, Fall 2023 issue, ‘Austere Vistas’ feature article
The Artist Magazine, February 2022 issue, ‘The Sensory Landscape’ feature article
Artful Magazine (published by OhhDeer), Autumn 2021 issue, feature article
The Encyclopedia of Pastel Techniques, by Judy Martin, 2017 edition

Collections

Sir Alan and Lady Heather Ayckbourn
Kerry David, Founder – Over and Above Africa charity, USA
Private collections across the UK, Europe, Africa, Mexico, the US, Australia and Singapore.

Commissions

2022 – Commissioned by Ingo Interiors (Liverpool) and Yorkshire Housing (Leeds) to create an artwork for a large scale mural for The Place hub, Leeds
2018 – Commissioned by Made Thought (London) and Heckfield Place (Hampshire) to create charcoal drawings for menus at Hearth Restaurant
Numerous private commissions since 2001

Click here to download extensive CV

“As if lit from within with the quickening of what it is to live on the North Yorkshire coast, the work of Janine Baldwin is increasingly well regarded and anticipated by international collectors. She seems able to distill the vantage point of the en plein air painter into shapes that begin to glow with meaning, articulating the creative process of capturing the ‘sensory experience of land and sea’. The moment you allow your eye to settle on a quelled, controlled colour, there is a spark of aqua light, or a movement of line that can quite transform the composition and its mood: a line that suggests a ripple of water may glance off it and move away, becoming a free line, an arabesque, imparting a sense of continual change as if Baldwin senses that paintings work best when they speak a gestural language.”

Greg McGee, According to McGee gallery, York