• The Extraordinary Artists Next Door
• From TribLocal.com
• by SGBaker
• March 7, 2010

The Elmhurst Artists' Guild ("EAG") is hosting the Spring Members Show, an exhibition featuring a variety of original artwork by contemporary Chicago-area artists representing a broad range of styles and media including abstract, portrait, still life and landscape paintings, mixed media, collage and sculptural works. Suellen Rocca, Curator and Director of Art Exhibitions at Elmhurst College, will judge the artworks and give awards at the reception on Friday, March 12, from 7-9pm. Read the full article...

• Motorcycles and Metaphors: Wes Baker Interprets the Riding Experience on Canvas
• From Dealernews.com
• by Mary Slepicka
• February 18, 2010

Abstract art uses a "visual language" of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual reality. So says Rudolph Arnheim in Visual Thinking... and so says Wikipedia.

If you're attending the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show this weekend in Rosemont, a suburb of Chicago ("www.motorcycleshows.com), you're going to confront the definition. And you're probably going to spend some time contemplating it.

All because of Chicago-area abstract artist, Wesley Baker (www.fineartmotorcycle.com). Read the full article...

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• Photo by Erica Benson, Elmhurst Press

• Artist in Hog Heaven
• From The Elmhurst Press
• by Coleen McBrien
• July 4, 2008

ELMHURST, IL - After spending the past few decades sometimes working 70 hours a week, Wesley Baker is taking his life into his own hands, er, paintbrush.

After a career primarily in the construction field, Baker, 61, has spent the past five years turning to his first love: oil-based painting. After he and his wife, Suzanne, had raised two sons, Baker’s construction position was eliminated. He has dedicated his time to creating motorcycle-themed paintings, which will be on display and for sale at an art show later this month.

“Before I was married, I was surviving doing artwork,” Baker said. “When we got married, it was game over and I had to get a real job.”

Today, Baker’s Elmhurst home and garage studio are filled with his motorcycle-themed artwork, which retails in the mid-$3,000 range. He also sells prints for about $75. Baker works on individual paintings for weeks at a time, making the price well worth it, he said. Read the full article...