Neil Lawson-Baker
Latin Taxi © Neil Lawson-Baker
Tell me about your childhood and upbringing”……..
“Growing up…………………. that was a very long time ago! I was born in 1938 20 miles north of London and the 2nd world war was about to commence. I had a very happy childhood with two loving parents and then they had two further sons in 1943 and 1947. We survived a direct hit by a bomb on our home in 1941. I was saved by being under our Steinway boudoir Grand Piano! My brothers and I all now have very happy married lives with our respective wives and children.”
“Where were you educated?”
“Firstly at infant school when I was 5yrs old and then at a preparatory school at 7yrs and then I was educated from13 yrs old at Merchant Taylors, a famous English public school dating back to 1561 at which I attended as a day boy.
After my ‘O’ and ‘A’ level exams I went to London University and qualified at Guys Hospital as a Dental Surgeon and then took a second degree course and qualified in Medicine and Surgery as a Doctor at St Georges Hospital. 10 years as an undergraduate….very hard work!
After a few years training in head and neck surgical specialities working in the London Hospitals I bought my Dental Practice in London’s Belgravia and ended up caring for 8,000 private patients with my team of over 20 personnel. For the next 40 years from 1968 to 2008 I enjoyed heading up one of the best known practices in the world of dentistry.”
“How did you get involved in the Art World?”
“In 1987 after a needle stick injury while treating a patient who turned out to be a carrier I suffered very seriously from Hepatitis B and during my recovery over 4 months I started to make wax sculptures as a kind of occupational therapy, hoping and waiting to clear the virus so that I could start seeing patients again. I hadn’t a clue about casting them into bronze at that time.
A friend called Robert Hooke saw my waxes and liked them and introduced me to a bronze founder named Eric Gibberd who owned a foundry of international repute called Burleighfield.
I ended up making corporate sculptures with that foundry for the entrance to one of The House of Commons main buildings, for the Financial Futures Exchange; for the Opening of the Channel Tunnel and later a huge 16 metre bronze with seven 25 metre high arches and a 100 metre water feature for the opening of The Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and many others. It became my ‘Friday job’!!
I loved it but I didn’t dare give up the day job!! The art world was too risky for me!! What a shame!!”
“Have you exhibited worldwide and did you have any real training as an artist or are you self-taught”?
“Many corporations, governments and collectors world wide now own my sculpture and NO I never had a lesson or any training other than my profession which, after all, is a hand eye skill!! Dentistry and Sculpture have many similarities.
My father was a good amateur photographer and my mother a hobby potter and painter but they did not see me as an artist, rather as a headstrong difficult teenager I think! I had a 12 piece jazz band, played the saxophone, drank alcohol and enjoyed female company, definitely not approved of by my non-drinking Father! Or maybe he was jealous!
I took myself to many galleries and shows and loved looking at and in a minor way collecting art, purely for my home.”
“What influenced your work once you started making art works?”
I had no idea that I would become a serious artist myself but I suppose my greatest influences have been the important painters, sculptors and contemporary artists of the 20th century. Picasso; Moore; Giacometti; Matisse; Degas and many many others as well as friends like Elizabeth Frink have all had a huge influence on my output.
My first exhibition in London was with Offer Waterman at his original Waterman Gallery in London’s Jermyn Street but as my primary work was as a Dental Surgeon most of my work was bought privately, either directly from me in my home or in my surgery!
“Do you now live from your art?”
“Luckily I do have huge energy and a massive output and of course I would love to find a professional artists agent to really manage my marketing with me. It would be good to be able to entirely live from my art and one day I intend to!! There are hundreds of quality works in my studio waiting to be enjoyed!
I saved while working as a surgeon and have a limited income from my investments which keeps us going but my wife is a specialist in the medical world and we both work hard and do get by!
“Tell me about your recent exploration into photography?”
“My recent photographic work seems to have struck a note with collectors as well as fellow artists and photographers who tell me that they love the results I am obtaining with my ‘Reflections’ series taken in capital cities worldwide. I enjoy having what is called ‘a seeing eye’ and producing images, which the human eye actually sees but does not totally register.
Most people think that I have made the work by layering on Adobe Photoshop but these are straight photographs with very little retouching. I use a Nikon D300 for this work and a Leaf Aptus back on a Contax 645 for my detailed work; still life and portraiture as it gives me an initial 38M pixels which allows huge enlargements with perfect detail.”
“My studio is in a massive 17th century barn; stacked with art works and always open to anyone who is interested to visit. It is situated near Chichester in the south of England.
(see the back page of my web site for the map… www.neillawsonbaker.com… the site is about to be updated with sculpture and photography added)
“Are you fully occupied with making art?”
“No. I am also Chairman of The National Open Art Competition, which has been based in Chichester for the last 12 years and is now also to be shown in London from 2009. It is a painting competition open to all working in the UK and we have prizes of £25,000 this year.
It is a very exciting project with 3 excellent judges. This year we have the Keeper of The Royal Academy Schools: Professor Maurice Cockrill; a famous art critic, Richard Cork and Gavin Turk, best known as a successful YBA (Young British Artist) who won the Wollaston Prize for Sculpture at the 2007 famous Summer Show in London.
I am also on the board of the well known ARTS CLUB 40 DOVER STREET, LONDON which was started in 1863 by a group of artists and writers which included Charles Dickens and Whistler.
“You seem to be very committed and extremely busy”
“Well I love my work and I am a great enthusiast, enjoying visiting galleries and seeing other artists work both in the UK and worldwide.
Art is a joyful subject and also a great healer in its own rite. It fits well with my philosophy of life to enjoy every day and work hard.
Long may I be blessed to Sculpt, Paint and Photograph and hopefully to make work which brings joy to others.”
“Thank you……….you are a lucky man and seem to have found the next chapter in your life after spending so many years looking after all your patients” “Good luck in the future years”
"Sterling Maquette with miniature bronzes"
Photograph: Eugenie Absalom
Edited by Eugenie Absalom
http://beaumondemedia.webs.com/apps/photos/
http://gallery-worldwide.com/artist/Neil_Lawson_Baker.html